Call for Proposals

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
NEGOTIATING POINTS OF ENCOUNTER
November 7-10, 2013 Cincinnati, OH

The Call for Proposals closed on February 20, 2013.
           
Conference Overview
The National Women's Studies Association leads the field of women’s studies in educational and social transformation.  Established in 1977, NWSA has more than 2,000 members worldwide.  Our annual conference regularly draws more than 1,600 attendees and is the only annual meeting in the US exclusively dedicated to showcasing the latest feminist scholarship. 
 
The 2013 conference will open on Thursday, November 7^thwith two pre-conferences hosted by the Program Administration and Development and the Women’s Centers Standing Committees.  These daylong events offer networking and professional development opportunities for women’s and gender studies and women’s center administrators.
 
The General Conference begins on Thursday afternoon and concludes Sunday afternoon; it will feature concurrent breakout sessions, new member events, and professional development sessions for graduate students and junior faculty.
 
Meeting Location
The National Women's Studies Association 2013 annual meeting will be held at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza and the Duke Energy Convention Center, from November 7-10, 2013.
 
About the Theme
NWSA’s 2013 conference theme, Negotiating Points of Encounter, takes up the geographies, histories, and political stakes of various feminist engagements, confrontations, and struggles—intellectual and institutional, local and global, public and intimate. How are we, or should we be, negotiating these points of encounter as the contours of theories, disciplines, communities, economies, forms of protest, and even national identities shift? How are new spaces for thinking and doing otherwise opened up by reassessing loyalties, renegotiating borders, reconceptualizing pasts, and reimagining embodiments? How do such renegotiations demarcate both exclusions and inclusions? What might they tell about new (or old) ways of effecting change? And what justice or injustices do they foster and/or resist?
 
NWSA 2013 identifies several thematic areas for critical inquiry and creative engagement in women’s and gender studies and related fields:
 

• The Sacred and the Profane
• Borders and Margins
• Futures of the Feminist Past
• Body Politics
• Practices of Effecting Change

 
Theme 1: The Sacred and the Profane
Women’s and gender studies as a field analyzes subjects often seen as out of bounds, improper, even abject—and celebrates the irreverent, iconoclastic, the marginal—in a word, the profane.  How then does the sacred operate in women’s and gender studies? What is the field’s “profane”?  In the secular, neo-liberal university, the sacred is often seen as profane.  As such, is the sacred different from the spiritual and religious or interconnected? How might intersectional, transnational, non-Western, and/or material analyses inform what is labeled the sacred? How might women-of-color, transgender, and/or queer understandings of the sacred and profane change theoretical paradigms altogether?  This sub-theme calls for scholarly and creative encounters that provoke, define, and critique that which we consecrate or shun. 

• What is secular? Spiritual? Religious? Sacred? How do these terms work as both subject and object of women’s and gender studies?
• How do the sacred and religious inform identity in a global context? What paradigms deemed central to women’s and gender studies shift when these terms are incorporated?
• Is feminist critique inherently secular? Can feminist frameworks provide key insights into religious beliefs, affects, and practices that go beyond secular versions of insight and knowledge?
• In a field now institutionalized, how do we make profane the spaces we inhabit?
• How do indigenous studies, queer studies, and trans- studies contribute to the field’s sacred and the profane?

 
Theme 2:  Borders and Margins
The field of women’s and gender studies has always focused on boundaries and the structures that regulate and police those boundaries.  As a corollary, much productive work that is now recognized as important, even central, to the field was initially undertaken from the space of borders and margins. Whether it is disciplinary divisions or institutional intransigence; transnational feminisms or border studies; nationalist movements or racialized hierarchies; gendered essentialisms or hybrid identities, women’s and gender studies has sought variously to expose, critique, reject, and/or transform existing geographies. This sub-theme asks how the concept of borders and margins structures the field’s claims to legitimacy and function to both rigorously delimit and creatively expand work of its practitioners.

• What are the borders and margins of women’s and gender studies, and how have the limits that demark the field changed over time?
• In what ways does women’s and gender studies “traffic” in the objects, knowledges, preoccupations, desires, and even bodies of other disciplines, identities, and movements?
• What new and transforming work is being undertaken at the outer limits of (or even beyond) this discipline-in-the-making? 
• How has the “field imaginary” of women’s and gender studies—through which its practitioners learn to pursue specific objects of study, protocols, and methods and not others—been shaped by various understandings of progress?  And to what ends?
• How have shifting geographies of technology, labor, economy, and migration been taken up (or not) by women’s and gender studies? How might new forms of “encounters” be studied and enacted in the future?
• How do the actual geographies of women’s and gender studies’ locations—in institutions of higher education, in surrounding neighborhoods, communities, cities, towns, and other spaces—renegotiate the borders and margins of the discipline?

 
Theme 3:  Futures of the Feminist Past
Recent scholarship in cultural anthropology, geography, history, and various interdisciplinary fields has begun to historicize the neoliberal/late liberal present through a variety of conceptual and socio-political frames, including the archive, the event, affect, indigeneity, and the biopolitical.  This work has also sought to explore the temporality of feminist and queer thought and action by bringing into critical view the complex dynamic of social difference in different historical and geographical contexts. This sub-theme seeks to challenge the past, present, and future tenses that organize who and what can come into view as historical subjects of feminism.

