Women in Labor: Gendering (Re)Production
The 20th Annual Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference at the University of Rochester
March 1st & 2nd, 2013
Keynote Speaker:
*Julie Nelson*
Professor of Economics and Department Chair, University of Massachusetts Boston
Senior Research Fellow, Global Development and Environment Institute,
Tufts University
In light of current national and global political events, this year’s Gender and Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference, held by The Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Rochester, is dedicated to the intersection of gender and labor. For the past four years, the United States has been grappling with the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and this recession has had both local and global resonances. The discourse surrounding the economy has become a focal point for American politics and culture and has featured prominently in 2012 election campaigns, as has discussions of women’s roles, bodies, and reproductive rights. In the US, public dissatisfaction with current and proposed government policies has been at the root of both the left-leaning Occupy Wall Street movement and the rhetoric of conservative groups such as the Tea Party. Globally, economic realities have affected women in both public and domestic spheres. While the recession has brought increased attention to class and racial disparities, discourse surrounding the economy has often failed to examine the intersection of current national and global economic situations with gender and sexual identities.
Each year the Susan B. Anthony Institute’s Graduate Conference features considerations of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies from varied disciplinary fields. The conference aims to foster an environment of interdisciplinary communication, knowledge exchange, and collaboration. We would like to invite graduate students to present research that addresses a wide array of questions regarding economies, policies, production and labor, reproduction, and culture. Some questions one might consider are: In what ways do women’s experiences of economic recession differ from men’s? How has labor historically been divided among people of different genders? What are/were the roles of women and transgender individuals in labor movements? How are gendered, sexual, racial, and economic identities represented within the Occupy Wall Street/Tea Party movements? How are LGBTQ individuals affected by economic policies? How does reproduction reflect economic realities and global contexts?
As an interdisciplinary conference, we welcome proposals from a wide range of disciplines. These include (but are not limited to) art, art history, cultural studies, education, film, history, geography, law, literary studies, linguistics, media studies, medicine, music, philosophy, and political science. We encourage creative interpretations of this year’s theme, and welcome work that addresses these topics in relation to all genders, sexes, races, sexualities, classes, (dis)abilities, nationalities, etc. Research topics relevant to this year’s theme might include the following keywords, though this list is far from exhaustive:
• Feminist Economics/Economies
• Gender and Labor Movements
• Reproduction
• Motherhood/Parenthood
• Sex/Gender and Employment
• Artistic, Intellectual, and/or Physical Production
• Labor in Public and Private Spaces
• Politics and Public Policy
• Labor and Popular Culture
• Sexuality
• Technology
• Economics and the Environment
Submission Details:
Please send abstracts (in the form of a Word document) of no more than 300 words to Lauron Kehrer at lauron.kehrer@gmail.com. At the top of the abstract, please include the scholar’s name, home institution, email address/contact information, brief biographical statement, and any audio-visual or technological equipment needed for your presentation. Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes, including audio-visual demonstrations. Submissions are due no later than January 4, 2013. You will receive the committee’s decision by January 18, 2013.
