Mar 21, 2025

Over midterm break, Dr. Kathryn Caliva Smart, assistant professor of History, presented a paper at The Goddess at the Crossing Place, a conference hosted by the Department of Humanities at Marshall University. 

Caliva Smart joined a program of international scholars from across disciplines to discuss the role of goddesses in ancient and modern societies. In her paper, "Speaking as a Woman: Authority and Magic from Hecate to #WitchTok," she explored the question of how women use authoritative speech as part of magical practice, following this thread from the goddess Hecate in ancient Greek poetry to the on-screen witch Willow from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to content creators on TikTok. 

Conference/program link: https://www.marshall.edu/humanities/150th/