Feb 17, 2006 13:35
I don't know if this conference accepts out-of-province applicants, but thought I'd post it and pass it on anyways (I assume they would, since the aim is to establish a national Women's Studies Association). The link for more info is at the bottom of the entry.
Feminism(s) in the Third Wave
May 11-14, 2006
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
A conference designed to build links between community and academia in order to foster feminist activism as part of an undergraduate academic experience.
As students, activists, and faculty connected in some way to the discipline of Women's Studies and interested in topics related to gender, feminism and women, it has become increasingly apparent to us that students are feeling a disconnect between feminist theory and feminist activism. The range of feminist issues taken up by academia is increasing, but at the same time there has been a steady decrease in organized feminist activism, like the decline of organizations such as the National Action Committee on the Status of Women.
Given the explosion of feminist topics in academia, how does feminist activism engage meaningfully with a multiplicity of voices? Can we still organize around "women"? What relationships can we build between feminist theory and feminist practice? What does academia have to offer to the daily struggles of community workers and activists, and how can we work together in collaborative and critical ways? How can we work to build links between the third wave and the feminists who have come before us? How can feminists work with or within other progressive
social movements?
This conference aims to provide participants with an opportunity to reflect and strategize around how to integrate feminist activism into an undergraduate academic experience. It also hopes to bring together students, community activists and artists in order to interrogate the gaps and overlaps between our interests and to build bridges.
In order to foster nation-wide undergraduate feminist activism, part of the conference will be dedicated to forming a cross-Canada Women's Studies undergraduate student association. We hope that such an association will be able to address the lack of communication and partnership between Women?s Studies programs and discuss how to increase student access to issues not covered by the course offerings of our home departments.
Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:
Aboriginal women
indigenous women/feminism
women of color
whiteness
queerness
sexuality
sex/gender
trans-sex/trans-gender
identities & intersections
disability
post-modernism
post-structuralism
post-colonialism
international development
femininity & masculinity
female misogynists & male feminists
body
fertility
mothering
sexual assault & violence
law and policy
class
feminist histories & revolutions
anti-oppression & progressive movements
alt media & culture jamming
grrrrl power & young women's feminism
post-feminism/anti-feminism
cyber-feminism
community & home
Proposals
The conference committee invites Women's Studies undergraduate students, as well as other undergraduate students, community workers, activists, faculty and graduate students to submit proposals for paper presentations, verbal art or 2D/3D art-works. Alternative forms and formats are welcome. Please visit
www.ualberta.ca/~wsua/conference_pages/conference_call_for_submissions.htm
for instructions on how to submit your proposal.
Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2006.
A note to faculty: We strongly encourage you to support especially your undergraduate students to attend this conference. This support could take the form of financial assistance from your department or faculty, helping individual students construct proposals and refine papers, or offering to be an audience for presentation practice runs.
Women's Studies Undergraduate Association c/o Women?s Studies Program
13-15 HM Tory Building / University of Alberta / Edmonton AB / T6G 2H4
www.ualberta.ca/~wsua/wsua_conference.htm
wsua@ualberta.ca