4th UTSC Symposium in Women’s and Gender Studies

 

4th UTSC Symposium in Women’s and Gender Studies

 

WHEN: Friday, March 29 2019

 

WHERE: Room IC318, Instructional Centre (UTSC)

 

Students and instructors in Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough, are organizing the 4th Annual UTSC Undergraduate Symposium in Women’s and Gender Studies. The conference theme this year is “Fresh Voices; Changing Realities”. We welcome submissions from U of T undergraduate students from all three campuses and across all disciplines. We encourage a wide range of approaches from the breadth of disciplines including literary and arts-based. In addition to academic research, we also welcome auto-ethnographies, critical self-reflection, poetry, and performances/videos, among others. We hope the symposium will provide undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in scholarly discussions about their own research and to engage with their student and faculty colleagues in a broader academic context.

“Fresh Voices; Changing Realities” can be interpreted in many ways. The first component “fresh voices” refers to exploring narratives, experiences, and topics that lack mainstream visibility. It’s about the creation and dissemination of new knowledge that you as an individual believe needs to be seen and shared. It also refers to hearing about “fresh” perspectives on topics that are being revisited, through a lens that is believed to be missing. We believe that a platform for these “fresh voices” can contribute to “changing realities”, as well as understanding that “changing realities” will awaken and inspire “fresh voices.”

Students are invited to submit abstracts (200 to 250 word summaries) of their take on “Fresh Voices; Changing Realities.” Students may submit an abstract based on a paper, poster or other work they have already written/submitted for a class, or may propose a new idea. Presentations will typically be limited to 10-15 minutes.

Possible areas of exploration might include, but not limited to:

- The Me Too movement

- Missing and murdered indigenous women and girls

- Islamophobia and gender and sexuality

- Gender and sexuality

- Policies and policy recommendations

- LGBTQIA

- Feminism Movement

- Black feminism

- Feminism and the Environment

- Ableism and Disability Justice Movement

- Mental Health discourse and Mad Pride

- Violence Against Women

- The Male Gaze

- Media

- Intersectionality

- Responding to the New Ontario Sex Ed Curriculum

- Rise of the Alt Right and their “feminism”

- Propose your own topic

To submit: please send your 200-250 abstract for a 10-15-minute oral presentations, poster, or performance/video by Monday, March 11, 3:00 pm. Abstracts will be assessed on relevance to symposium theme and synthesis of ideas.  Send abstract as an attachment (Word or PDF) to Kamal Hassan khassan@utsc.utoronto.ca. Subject line must be: WST Symposium Submission.  Please include your name and contact email, program of study, year of study, university campus, and title.

Students whose abstracts have been selected will be contacted by Friday, March 15. Applications are welcome from students from all three University of Toronto campuses (UTSC, UTM and UTSG).

Not sure how to prepare an abstract? Assistance is available: To help students prepare abstracts for submission, contact Prof. Nancy Johnston (johnston@utsc.utoronto.ca). She is available to set up short appointments on writing abstracts or you can drop in to her office on March 1, 10:00-12:00.

For more information please visit http://uoft.me/wstconf or contact Prof. Connie Guberman at c.guberman@utoronto.ca

**There will be special recognition for the three best papers/presentations!