cfp.english.upenn.edu

Compromising Positions:

Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Missouri and the Midwest

April 7 & 8, 2011

A conference sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program

The University of Missouri--St. Louis

We invite papers, presentations, and panels that confront and interrogate the gendered, raced, and/or sexualized positions of individuals and groups in political, legal, historical, social, educational, and creative arenas in the state of Missouri and the other states in the Midwest from the pre-colonial period through the 1820 Missouri Compromise to the present day.

We encourage presentations from those working in history; law; literature and language; composition, rhetoric, and literacy studies; cultural studies; girls' studies; political science; economics; sociology; social work; criminology and criminal justice; psychology; anthropology; media and film studies; art history; medicine; and the biological sciences. We also encourage topics for panels.

Possible topics include:

Slave narratives

Interracial social and political
relationships
Missouri’s literary and artistic heritage

Slavery, sexuality and scienceSame-sex marriage and partner rights

Queer cultures and practicesBi-racial identities

Women and minorities in political officeWomen’s and/or Men’s Clubs

Race, gender, and/or sexuality in the artsQueer cultures and practices

Economic opportunities and obstacles Archives on race, gender and sexuality

Whiteness and power Business successes

Grass roots activism Gender, Race, Crime and Justice

Literacy Masculinity and blackness

Women as slave holders Quilting & domestic arts

Motherhood and maternity Fatherhood and paternity

Girlhood and boyhood

Ethnicity and discriminatory practices Gender, race, and educational policies

Biographical studies of race and gender pioneers

Laws and policies based on race and/or gender

Segregation/desegregation laws and policies

We also invite the submission of creative or historical projects strongly related to the conference topic. If you propose this kind of project, please be specific about technical and space requirements.

Proposal Submissions

•Send 350-500-word proposals or abstracts to compromising@umsl.edu. Please use abstract submission form.

•Proposals should include title, contact information, and institutional affiliation

•Student papers are welcome

•The deadline for submitting proposals is December 6, 2010.

•Selected presenters will be notified by late January 2011 and must register for the conference by February 28 to be included in the program.

•For updated information on the conference, go to http://umslce.org/index.php/compromising-positions