Academic Background
Education
Education:
Ph.D., Monash University, Melbourne, conferred October 2005.
M.A., University of Toronto, conferred June 1994.
B.Ed., University of Toronto, conferred June 1994.
B.A. Hons., University of Toronto, conferred June 1992.
Professional Employment:
2000 to December 2012, Lecturer at Monash University.
* Also, for three years (2008-2011), I was an assistant editor for Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, Routledge (Francis and Taylor Group), published in 36 countries.
Scholarships and Awards
Monash Graduate Scholarship, March 2003 to February 2005 (Australia: offered and accepted).
Monash International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, March 2003 (Australia: offered and accepted).
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, spring 1993 (Canada: offered but rejected).
University of Toronto Open Scholarship, spring 1993 (Canada: offered but rejected).
Junior Associate Scholarship of the Pontifical Institute of University of Toronto, spring 1992 (Canada: offered and accepted).
Silver Medal Award for the Best Philosophy Graduate of St. Michael’s College of University of Toronto, spring 1992 (Canada: offered and accepted).
Faculty of Arts and Science Scholar certificate in recognition of academic work accomplished with high distinction: spring 1991 and 1992, University of Toronto (Canada: offered and accepted).
Languages spoken
Polish, English, French, Latin.
Scholarship & Speaking
Joanna combines serious scholarship with an unusual ability to make complex esoteric material accessible, entertaining and relevant.
Jeff Woodgate — President, Canberra Jung Society — strongest academic/institutional endorsement.
Dr Joseph Cheer — Monash University — academic research + personal experience + audience connection.
Ben Bowler — World Weavers / Monash symposium — specifically recommends her for public speaking and academic events.
Katarzyna Syta — Seven Sermons to the Dead; “fascinating, clear, condensed knowledge.”
Kerry Keim — Carl Jung Society talk; knowledgeable, witty, engaging.
Yashoda de Hayr — Jung Society; knowledgeable, handled difficult questions.
TJ Bateman — depth of knowledge, compelling lecturer, strong Q&A.
Joanna’s Reading List
A selection of books that have inspired Dr Joanna Kujawa’s thinking across spirituality, consciousness, literature, philosophy, mysticism and the nature of reality.
The Odyssey — Homer
The foundational journey of exile, transformation and the long search for home.Consciousness Is Everything — Swami Shankarananda
An exploration of the non-dual idea that consciousness is not something we possess, but the fundamental ground of experience.A New Earth — Eckhart Tolle
A contemporary exploration of ego, awakening and the possibility of living from a different state of consciousness.The Gospel of Mary Magdalene — Jean-Yves Leloup
A translation and interpretation of the ancient Gospel of Mary, presenting Mary Magdalene as disciple, visionary and spiritual teacher.Life of Pi — Yann Martel
A philosophical novel about survival, faith, storytelling and the elusive boundary between truth and meaning.The Underpainter — Jane Urquhart
A beautifully layered novel about memory, art, love and the emotional landscapes concealed beneath the surface of a life.From the Finite to the Infinite — Swami Muktananda
A spiritual journey from identification with the limited self toward an experience of expanded consciousness.The Sun Also Rises — Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway’s portrait of a generation searching for meaning, intimacy and authenticity after profound disillusionment.A Moveable Feast — Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway’s evocative memoir of creativity, writers and life in 1920s Paris.The Old Man and the Sea — Ernest Hemingway
A deceptively simple meditation on endurance, dignity, struggle and humanity’s relationship with nature.Open Secrets — Alice Munro
Stories that uncover the hidden emotional realities, choices and mysteries beneath apparently ordinary lives.The English Patient — Michael Ondaatje
A lyrical exploration of identity, memory, desire and the ways love and history cross conventional boundaries.One Hundred Years of Solitude — Gabriel García Márquez
A landmark of magical realism in which myth, history, memory and the miraculous coexist as parts of a single reality.Heart of Darkness — Joseph Conrad
A dark psychological journey into colonialism, morality and the unsettling depths of human nature.The Magician of Lublin — Isaac Bashevis Singer
A tale of desire, illusion, spiritual crisis and the difficult movement from worldly appetite toward transformation.The Power of Now — Eckhart Tolle
A practical spiritual exploration of presence and the liberation that can come from loosening our identification with thought.The Songlines — Bruce Chatwin
A journey into Aboriginal Australian traditions and the profound relationship between story, landscape, memory and identity.A Brief History of Time — Stephen Hawking
An accessible journey through modern cosmology and some of our largest questions about space, time and the universe.The Whirlpool — Jane Urquhart
A poetic novel exploring death, obsession, memory and the mysterious forces that draw human lives together.A Search in Secret India — Paul Brunton
A classic spiritual travelogue chronicling Brunton’s search for yogis, mystics and hidden traditions across India.The Jerusalem Diary: Searching for the Tomb and House of Jesus — Joanna Kujawa
Joanna Kujawa’s own spiritual and historical journey through Jerusalem in search of the places, traditions and mysteries surrounding Jesus.On the Black Hill — Bruce Chatwin
A quiet, intimate story of two brothers whose lives reveal the deep relationship between identity, place and belonging.The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas — Gertrude Stein
Stein’s playful and unconventional portrait of the extraordinary artists, writers and cultural world of early twentieth-century Paris.Augustine of Hippo: A Biography — Peter Brown
A major intellectual biography examining Augustine’s life, ideas and enormous influence on the development of Western Christianity.
“Dr. Joanna Kujawa has written one of the most important books of our time. The Other Goddess stands alone as a book that is both a powerful teaching and an alchemical tool, opening the door for the willing reader to accept the healing transformation available within its pages. Written from the lens of a brilliant scholar, Dr. Kujawa does the research for us, presenting the material with ease and accessibility. It is simultaneously down to earth and transcendent. I couldn’t put this book down and while I drank it in, I felt myself remembering the wisdom she brings forth as it lives in me personally. Indeed, Dr. Kujawa emerges as one of the greatest teachers of goddess consciousness today. This is a must-read for anyone longing to reclaim the deepest truths of the Divine Feminine.”
— Seana Zelazo
LICSW
“In The Other Goddess, scholar Joanna Kujawa explores an esoteric tradition of women’s power and instructs readers on how they can utilize the transformative potentials that Mary Magdalene represents and personifies.”
— Professor Diana Walsh Pasulka
Author of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology
“Dr. Kujawa presents a very compelling, well-researched account of goddesses that rises above any typical discussion on the subject. This is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring ancient archetypes and new femininity.”
— Zeus Yiamouyiannis, Ph.D.
Author of The Spiritually Confident Man: Pioneering a New Frontier of Co-Creative Masculinity
“The Other Goddess explores and empowers the vital reclaiming of all aspects of the Divine Feminine and above all the healing grace of Her erotic wisdom and its embodiment in human love.”
— Dr Jude Currivan
Cosmologist, author, and co-founder WholeWorld-View
“The Other Goddess is a compelling journey into the forgotten dimensions of the Divine Feminine, restoring the erotic, the mystical and the sacred as powerful pathways to knowledge, and transformation.”
— Vanese Mc Neill
Creator and Producer, Magical Egyptit