(E-Interview) Mary Ann Beavis by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mary Ann Beavis stands at the edges of Christianity and has held the academic identity of a feminist scholar, which I respect and rely on for The Mago Work. I feel our encounter is divine, a gift from Mago, the Creatrix. She has been a volunteer for The Mago Work for more than a decade. That is how I came to know Mary Ann and her work. For the last few years, she has become an indispensable volunteer for The Mago Work. With much appreciation to you, Mary Ann, I reflect back how I began establishing The Mago Work about 13 years ago to trace how we encountered through Mago Work projects. Mary Ann became a Return to Mago E-Magazine contributor in February 2014. This is around the time I founded  Mago Books. Mago Books published its first book, the first volume of the She Rises trilogy (Mago Books, 2015). Prior to this, I began leading the annual tour program, Mago Pilgrimage to Korea, in 2013. Mago Pilgrimage to Korea was the first program of Mago Academy. Mary Ann joined me for the Mago Pilgrimage to Korea in 2016. Prior to that, I had invited her to become co-editor of She Rises Volume 2 (Mago Books, 2016). Those were Mary Ann’s involvements with The Mago Work in earlier years. I am grateful that you proposed to me that we publish the textbook on Goddess Studies. Thus came Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018). And Mary Ann continued to propose the foundation of an academic peer-reviewed journal, which we named S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies. Thus, we co-founded the S/HE Journal in 2020 and published its first issue in April 2022. Personally, I am in much appreciation of what you, as an academic, have given to The Mago Work. Through our collaboration, I feel that my research and writing on Magoist Cetaceanism have found a niche on the border of academics, independent researchers, and ardent readers. Now we are looking forward to the unfolding of the S/HE Conference, which just began this June.

Helen Hye-Sook Hwang You retired from an academic position last year. Tell us what your experience as a feminist academic was like.

Mary Ann Beavis I actually retired July 1, 2020, near the beginning of the pandemic. Prior to that, I was Professor of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. STM is a Catholic liberal arts college (not a seminary or theological college) academically federated with a large research university, so contrary to expectation, I had free rein to pursue my research, publishing and teaching in whatever areas I wished. I am a scholar of New Testament and Christian Origins by training, and much of my work has been in those areas, often in feminist biblical studies. So, for example, I am the co-author of two full-length commentaries on biblical books (Hebrews and 2 Thessalonians) in the first-ever series of volume-length feminist commentaries on the entire bible (including apocrypha/deutero-canonicals), The Wisdom Commentaries. The Hebrews commentary was framed in terms of the search for the submerged voice of divine Wisdom/Sophia embedded within the text. I was also able to pursue Goddess-related projects and receive due credit for them in terms of merit and promotion. Partly, this may be due to the fact that scholars employed in post-secondary institutions tend to be absorbed in their own work, and simply aren’t that interested in what others are doing. But I was able to receive due credit for my work by ensuring that I published in reputable, peer-reviewed venues (publishers and journals) that demanded recognition by the administration. I was also free to develop and teach a course called “Goddesses in Myth and History,” which proved to be one of our more popular course offerings.

That is not to say that I haven’t experienced anti-feminist discrimination. I was once nearly “un-invited” from writing a commentary that I was contracted to write because someone on their editorial board was concerned that my commentary would be too feminist (in particular, that I would spell “God” the wrong way!). I had to explain to them politely that I would not be doing that because it would not be appropriate to the series (although there is certainly some feminist content in the published work). An academic administrator vetoed my invitation of a very prominent Catholic feminist scholar from speaking at my College, I suspect because he was afraid it might damage his own ecclesiastical career. Such, unfortunately, is life in academia, although, for me, these experiences were rare.

I am now Professor Emerita, a status that allows me to continue my scholarly work with institutional support form St. Thomas More College and the University of Saskatchewan.

Hwang What are your feminist/goddessian scholarly works? How do you see they contribute to Goddess feminist spirituality?

