6th Annual Conference | October 14-16, 2021 | Ball State University

“Beyond Diversity: Antiracism & Intersectionality in Honors”

The Ball State University Honors College welcomes you to the 6th Annual National Society for Minorities in Honors Conference, which will be hosted on-campus October 14-16, 2021, beginning Thursday at noon and ending Saturday at noon.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The past several years have seen the acceleration of social movements around racial justice, women’s equality, and LGBTQ+ rights in the United States and around the world. When it comes to race and higher education in particular, students, activists and intellectuals have called for a shift from focusing on just diversity and inclusion, which is about representation, to antiracism. Antiracism is about eradicating systemic racism in our society and transforming our institutions internally. Many have called for this shift to take an intersectional lens, considering how race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, age, and other forms of social difference interact to create advantage and disadvantage in higher education.

While increasing the diversity of Honors programs and colleges remains of high importance, the call for a more antiracist and intersectional Honors praxis asks more of us as students, faculty, staff, and administrators. And it begs a number of questions. What might antiracism in Honors look like? How does/might Honors work to dismantle systemic racism both outside the institution and within it? How do both marginality and power/privilege manifest themselves intersectionally in Honors? How can Honors lead and serve as a model in the transformation of the larger institutions in which we are housed?

We especially welcome proposals for panels and workshops that consider what it means to go “beyond diversity” in imagining the next chapter in Honors education, in addition to proposals of general interest to the NSFMIH community. The three types of proposals are described below:
• Individual Presentation: Individual Presentations (15 minutes) will be considered and arranged on panels by the conference committee. Please submit a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words describing your presentation.
• Panel Presentation: Conference attendees may organize and submit proposals for a one-hour panel with multiple presenters. Please submit a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words describing the panel in its entirety.
• Workshop: Conference attendees may submit proposals for interactive, 75-minute workshops. Workshops should include opportunities for participants to work together and must contain interactive components. In a 300 word abstract with title, please describe the goals of the workshop and what participants will take away from it.

Proposals for on-site presentations should be submitted by email no later than 11:59pm Thursday, July 1, 2021. Your submission should include (1) the proposed type of presentation, (2) the names, affiliations, and email addresses of the proposed presenters, (3) the title and (4) 300 word abstract describing your presentation. Please email your submission to honors@bsu.edu with “NSFMIH Proposal” in the subject line. All submissions will be promptly acknowledged. Review/acceptance letters will be released by August 1, and the conference schedule will be available in mid-August. As feasible, we will make every effort to accommodate extraordinary situations.

CONFERENCE DETAILS
Registration will open August 1; early bird registration will continue through September 20. Early bird registration will be priced at $50 per participant, and will include conference materials, parking, light breakfasts (muffins and coffee), afternoon snacks, and a Thursday opening reception. Lunches and dinners are not included in registration this year; we instead encourage you to support our local establishments. We will provide recommendations and opportunities for participants to partner up.

In addition to the on-site events, we will also provide a process by which video presentations and papers can be submitted for review/acceptance and shared with the NSFMIH community. Details will be provided August 1.

The conference will meet on campus in and near the Student Center and the Ball Honors House. The Student Center hotel (bsu.edu/hotel) will be available for participants, and offers attendees a 15% discount; call 765-285-1555 for reservations.

The Courtyard by Marriott is located downtown, 1.5 miles from the Student Center, and is an excellent off-site choice. This first-of-its-kind teaching hotel houses the Erskine Green Training Institute which provides on-site training for individuals with disabilities.

Additional options, located about 3 miles from the Student Center, include:
Baymont Inn
Best Western Inn
Comfort Inn & Suites
Days Inn
Fairfield Inn
Hampton Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Quality Inn & Suites
Super 8 by Wyndham
Muncie is a 90-minute drive from either Indianapolis (IND) or Dayton (DAY) airport. Fort Wayne (FWA) airport is slightly closer, but offers limited service.