Intersectional conference will examine how the 'feminist body' relates to 'the pursuit of peace and justice'
Southern Connecticut State University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Department is calling for proposals for its 2024 conference, which will take place on April 19-20.
Possible conference proposal submissions include 'Food Justice,' 'Restorative Justice,' '#BlackLivesMatter,' and '#ClimateStrikes.'
A public university in New Haven, Connecticut will soon be hosting its 24th “Women’s and Gender Studies Conference” to explore the “intersections of gender, race, communities, and institutions.”
Southern Connecticut State University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Department is calling for proposals for its 2024 conference, which will take place on April 19-20. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 18.
The department is using a 1983 essay by Alice Walker, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” as the launch point for the conference, according to an online information sheet.
“In the half-century since the publication of the essay, have we found our own [gardens]?,” the web page asks. “Although we have seen a significant body of feminist literary, theoretical, and artistic expressions, the search for our mothers’ gardens– and our own–continues to be challenged and fraught with pushbacks, setbacks, ruptures, and starts here and there again.”
The page also notes that academic fields such as “women’s and gender studies, Black studies, Latinx, and LGBTQIA2S+ studies” are being “targeted and attacked.” According to the site, the department celebrates the “feminist century,” it also brings awareness to “the violence of Roe v. Wade being undone.”
“Indeed, the tension between celebrating our triumphs while remaining committed to the work that is necessary in the face of unprecedented challenges is that crux,” the event web page adds.
While the conference is named after the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, the categories for possible paper proposals cover a broader list of topics, including: “#BlackLivesMatter,” “#ClimateStrikes,” “Body Positivity,” “Food Justice: Take Back Our Kitchens,” “Mass Incarceration,” “Rematriation,” “Differently-Abled Bodies,” “Restorative Justice,” and “Banning/Censorship/Silencing.”
A major focus of the conference will still be on feminism. Some of the questions the conference page poses in advance are, “How do we recognize/embrace our feminist legacy/ legacies while staying vigilant/attentive to/around old and new challenges?,” and “How is the feminist body involved in community, conflict and the pursuit of peace and justice? How does feminism contribute to the pursuit of equity and equality?”
Campus Reform has previously covered numerous intersectional college conferences, including an upcoming “TRANSforming Gender” conference in Colorado that will teach attendees about “[f]ighting anti-trans legislation” and “queering biology.”
Campus Reform contacted Southern Connecticut State University and the Women’s and Gender Studies Department for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
