University of Sydney

Post-Doc, Studies in Religion

Research Associate

Thesis Title: "In the footsteps of the heroine: the journey to Integral feminism"

About

www.sarahnicholson.org

Dr Sarah Nicholson’s PhD  “In the footsteps of the heroine: the journey to Integral Feminism” followed the figure of woman as heroine from the ancient Archaic stage of human history to the burgeoning Integral stage; exploring the development of feminist spirituality from within the context of Integral theory and human evolutionary development.

She has been a Visiting Scholar at York University (Canada) and the Australian National University, and has been an Adjunct Faculty member of Integral Institute’s Women’s Integral Life Practice seminar. At the first Integral Theory Conference (JFK University, U.S) in 2008, she presented on “Woman in evolutionary history: From the Archaic to Integral Feminism”  and was an invited speaker on the conferences “Integral Feminism” panel.

As well as publishing and presenting research both nationally and internationally, Sarah has been a published poet for over ten years and was awarded the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fellowship for Literature in 2004.  She has  studied and practiced extensively in the traditions of Zen and western Vipassana, and has taught contemplative writing practice and meditation.  She currently teaches in the fields of religion, culture and literature at University of Western Sydney and is a Research Associate of Sydney University’s Faculty of Education.

email: sass.e.nicholson@gmail.com

My doctorate "In the footsteps of the heroine: the journey to Integral feminism" was awarded in 2009.

Abstract:

For Joseph Campbell the hero’s journey is the embodiment of the most significant of questions: “what it is to be human?”… “who am I?”. But, for women, this question has long been interrupted by the question “what is it to be a woman?”. Taking Wilber’s epic Sex, Ecology, Spirituality as a definite representation of the course of human evolutionary history, this work follows the figure of woman from the Archaic stage to the burgeoning Integral stage. This book explores the development of feminism, feminist thought and feminist spirituality from within the context of human evolutionary development. It brings integral theory into dialogue with contemporary feminist philosophies of religion, in order to develop an integral feminism that might adequately answer the question :”who is woman?”. Throughout, this book follows the stories of women who have blazed a trail as spiritual heroes in order to draw a lineage of women heroes as a horizon of becoming that lights the way for women who walk the path today.

Publications
2010
"The Problem of Woman as Hero in the Work of Joseph Campbell" Feminist Theology 19 (2) 1- 12, 2010.

2008
“The Journey to the Unitive Horizon: Women Becoming Divine” in  Spirituality in Australia: Resurgence and Diversity, Dowson,  Miner and Devenish (Eds), Centre for Human Interaction, Learning and Development/ Australasian Centre for Studies in Spirituality.  Sydney, Australia

“From Archaic beginnings to Integral Feminism”
Conference proceedings from the 1st Biannual Integral Theory and Practice conference, John F. Kennedy University, San Francisco.

2007
“Unitive Horizons: Women becoming divine”
Spirituality in Australia conference proceedings
University of Western Sydney, Psychology and Spirituality group

2005
“The perennial philosophy of the goddess Inanna”
The International Journal of Humanities. Vol 1.1

“Towards Integral Feminism”
Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, Vol 1.2

2004
“Reclaiming the Streets of Sydney”
M/C reviews: ‘Objection or Obstruction’ issue
University of Queensland

2003
“Reclaiming the Streets”
Bulletin of Good Practice in Popular Education, Volume 7
University of Technology Sydney

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