CURRICULUM VITAE
Miriam Robbins Dexter, Ph.D.
Miriam Robbins Dexter, Ph.D., holds a B.A. in Classics and a Ph.D. in Indo-European Studies (comparative linguistics, archaeology and mythology), from the University of California, Los Angeles. For thirteen years, she taught courses in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit language and literature in the department of Classics at the University of Southern California, and is presently teaching at both UCLA and Antioch University in Los Angeles. She has authored several journal and encyclopedia articles on ancient female figures and wrote a new Introduction to The Eye Goddess (1991) by O.G.S. Crawford. She is the author of Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book (1990), and co-edited two collections of articles: Varia on the Indo-European Past: Papers in Memory of Marija Gimbutas (1997); and a monograph of Dr. Gimbutas’ own collected articles, The Kurgan Culture and the Indo-Europeanization of Europe: Selected articles from 1952 to 1993 (1997). She also edited and supplemented The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas (UC Berkeley Press, 1999).
Educational Background
1978
Ph.D., Indo-European Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, California. Dissertation: “Indo-European Female Figures.”
1966
A.B., Classical Languages and Literature (cum laude), University of California, Los Angeles, California.
Languages Read
Latin, Greek (and Italic and Greek dialects, including Linear B), Sanskrit, Hittite; Tocharian; old Germanic dialects, including Old High German, Old Saxon, and Gothic; Old Irish; Old Iranian; Old Church Slavic.; Modern languages: French, Italian, Spanish, German, Lithuanian, some Russian. Near-Eastern languages (limited ability): Ugaritic; Akkadian/Babylonian/Assyrian; Sumerian; Egyptian; Hebrew.
Professional Background
2014 to present
External Reader, California Institute of Integral Studies Ph.D. program.
2005
Guest lecturer: New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria; University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
2007
Guest Lecturer, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza,” University of Iaşi, Moldavia, Romania.
2005-2007
External Reader, Pacifica University, Ph.D. program.
2003-2009
Adjunct Faculty, The Union Institute.
2000-2009
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Honors Collegium: Acting Myth.
1998 to present
UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Research Scholar / Research Affiliate.
1997 to 2001
UCLA Women’s Studies Program: Senior Research Seminar; Introduction to Women’s Studies.
1997 to 2010
UCLA Women’s Studies Program and Honors Program, “The Roots of Patriarchy: Ancient Goddesses and Heroines.”
1997-2001
UCLA Women’s Studies Program: Senior Research Seminar; Introduction to Women’s Studies.
1996 to 2004
Annual All-day Workshop, Antioch University: “From the Great Above to the Great Below: Near-Eastern Goddesses of the Heaven, the Earth, and the Underworld.”
1995
Adjunct Faculty, The Union Institute.
1994 to 2004
Antioch University Adjunct Faculty: annual course, “Ancient Goddesses and Heroines.”
1994-1995
Lecturer, Council on Educational Development, University of California, Los Angeles: “The Roots of Patriarchy: Ancient Goddesses and Heroines.”
1981-1993
Lecturer, Department of Classics, University of Southern California: Greek and Latin grammar; readings in Linear B and Classic texts, Rigvedic Sanskrit; Latin and Greek Elements in English; “Ancient Goddesses and Heroines”; Classical Mythology.
1981-1983
Lecturer, Program in Women’s Studies, California State University, Northridge: Introduction to Women’s Studies.
1980-1984
Lecturer, Council on Educational Development, University of California, Los Angeles: “Goddesses and Heroines in Ancient Literatures and Mythologies.”
1980-1982
Instructor, American Culture and Language Program, California State University, Los Angeles: English as a Second Language.
1979-1981
Instructor, English as a Second Language, Evans Community Adult School, Los Angeles.
1979-1980
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Occidental College: Introductory Linguistics; Historical Linguistics.
1962-1978
Translator and tutor of German, French, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.
Publications
Books
2013
Sacred Display: New Findings. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Victor H. Mair. Sino-Platonic Papers (Online Journal, University of Pennsylvania; http://sino-platonic.org. Sept. 2013).
1990
Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book. Pergamon Press, Athene Series. [Reprint: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, Athene Series, 1992.]
2010
Sacred Display: Divine and Magical Female Figures of Eurasia. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Victor H. Mair. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2010.
[**2012 Sarasvati award for the best nonfiction book from the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology]
1990
Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book. Pergamon Press, Athene Series.
Reprinted 1992: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
Books Edited and Introduced
2015
Elders and Visionaries: Foremothers of the Women’s Spirituality Movement. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Vicki Noble, eds. Amherst, New York: Teneo Press, 2015.
