5th Annual Audrey-Beth Fitch Conference on Women's Studies

"The Arts & Activism: Equality for All"

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

On Thursday, March 18th, 2010 the Women's Studies Program at California University of PA is holding their fifth-annual Audrey-Beth Fitch Conference.  The theme for this year is "The Arts & Activism: Equality for All."The women's studies conference is an interdisciplinary program, attracting students, scholars, professionals, and members of the community through the collection of assorted perspectives and theories.  The conference focus for this year will be the visual/performing arts.  Conference papers and presentations will inform, raise awareness, and motivate presenters and attendees to take action for change.  Our theme, "The Arts & Activism: Equality for All," is seeking submissions from presenters with knowledge and/or expertise in the visual or performing arts, whose work utilizes a social justice or social activist lens, addressing issues of equality and identity, in the areas of race, class, gender, sexual orientation or identity, ethnicity, or other minority concerns.This year's keynote speakers will be "The Guerrilla Girls."  These women are "feminist masked avengers" similar to the anonymous do-gooders like Batman, Robin Hood and Wonder Woman.  By incorporating facts, humor and outrageous visuals, these women have highlighted some of the issues that exist in today's society, including: sexism, racism and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture.  We are interested in proposals representing diverse perspectives and theories that relate to the conference theme.  The conference is open to both scholarly presentations and demonstrations.  We welcome a variation of presentation formats, including: paper presentations, lecture demonstrations, lecture recitals, panel and roundtable discussions. Generally, presentations follow a panel format, with each speaker presenting for 15 minutes followed at the end with 15 minutes discussion.  If the material for the presentation requires more time in the program, this should be mentioned in the proposal. All proposal submissions should include: 1) a 300-word (or less) abstract explaining the paper/presentation and how it addresses one or more of the focus areas of the conference; 2) a resume or curriculum viate; 3) Specific technical equipment needed for the presentation.Please send all submissions to:Dr. Marta McClintock-Comeaux at mcclintock@calu.edu with the subject line "2010 Women's Conference."  The deadline for submissions is December 4, 2009.