AARS Executive Director Loraine Jensen and runologist Dr. Scott Shell had the wonderful opportunity to attend and present at the SASS 2025 conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from April 24-26th. The theme of the conference was centered on the idea of LOCATION.
While the conference offered a wide range of papers, such as Mass of the Dead: Karl Ristikivi’s All Soul’s Night as Fairy Tale, Phantoms of Fertility and the Dísir, Making Dreamcatchers and Fish Decoys at a South Sámi Museum, Space and Place in Scandinavian Archaeology: Local Sites and International Teamwork, and The Scribal Hand(s) of the Norwegian Homily Book, both Loraine Jensen and Scott Shell presented work on American runic inscriptions.
Executive Director of AARS Loraine Jensen, runologist Nancy Wicker, and folklorist Merrill Kaplan together after a marvelous panel on American runic inscriptions and draugar in the supernatural world.
Loraine Jensen prepares to discuss the role of runes and helping the general public understand the historical significance thereof in her presentation, Runic Studies—Education and Outreach.
Dr. Scott Shell presents a paper, titled American-Scandinavian Inscriptions: The Cincinnati Runestone, wherein he discusses its origins, inscription, and transcultural context.
Overall, it was a uniquely enlightening experience, and we are honored to have been part of the 2025 SASS conference in Minneapolis! For those interested in the other talks presented at SASS, we invite you to please take a look at the schedule, which can be found here.