[**2016 Susan Koppelman Award for best edited feminist anthology]
2010
Prehistoric Roots of Romanian and Southeast European Traditions, by Adrian Poruciuc. Joan Marler and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Sebastopol, California: Institute of Archaeomythology. Preface by Miriam Robbins Dexter.
2009
Signs of Civilization: Neolithic Symbol System of Southeast Europe. Joan Marler and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. (Proceedings from the International Symposium Signs of Civilization, Novi Sad, Serbia, May 25-29, 2004.) Novi Sad, Serbia: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi Sad Branch; Sebastopol, California: Institute of Archaeomythology.
2008
Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2007. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2007
Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2006. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2006
Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2005. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2005
Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2004. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2004
Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2003. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2003
Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2002. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2002
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2001. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
2001
Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 2000. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Martin Huld, and Miriam Robbins Dexter, eds. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man Monograph.
1999
Proceedings of the Tenth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 1998. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Miriam Robbins Dexter, and Martin Huld, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man.
1999
The Living Goddesses, by Marija Gimbutas, edited and supplemented by Miriam Robbins Dexter. Los Angeles and Berkeley: University of California Press. [Paperback edition 2001.]
1998
Proceedings of the Ninth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 1997, Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Miriam Robbins Dexter, and Martin Huld, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph No. 28. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man.
1997
The Kurgan Culture and the Indo-Europeanization of Europe: Selected articles from 1952 to 1993, by Marija Gimbutas. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Karlene Jones-Bley, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph No. 18. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man.
Varia on the Indo-European Past: Papers in Memory of Marija Gimbutas. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Edgar Polomé, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph No. 19. Washington, DC: The Institute for the Study of Man.
1991
Introduction to re-publication of The Eye Goddess, by O.G.S. Crawford, Delphi Press.
Articles
Forthcoming
“Neolithic Goddesses;” “Upper Palaeolithic and Pre-Neolithic Goddesses.” Encyclopedia of Women and Religion, ABC CLIO.
“Neolithic Female Figures and their Evolution into Groups of Ferocious and Beneficent Historic-Age Goddesses.” International symposium, The Image of Divinity in Neolithic and Eneolithic. Ways of communication. Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu/Hermannstadt, Romania.
“Sacred Display.” Conference paper by Victor H. Mair and Miriam Robbins Dexter. Asian Studies Conference publication.
ASWM (Association for the Study of Women and Mythology) Conference Proceedings, vol. 2. “Sacred Display” (from Keynote address, 2012).
2015
“Felines, Apotropaia, and the Sacred ‘V’: Evolution of Symbols Associated with Divine and Magical Female Figures.” Papers Presented at the International Symposium, From Symbols to Signs, Suceava, Romania, 2-5 September, 2014. In Memory of Klaus Schmidt. Constantin-Emil Ursu, Adrian Poruciuc, and Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici, eds. Suceava, Romania: Muzeul Bucovinei Suceava, Academia Română-Filiala Iaşi – Institutul de Arheologie Iaşi, Institute of Archaeomythology Sebastopol. Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, 295-316.
“Introduction: On My Path.” In Elders and Visionaries: Foremothers of the Women’s Spirituality Movement, ed. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Vicki Noble. Amherst, New York: Teneo Press.
2013
“Sheela-na-gig: Sexualität und die Göttin im Alten Irland.” In Kelten Kulte Göttinnen: Spuren einer verborgenen Kultur. Kurt Derungs, ed. Verlag edition amalia, Akademie der Landschaft. German translation of “The Sheela na gigs, Sexuality, and the Goddess in Ancient Ireland.” Miriam Robbins Dexter and Starr Goode, 243-271.
“Medb, the Morrigan, and Place in Ancient Ireland.” AboutPlace, “Earth, Spirit, Society,” online journal, August, 2013. http://aboutplacejournal.org/.
“La Terribile, Erotica e ‘Bella’ Medusa e il Serpente e l’Uccello Neolitici.” Italian translation of “The Ferocious and the Erotic: ‘Beautiful’ Medusa and the Neolithic Bird and Snake” by Mariagrazia Pelaia. Prometeo: Rivista trimestrale di scienze e storia. Anno 31 Numero 122. June, 2013, 20-29.
2014
“Further Thoughts on the V and the M in the Danube Script: The Danube Script and the Old European Goddess.” Fifty years of Tartaria Excavations. Festschrift in honor of Gheorghe Lazarovici on the occasion of his 73rd birthday. Joan Marler, ed. Sebastopol: Institute of Archaeomythology; Reşiţa: Universitatea “Eftimie Murgu,” 139-161.
2002
“Colchian Medea and her Circumpontic Sisters.” Presented at the International Symposium on the Interdisciplinary Significance of the Black Sea Flood, c. 6700 BC, June 3-7, 2002, Liguria Study Center Bogliasco, Italy. ReVision 25, no. 1: 3-14.