• What are the archives of feminism? What futures do such archives reveal or hold? How do these archives converge or diverge from other communities’ (e.g. queer, trans and indigenous) official or unofficial collections, documentations, and repositories of knowledge? 
• What universalisms has feminist history counted upon to make the feminist past?
• How do economies of belonging and exclusion continue to shape the field’s histories and scholarship?
• What points of encounter are there between feminist and non-feminist (or even antifeminist) histories?
• How might we historicize the categories of feminist thought? And how might we think beyond the existing conceptual and theoretical frames for the pasts we claim?
• What (or who) are the new subjects of feminist history? How might affects, like desire, grief, or hope, mobilize these histories?

 
Theme 4:  Body Politics
Questions about the body and its politics are central sites of theoretical analysis and activism coming out of feminist, queer, transgender, and disability studies.  The current neoliberal context is marked by discourses and policies of austerity, climate change, assaults on reproductive rights, mass incarceration, racism, ageism, poverty, violence and hostility toward LGBTQI2-S people and women, and technological and rehabilitative responses to disability.  The questions in this sub-theme provide an opportunity for renewed reflection on how bodies are always already sites of encounters with power and knowledge.

• How are emerging issues of visibility and invisibility, identity and embodiment, nationality and citizenship contested, negotiated, and/or transformed?
• What are transnational feminist perspectives on body politics?
• What are the points of encounter between the human and the animal, and how do those encounters transform the field’s analyses of body politics?
• How can feminist disability studies or feminist queer crip analyses help us understand body politics?
• What are the body politics of impairment or pain, and how do they intersect with foundational concepts in women’s and gender studies?
• In what ways do the body politics of transgender impact women’s, gender, and sexuality studies? 
• What are the body politics of reproduction in a context of neoliberalism, racism, heterosexism, transphobia, and classism?

 
Theme 5: Practices of Effecting Change
Effecting change in pursuit of social justice has long been a central goal of feminist scholarship and pedagogy. The field of women’s and gender studies can point to rich and well-documented accounts of feminist change-makers and their making change within the academy and beyond. And yet the centrality of the field’s political desires has not always revealed obvious paths or clear causal relations between critique and agency, the academic and the activist, or analyzing change and effecting it. The expansion and joined forces of global capitalism, militarism, religious fundamentalisms, and environmental degradation, along with new forms of racism, sexism, heterosexism and other oppressive ideologies, remind us that the need for crafting solidarities and effecting lasting change is more urgent than ever. This sub-theme calls for renewed focus on the field’s mandate to effect change so that we might better negotiate/confront the challenges ahead.  

• What does it mean to effect change? How do we document, contextualize, analyze, historicize, and teach change in women’s and gender studies?
• How can the important social change work of the past teach us about effecting change in the present? How do we take inspiration from activist pasts while remaining mindful of the problems of individualist histories and progress narratives?
• How can we practice social transformation from perspectives of spirituality and love?  What and who do we exclude when we imagine and practice social change as a solely secular act?
• What are the interpersonal, contextual, institutional, and ideological factors that constrain and/or nurture change-making? How have we been (in)attentive to these factors?
• How might we harness new technologies and media in our efforts to create a more just society while attending to the ways that such technologies work to exacerbate social divisions?
• What are the practices of critical, feminist civic engagements?  How do they contribute to effecting social change, and how might we make them intelligible to those outside our discipline?

 
NWSA invites all of those interested to submit proposals for panels, round tables, papers, and workshops that represent the wide range of intersectional and transnational scholarship in the US and beyond.  Please note that submitted proposals must address one of the five themes above to be eligible for inclusion in the program.
 
Authors Meet Critics Sessions
Authors Meet Critics sessions are designed to bring authors of recent, cutting-edge books, deemed to be important contributions to the field of women’s studies, together with discussants chosen to provide a variety of viewpoints. 
 
Three or four such sessions will be included in the program and NWSA members are invited to nominate books published between 2008 and 2013.  Both single authored books and edited collections that are the result of collaborative engagement among the contributors will be considered. Only NWSA members may submit nominations, including self-nominations; nominations by presses will not be accepted. 
 
Members of the 2013 program committee will review the nominations and make selection decisions.  Any individual who proposes a session for consideration in the program will be notified about the committee’s decision and, in the event that a proposed session is accepted, serve as its session organizer.
 
