• 1982 “Women and Worship” Jeanne Audrey Powers

• 1983 “Women’s Lives in World Religions” Rita Gross

• 1984 “The Spirituality of Social Concern” Maureen Fielder

• 1985 “Language and Imagery” Rosemary Radford Ruether

• 1986 “Building Communities of Resistance and Renewal” Starhawk

• 1987 “Lifepaths of Women: Celebrating Self & Community” Charlotte Black Elk

• 1988 “Spirituality & Social Justice” Valerie Russell

• 1989 Conference program unavailable, if you have a copy, please contact us!

• 1990 “There Are Many Paths Up the Mountain” Carter Heywood

• 1991 “Women’s Spirituality: The Expanding Circle” Luisah Teish

• 1992 “The Power of Words: An Honoring of Meridel LeSueur”

• 1993 “The Grail is the Goddess” Jean Shinoda Bolen

• 1994 “Feminism, Spirituality and the Environment” Karen Warren

• 1995 ” Something Within: Spirituality in African American Women’s Literature” Kate Rushin

• 1996 “Re-Calling the Outrageous Contagious Courage of Women” Mary Daly

• 1997 “Feminist Spirituality: The Unguided Journey” Barbara G. Walker

• 1998 “Activism & Spirituality: Bridging Faith, the Land, the People” Sister Paula Gonzàlez

• 1999 “Trans Liberation: The Basis for Unity” Leslie Feinberg

• 2000 “Chaos & Opportunity At the Dawn of the 21st Century” Mary Hayes-Grieco

• 2001 “Indigenous Thinking in the Millennium” Winona LaDuke

• 2002 “She Who Changes” Carol Christ

• 2003 “Female Embodiment & Spiritual Practice” Charlene Spretnak

• 2004 “Celebrating Your Creative Spirit” Vinnie Burrows

• 2005 “Frontline Spirituality” Starhawk

• 2006 “Personal Journeys” Shakti Gawain

• 2007 “Dreaming in Female” Marge Piercy

• 2008 “Partnership Spirituality: Putting Love into Action” Riane Eisler

• 2009 “Women and the Gendered Politics of Food” Dr. Vandana Shiva

• 2010 “Marrying Sex & Spirituality: A Planetary Challenge” Dr. Akasha Hull

• 2011 “Creating a Multi-Cultural Democracy: Religion, Culture & Identity in America” Winona LaDuke

• 2012 “Spirituality and Social Justice” Andrea Smith

• 2013 “Women’s Hidden Histories: Goddesses, Witches, Hags and Wild Women” Starhawk

• 2014 “The Luminous Architecture of Change” Layli Maparyan

• 2015 “The Power of the Feminine Spirit: Creating the Compassionate & Good Society” Juana Bordas

• 2016 “A Shared Language: Memoir, Feminism and Spirituality” Daisy Hernández

• 2017 “How to Turn Your Faith into Action” Becca Stevens

• 2018 “Incapable of Untruth: The Dancing Body & Adventures in Spiritual Evolution” Donna Mejia

• 2019 “Inanna’s Journey: Letting Ourselves Off the Hook” Rev. Judith Laxer

• 2023 “Celtic Mythology in an Age of Ecocide” with Dr. Sharon Blackie Printable PDF version of the 2023 schedule

From the Mankato Archives:

Annual spirituality conference began as small gathering in 1981

Glimpse of the Past

• By Edie Schmierbach [email protected]
• Oct 22, 2016

The origins of this weekend’s Women and Spirituality Conference at Minnesota State University go back to 1981, when a small audience attended an on-campus event, “Women and Worship, Women and Spirituality.”

Cindy Veldhuisen, office manager for MSU’s Gender and Women’s Studies department, the conference’s business manager, came aboard as an organizer a year after the inaugural gathering.

“Those first years we had maybe 15 to 20 people,” Veldhuisen said.

The United Christian Campus Center was a co-sponsor for the 1982 conference. That event featured group discussions, sing-a-longs and speakers. Mankato native Jeanne Audrey Powers’ presentation explained her work with a Council of Churches commission that focused on Bible translations and inclusiveness.

In recent years, the event has attracted more than 1,000 people.

“The conference is a tradition,” Maria Bevacqua, chair of the Women’s Studies Department, said in a 2007 interview. “There are people who come every year, and there are elements here that are constant.”

The conference is intended to nurture caring, respect and understanding among men and women from different spiritual and religious backgrounds. It’s open to students, faculty, staff and the public, who may participate in two days of workshops, discussions, exhibits, dialogue, discovery and celebrations, and check out dozens of vendors’ merchandise.

Over the years, organizers of the event have done little to change how it is presented. Still, there’s always been room for fresh faces, and even more room for pioneers.

“I love interacting with the different personalities — the people who attend and the presenters,” Veldhuisen said.

Author Marge Piercy was the 1982 conference’s keynote speaker. Her numerous novels and books of poetry are considered staples of women’s studies and ‘must reads” for feminist scholars.

In 2011, sustainable development and renewable energy activist and former vice-presidential candidate Winona LaDuke spoke at the 30th annual conference.

One of last year’s [2015] speakers, psychic medium Sonia Rose, discussed communicating with spirit guides.

The 35th conference this weekend [2016] will be the last time Mankato will be the site of the symposium of psychics, shamans and energy practitioners. One of the conference’s regular presenters will carry on the conference in Rochester in the future.