“The Sheela na gigs, Sexuality, and the Goddess in Ancient Ireland” (co-authored with Starr Goode). Irish Journal of Feminist Studies 4, no. 2: 50-75.
2000
“The Sheela-na-gigs: Tracing the Legacy of Prehistoric and Pre-Christian Goddesses in Medieval Irish Iconography” (co-authored with Goode). Presented at the International History of Religions Conference, Durban, South Africa, August 7-11, 2000.
“Sexuality, the Sheela na gigs, and the Goddess in Ancient Ireland.” (co-authored with Starr Goode). Presented at the First International Conference of the Institute of Archaeomythology, “Deepening the Disciplines,” July 13-18, 1998, Madouri, Greece. ReVision 23, no. 1 (Summer 2000): 38-48
“Dawn and Sun in Indo-European Myth: Gender and Geography.” In Collectanea Philologia IV Ignatio Richardo Danka sexagenario oblata, Łodz, Poland: 103-122. Krzysztof Witczak and Piotr Stalmaszczyk, eds. Łodz University Press, 2000.
1999
“Prehistoric Goddesses.” In The Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion. New York: Macmillan.
1998
“Queen Medb, Female Autonomy in Ancient Ireland, and Matrilineal Traditions.” In Proceedings of the Ninth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, 1997: 95-122. Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela della Volpe, Miriam Robbins Dexter, and Martin Huld, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 28. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man.
1997
“The Brown Bull of Cooley and Matriliny in Celtic Ireland.” In From the Realm of the Ancestors: An Anthology in Honor of Marija Gimbutas: 218-236. Joan Marler, ed. Manchester, Connecticut: Knowledge Ideas and Trends.
“Born of the Foam.” In Studies in Honor of Jaan Puhvel, Part II: Mythology and Religion: 83-102. John Greppin and Edgar C. Polomé, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 21. Washington, DC: The Institute for the Study of Man, 1997.
“The Frightful Goddess: Birds, Snakes and Witches.” In Varia on the Indo-European Past: Papers in Memory of Marija Gimbutas: 124-154. Miriam Robbins Dexter and Edgar C. Polomé, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 19. Washington, DC: The Institute for the Study of Man, 1997.
Articles on Indo-European Female Figures for the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, J.P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, eds. Garland Publishing, 1997.
1996
“Dawn-Maid and Sun-Maid: Celestial Goddesses among the Proto-Indo-Europeans.” Presented at the International Conference, “The Indo-Europeanization of Northern Europe,” Vilnius, Lithuania, September 1-7, 1994. In The Indo-Europeanization of Northern Europe: 228-246. Karlene Jones-Bley and Martin E. Huld, eds. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 17. Washington, DC: The Institute for the Study of Man.
1990
“The Hippomorphic Goddess and Her Offspring.” Presented at the second multidisciplinary international Conference on the “Transformation of European and Anatolian Culture in Prehistory,” Dublin, Ireland, September, 1989. In Journal of Indo-European Studies 18, nos. 3-4: 285-307.
“Reflections on the Goddess *Donu. ” Presented at the first Indo-European Convivium, UCLA, “Indo-European and Universals,” May, 1989. In Mankind Quarterly 30, nos. 1-2: 45-58, (Fall/Winter 1990);
1985
“Indo-European Reflections of Virginity and Autonomy.” Presented at the International Congress of Anthropology and Ethnography, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, August, 1983. Mankind Quarterly 26, nos. 1-2 (Fall/Winter 1985): 57-74.
1984
“Proto-Indo-European Sun Maidens and Gods of the Moon.” Presented to the Philological Association of the Pacific Coast, Berkeley, California, November, 1980. Mankind Quarterly 25, nos. 1-2 (Fall/Winter 1984): 137-144.
1980
“The Assimilation of Pre-Indo-European Female Figures into the Indo-European Pantheons.” Presented at the first multidisciplinary International Conference, “The Transformation of European and Anatolian Culture, 4500-2500 B.C. and its Legacy”, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, September, 1979. Journal of Indo-European Studies 8, nos. 1-2: 19-29.
1969
“Dionysos, a Poet of Syracuse.” Translation from the Lithuanian. In Lietuvių Dienos Magazine XX, no. 6: 18-19.
Editorial Contributions
Editorial board, Journal of Indo-European Studies
Reader for various university presses
Professional and Community Organizations
Institute of Archaeomythology, Board of Directors
Friends of Indo-European Studies, UCLA – Vice President – 1990s to 2016
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW): Research Scholar/Resesarch Affiliate 1998-present
American Mensa Limited