Southern Connecticut State University
  Women's Studies Program
   
  Presents
   
  The Seventeenth Annual Women's Studies Conference
   
  Global & Local Women's Studies:
  Going on Forty
  To be held on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University
  Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20, 2007

                                                                                                                     
  invitation for proposals on interdisciplinary scholarly and creative work
  Women's Studies as a discipline is going on forty, prompting debate about where the discipline has come from, where it is at the turn of the century, and where it is going. This conference will be a part of that process. We are specifically interested in using the metaphor of family—informed by histories and the intersectionality of race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation—to explore and explain and document the discipline of women's studies, to consider how we have been written by/written ourselves into this family drama, and to reflect on the impact those decisions have had on feminist & womanist movements inside and outside of the university, locally and globally. Conference sessions will juxtapose cultural, generational, and geographic perspectives in order to create a living text of feminist cultures, histories, and representations. The Conference Committee invites academics, feminists, and activists from all disciplines, institutions, and organizations to
 submit proposals for "Global and Local Women's Studies: Going on Forty."
   
  Proposal Format: Faculty, students, staff, administrators, and community activists from all disciplines and fields are invited to submit proposals for individual papers, complete sessions, panels, or round tables. Poster sessions, performance pieces, video recordings, and other creative works are also encouraged. For individual papers, please submit a one-page abstract. For complete panels, submit a one-page abstract for each presentation plus an overview on the relationship among individual components. For the poster sessions and art work, submit a one-page overview. All proposals must include speaker's/speakers' name(s), affiliation(s), and contact information (address, E-mail, & telephone number). Please also indicate preference for Friday afternoon, Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon; all attempts will be made to honor schedule requests.
   
  Panels: Each 75 minute session usually includes three presenters and a session moderator, but individual presenters may request an entire session for a more substantial paper or presentation. Presenters are encouraged, though not required, to form their own panels. The conference committee will group individual proposals into panels and assign a moderator. Please indicate in your contact information if you are willing to serve as a moderator.
   
  Posters, Art Displays, and Slide Presentations: A poster presentation consists of an exhibit of materials that report research activities or informational resources in visual & summary form. An art display consists of a depiction of feminist concerns in an artistic medium. Both types of presentations provide a unique platform that facilitates personal discussion of work with interested colleagues & allows meeting attendees to browse through highlights of current research. Please indicate in your proposal your anticipated needs in terms of space, etc.
   
   
  We invite individuals, groups, scholars, activists, and artists to submit proposals for panel presentations, roundtable discussions, or artistic performances that address the following questions:
   
    
   What is the relationship between women's studies in the US and women's Studies abroad—Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, etc.? Is "sisterhood" an adequate concept for theorizing these relationships? What do transnational frameworks offer us for understanding women's studies in the US and abroad?
   What are the benefits and drawbacks to understanding women's studies as "middle aged"? To describing Women's Studies in terms of waves/generations?
   What role do you play in the discipline of women's studies? Are you a founding mother? A rebellious daughter? A prodigal child? How and why?
   Why/when have there been/not been roles for you in women's studies? What tensions have you experienced between being cast in a role and attempting to write your own role?
   Where/when/why have you felt or not felt "at home" in women's studies as a discipline? Why has it felt or not felt "like family"? How have you written or rewritten yourself into the story of the discipline over time/through space?
   How has the concept of "sisterhood" allowed/disallowed your participation in women's studies?
   What generational tensions and connections have you experienced and how do they inform your work in women's studies?
   In what ways have you experienced the institutional confinement of women's studies? With what results?
   To what extent has women's studies challenged and changed courses, programs, departments, disciplines, and administrations in universities here and/or abroad? With what gains and losses for individuals, groups, and institutions?
   What theories and texts do you see most influential on women's studies scholarship and application?
   How has women's studies intersected with feminist & womanist movements? With what consequences for each?
   
  Please submit proposals and supporting materials to:
   
  Women's Studies Conference Committee
  Women's Studies Program, EN B 229
  501 Crescent Street
  New Haven, CT 06515
   
  Or via email to: decrostaa1_at_southernct.edu, with attention to Conference Committee
   
  The Annual Women's Studies Conference at SCSU is self-supporting; all presenters can pre-register at the discounted presenter's fee, not exceeding $110.00 for both days, $60.00 for one day. The fee includes all costs for supporting materials, entrance to keynote events, and all meals and beverage breaks.
   
  Submission Deadline: Postmarked by Monday, June 11, 2007
  Notification of Committee Decision: Postmarked by Monday, July 16, 2007

                      **********************************************************************
Yi-Chun Tricia Lin
  Director/Associate Professor, Women's Studies Program
  Vice President, National Women's Studies Association
Southern Connecticut State University
  E-mail: liny4_at_southernct.edu
Office: (203) 392-6133; (203) 392-6864 Fax: (203) 392-6723
www.southernct.edu/womensstudies
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Received on Thu Mar 08 2007 - 22:44:08 EST