Lucia C. Birnbaum was invited to a number of conferences in Fall 2004, suggesting the convergence of scholarship in Women's Spirituality with that of several other disciplines.

An international conference of archeologists held in Italy September 8-14, 2004 invited Lucia to present La Madre O-scura, the italian edition of her book, dark mother, as well as a paper on the methodologies she used in the study. Lucia presented her book with a paper entitled, "Black Mother and the Change of Paradigm." The title of her methodologies paper for the conference was: "Memory of the Black Mother."

This XXI Valcamonica Symposium 2004 of archeologists, held at the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, Darfo-Boario Terme, near Brescia, hosted "scholars from 36 countries to establish a state of the art in terms of 'New Discoveries, New Interpretations, New Research Methods.'"

The 16th Annual Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference in Philadelphia, October 1 and 2, 2004 invited Lucia to present her work "on the African origins of homo sapiens sapiens, that is, the genetic origin of modern humans in South and Central Africa, particularly in regard to the aniconic signs of veneration of the African dark mother" to the conference, which focused on "Classical Africa: Foundations for Postmodern and Post-Western Renewal."

Lucia's paper, "The Dark Mother Phenomenon in European Thought: Recent Findings," was part of the panel, "African Origins: Concepts and Practices." This conference, which annually celebrates Cheikh Anta Diop, whose classic work Civilization or Barbarism challenged conventional racist interpretations of Africa, is regarded as "an intellectual and disciplinary advance in Afrocentric studies."

On October 13, the Library and Department of Literature of San Diego State University invited Lucia to inaugurate the traveling exhibit, "Black Madonnas," sponsored by the Department of Italian Culture, Queens College, New York.

November 4-6, 2004, at the annual conference of the American Italian Historical Association, Lucia chaired a panel of contributors to an anthology she edited, She is Everywhere! Anthology in Writings in Feminist Spirituality. Participants in the anthology who presented their work included Louisa Calio, Mary Beth Moser, Karen N. Villanueva, and Laura Amazzone.

The book jacket of La Madre O-Scura (Cosenza, Italia, MEDiterranea MEDia, Collana donnemondo, 2004) describes the significance of Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum's work:

"Lucia's professional experience has evolved from that of a traditional historian to that of a multicultural feminist scholar interested in the study of submerged beliefs, using an open methodology and continual experimentation. With intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives, she has studied everyday rituals and celebratory moments, stories of saints, the lives of her own grandmothers, the beliefs of sicilian godmothers, and other dark others...[a category that includes] canaanites, moors, jews, heretics and witches. Using comparative methodology she has juxtaposed the history of Europe with that of the United States and the italian women's movement with beliefs of women of the world....Lucia hopes that this study will sustain those who work for a new world civilization constructed on the values of the black mother: justice with compassion, equality, and transformation."

Women's Spirituality Program