Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.10.2006, Blaðsíða 6

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David Jón Fuller
The fifth in a series of joint conferences between the University of Iceland and
the University of Manitoba was
held 21 – 23 September at the
University of Manitoba.
The Canada-Iceland 2006
Conference, “Women and
Knowledge” was held in the
Iceland Reading Room, Icelan-
dic Collection at the Elizabeth
Dafoe Library. The conferences
take place every 18 months, al-
ternating between the Iceland
and Manitoba, as a result of a
protocol agreement between the
two universities in 1999.
The three-day conference
was organized and managed by
Birna Bjarnadóttir, Acting Head
and Chair of the Icelandic De-
partment at the University of
Manitoba; Helga Hilmisdóttir,
instructor of Icelandic; and Dar-
lene McWhirter, office assistant
at the department.
The 2006 conference opened
discussions in the fields of edu-
cation, history, medicine, law,
gender studies, literature, an-
thropology and Icelandic-Cana-
dian topics. Speakers came from
Iceland, Canada and the United
States.
The conference began with
an address from U of M Dean
of Arts Richard Sigurdson, and
Dr. DeLloyd Guth introduced
the keynote speaker, Dr. Carol J.
Clover. Dr. Clover, who is a pro-
fessor of Film Studies, Rhetoric
and Scandinavian at the Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley, later
commented on the confluence
of her disparate areas of study.
One of her current projects is
examining the trend in medieval
Icelandic and modern Ameri-
can culture towards courtroom
drama.
Topics were varied over the
following days. Lectures touched
on computer education (Dr. Sig-
urlína Daviðsdóttir); Icelandic
pioneer women´s contribution
to education (Jo-Anne Weir);
Icelandic-Canadian suffragists
(Ryan Eyford); the “wise wom-
en” and magic in the sagas (Dr.
Ármann Jakobsson); and a criti-
cal look at perspectives on wom-
en in Völsunga Saga (Dr. Birna
Bjarnadóttir); and many others.
A supper closing the three
days featured musical perfor-
mances by Ingunn Sturludóttir
and Guðrún Tómasdóttir.
6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 October 2006
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Powerful role of women, knowledge explored at joint conference
Scholars, students and many from the local community took
part in the conference. Attendance swelled to 60 people on Sat-
urday, necessitating additional chairs for the already packed
Iceland Reading Room in the Icelandic Collection.
Guðný Guðbjörnsdóttir, Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir, Kristín Ástgeirsdóttir, and Al and Dr. Carolyn Crippen at
the supper, which featured music by “Duo Borealis” — Ingunn Sturladóttir and Guðrún Tómasdóttir.
From left: The Icelandic Department’s Helga Hilmisdóttir,
Darlene McWhirter and Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir.
Dr. Ármann Jakobsson speaks on “Two Wise Wom-
en and their Young Apprentice: a Miscarried Magic
Class,” exploring themes in Icelandic sagas.
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