04/20 to 04/21

20th Annual Women's Studies Conference

Southern Connecticut State University Women's Studies Program
 
Presents
 
The 20th Annual Women's Studies Conference ~
"Women and Labor: At Home, At Work, Around the Globe"
 
To be held on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University
Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21, 2012
 
INVITATION FOR PROPOSALS ON INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE WORK

Our 20th annual conference addresses one perennial struggle in women's movements across the globe: labor.  As we witnessed in the spring of 2011 the surge of labor movements in the U.S. as labor is challenged -- specifically, unionized and feminized labor -- we also receive findings, just released in May 2011 by Ms. Foundation for Women, that women are bearing the brunt of today's economic crisis. More than ever, women's labor is at the forefront of our struggles. In a different part of the world, we continue to observe women's critical contribution to what is now called the Arab Awakening. Yet we, too, see little representation of women in the wake of the Egyptian revolution. By all accounts, the report cards on women and labor have made less than significant progress over the decades. In this annual conference, we invite colleagues and activists to take a close look at all issues concerning women and labor, in both private and public domains as well as globally and locally. Employed as a category of analysis in women's and gender studies, feminist analyses of gender and labor do not simply travel throughout diverse communities and academic disciplines in the U.S., but they also travel globally, generating significant connections with other fields.  With this conference, we will have an opportunity to examine the body of activist and scholarly feminist work on women and labor. What aspect of labor continues to be the struggle that women share across the race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, nationality divide?  How might we begin to talk about women and labor without collapsing the multicultural, heterogeneous, global and transnational within us? How have women contributed their labor artistically, culturally, and politically, in our communities as well as around the globe? What challenges do women and girls across races, classes, religions, and cultures face in an increasingly globalized world? Going forward, what might labor as a site of knowledge production further benefit our work and struggle in the human community? What are some of the best practices?  

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 artwork, 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 and 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 and allows meeting attendees to browse through highlights of current research. Please indicate in your proposal your anticipated needs in terms of space, etc
 
In keeping with the conference theme, suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

Women, Technology, & Labor                                      Motherhood & LaborWomen & Labor Movements                                         Working Women and Childcare/Elder Care
Sexism& Racism in Labor                                              Single, Childless Women's Labor
Women and Sex Labor                                                Women, Labor, & Heterosexist Privilege
Women & Child Labor                                                 Women's Labor & Leadership
Gender, Race, Class & Labor                                         Women, Health, and Labor
Women's Movements & Labor                                      Ethnography & Women & Labor
21st Century Slavery                                                       Women, Labor, Academe
Then and Now: Women and Labor                               Women's Labor and the Arab Awakening
Women, Community, & Labor                                      Women and Care Economy
Indigenous Women and Labor                                       Women & Domestic Labor                   
Women & Emotional/Care Work                                  Women and Unions
Women, Labor, and Resistance                                       Women and Volunteerism
Women, Immigration, Labor                                        Women's Labor in Fashion Industries
Labor and Violence against Women                                 Women & Food Production/Industries  
Women and Unemployment                                          Girls, Young Women and Labor Market
Wage Gap and Glass Ceiling                                          Women, Labor, and Artistic Expression
Women, Labor, Incarceration                                         Women's Labor across/between Worlds
 
We also invite your ideas and suggestions. Conference sessions will juxtapose cultural, generational, and geopolitical perspectives for the collective re-examination of narratives on women and labor. Expect serious fun through meals and performance, with women, girls and their allies speaking of their struggles and power.
 
 
Submission Deadline: Postmarked by December 1, 2011
 
Please submit proposals and supporting materials to:
 
Women's Studies Conference Committee
Women's Studies Program, EN B 229
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT 06515
 
Or via e-mail to:  womenstudies@southernct.edu, with attention to Conference Committee.  If you have any questions, please call the Women's Studies office at (203) 392-6133. 

Please include name, affiliation, e-mail, standard mailing address, and phone number. Proposals should be no longer than one page, with a second page for identification information. Panel proposals are welcome.
 
The Annual Women's Studies Conference at SCSU is self-supporting; all presenters can pre-register at the discounted presenter's fee. The fee includes all costs for supporting materials, entrance to keynote events, and all meals and beverage breaks.
 

Event Website: http://www.southernct.edu/womensstudies/

Location: SCSU campus - specific locations for individual events to be announced

Directions: http://www.southernct.edu/aboutscsu/map/

Contact Information: Women's Studies Program, (203) 392-6133 , womenstudies@southernct.edu