Beavis Here is a list of some of my Goddess-related publications:

I would say that within the sphere of Goddess Studies, my most significant contribution has been my study of women who blend Goddess Spirituality and Christianity (Christian Goddess Spirituality: Enchanting Christianity). This was based on in-person and telephone interviews with a hundred women (and an in-person focus group of 14 women), mostly North American, who self-identified as blending these traditions in some way. The work was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which enabled me to spend five weeks interviewing members of Herchurch, San Francisco, and to bring focus group participants to my college to share their experiences. Recently, it has been encouraging when someone who has read the book tells me that it resonates with them. Several graduate students interested in pursuing further research in this area have contacted me in the past several months.

Something that has fascinated me for a long time is that the Goddess/female divine is found in all major religious traditions (see Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture), although She is suppressed and submerged in some of them, and in others, Her presence does not necessarily correlate with women’s wellbeing. It is the task of feminist spirituality to excavate and retrieve the suppressed/misappropriated Goddess/es in authentic ways that are conducive to human and ecological flourishing.

Hwang You have been a Mago Work volunteer for many years. In particular, your volunteerism is indispensable in the development of the S/HE Journal. What attracts you to the Mago Work? How do you see the importance of your commitment to the Mago Work?

Beavis I think that my major contribution to the Mago Work has been in the academic realm. This is by no means the only or even the most important aspect of feminist Goddess spirituality, but does offer an avenue for credible research in Goddess Studies. This is important, because Goddess Studies has not taken hold in academic circles as a recognized area of study, although there are many scholars doing Goddess-related research. Part of this can be explained by the atomization of university disciplines, which is not conducive to interdisciplinary studies. Another explanation is, of course, the backlash against feminism that is ubiquitous in society, including academia (although that said, feminism has had a significant impact on these sectors). A few examples—there are very few university-level courses on Goddesses in world religions (like my “Goddesses in Myth and History”), although in my experience, at least, there is a lot of student interest. I realized while teaching that course that the only textbook on Goddesses in world religions was published in 1983 (and in recent years, has been out of print)! This was the impetus for the compilation of the Mago textbook Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (2018). Similarly, there has been no peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to Goddess Studies, which led to the founding of S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies. My academic and editorial experience (I am the founding editor of two other academic journals, the Canadian Journal of Urban Research and the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, both of which are still being published) have enabled me to contribute to these projects with strong support from Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and the Mago Work, without which they simply wouldn’t exist.

Hwang What would you say to young or new feminist scholars who seek an academic teaching career?

Beavis My first piece of advice to any student thinking of entering a PhD program is to do it because it’s what you really feel called to do; it takes a lot of time, money and effort, and there’s no promise of a financially rewarding academic career at the end of it. That said, a lot of people get PhDs and pursue other satisfying careers. I actually worked for nine years at the Institute of Urban Studies (University of Winnipeg) and progressed from receptionist to Research Associate to Senior Research Associate and even Acting Director before I secured a tenure-track position at STM. That said, I have been on a lot of search committees for new faculty in various departments. For those who do want a career in a university setting, it’s important to start teaching as soon as possible, preferably on a part-time basis while you’re still a PhD student. Be sure to administer student evaluations of your teaching and keep copies of them for future job applications; copies of peer reviews of your teaching are also helpful. It’s also important to start publishing in peer-reviewed venues as soon as possible (and save copies of those reviews!). These are qualifications that employers will be looking for; simply having a PhD (or being “almost finished” one, which can mean anything from a few months to several years!), is not enough in a highly competitive job market. If you get offered a tenure-track position, take it—you may not get another one for a long time, and being employed puts you in a stronger position if you should want to move on.

Once you’re in that tenure-track job, again, be sure to do student evaluations and peer evaluations of your teaching, and, of course, keep copies. Keep pursuing those refereed publications, and hold on to the written reviews. Participate in the scholarly community by attending and presenting at conferences, writing book reviews, serving on committees. I’ve been on many tenure and promotion committees, and my best advice is to familiarize yourself with your institution’s standards, and exceed them.

Although it all sounds rather daunting, the university can be a great place to develop your Goddess scholarship and teaching. I would love to see more Goddess Studies courses taught at universities and colleges—this is an effective way to introduce Goddess Studies to generations of students. Thanks to the Mago Work, there is now an excellent textbook, a peer-reviewed journal, and an annual conference available to support you!

Hwang Thank you so much for your conversation with me. I feel honored and proud of you as my comrade sister.

Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.