Authors Meet Critics Sessions must be submitted via the regular proposal submission process and include:

• 250-500 word rationale that articulates the book’s importance to the field of women’s studies along with a rationale for inclusion in the 2013 program
• Name and affiliation of book author(s)
• List of 3-4 proposed critics, including affiliations and rationale for inclusion for each person
• Complete title of book
• ISBN (10 digit)
• Publication date and name of publisher

 
Nomination Deadline for Author Meets Critics Sessions: February 20, 2013
About the Meeting Location
Located on the shore of the Ohio River, Cincinnati offers an urban environment that also has a charming feeling. Cincinnati is the perfect setting for this conference with its downtown location, which is compact and easy to navigate.
 Cincinnati has a history of complex and conflicting race relations. Since the 2001 riots, the city has set up Community Action Now – a panel dedicated to "racial reconciliation" and supported by a significant increase in social service spending. More recently, a coalition of local partners formed Better Together Cincinnati, a group of community partners committed to providing leadership around and assessment of racial inequality in the city.  These measures have not solved all the problems and much work remains to be done.  Hence, Cincinnati offers an important backdrop for debates around pressing social issues.   The city is also home to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which shares stories about past and current struggles to escape slavery.
 
Step-by-Step Guidelines for Submitting All Proposals
Step 1: Note that all proposals must be submitted electronically via www.nwsa.org by midnight EST on February 20, 2013.  Late submissions will not be considered.
 
Step 2: All presenters must have a log in and password in order to for the proposal to be submitted.  Current and recent members will be able to retrieve their log ins from the home page of www.nwsa.org using the email address associated with their membership.  If you are including a potential presenter who has never been a member of NWSA, they must create a Non Member Guest log at least 24 hours prior to submission.  Please send any questions about log in credentials to nwsaoffice@nwsa.org as early as possible.  NWSA office staff will more easily be able to assist those who make early requests.
 
Step 3: Indicate whether you are submitting your proposal for the General Conference Session and identify the appropriate theme (see About the Theme above) or the Program Administration and Development or Women’s Centers Pre-Conferences. 
 
Step 4: The National Women's Studies Association especially encourages complete panel/session submissions.  Note that full panels must include at least three presenters with complete contact information and affiliation for ALL panel participants as well as a non-presenting moderator who will be charged with introducing speakers, keeping time, and coordinating discussion.  Moderators will be listed in the conference program and must register for the conference.  NWSA will assist with assigning moderators for individual proposals.
 
The Proposal Review Committee encourages members to use NWSA electronic resources and social media to network and find colleagues with whom to develop a complete panel.
 
Step 5: Note the option to submit poster session proposals; selecting this option increases the likelihood of acceptance due to limited breakout session space. 
 
Step 6: Please note that NWSA will provide limited audiovisual equipment for General Conference sessions and encourages presenters to consider using alternative formats such as handouts to convey visual information.  Presenters will know if they have received audiovisual-equipped rooms when the online schedule becomes available in June.     
 
Step 7: Identify the appropriate session format for your proposal.  Full details on session types are listed below. 
 
For more information on how to submit quality proposals, to find examples of accepted proposals, and for answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the conference, visit www.nwsa.org
 
Conference Participation Guidelines and Requirements
All participants on the 2013 NWSA program must be current (2013) members of NWSA, including the pre-conferences and general conference.  Membership in NWSA runs from January 1-December 31, 2013.  Panel organizers are responsible for conveying information about this requirement to prospective participants.  Participants must be current members and pre-registered for the conference by July 8, 2013 or risk being removed from the printed program book.
 
To inquire about your membership status, email nwsaoffice@nwsa.org or call (410) 528-0355.  Conference registration fees are separate from membership.
 
GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION
 
Panel vs. Individual Paper and Other Session Formats
 
Panels provide an opportunity for examining specific problems or topics from a variety of perspectives given that they include 3-4 participants. Panels may present alternative solutions, interpretations, or contrasting points of view on a specified subject or in relation to a common theme.  Panel members are expected to prepare papers addressing central questions described in the proposal.  The National Women's Studies Association and the Proposal Review Committee especially encourage complete panel submissions.
 
Individual Paper proposals are submitted individually and arranged into sessions by the Proposal Review Committee.  In paper sessions, authors present 10-12 minute papers followed by audience discussion. A typical structure for a session with four papers allows approximately 5 minutes for the moderator to introduce the session, 10 minutes for each presenter, and 30 minutes for discussion. 

IMPORTANT: Due to meeting room space constraints, individual paper submissions are frequently converted into poster sessions.  NWSA strongly encourages presenters who wish to deliver traditional papers to organize complete panels with colleagues.

Sponsored Sessions may be submitted by NWSA Caucuses on topics of particular interest to caucus members and NWSA members as a whole.  One sponsored session per caucus will be offered space in the Conference Program if submissions are received by the proposal deadline and proposals meet review criteria.  Task forces and interest groups may also submit proposals for sponsored sessions, but please note that these slots are not guaranteed.

Roundtables typically include a moderator and 4-6 presenters who make brief, informal remarks about a specific idea or project.  They allow for extensive discussion and audience participation.

Poster Sessions present research or analysis on a topic by combining graphics and text on a 4’x8’ board.  The poster session presenter is available during an assigned session time in order to interact on a one-on-one basis with the attendees viewing the poster.  A well-planned poster communicates its message in a visually and textually powerful way, allowing the attendee to grasp the information quickly.

Workshops provide an opportunity to exchange information or work on a common problem, project, or shared interest.  Workshops are typically experientially oriented, grounded in some sort of women’s and gender studies research agenda, and include brief presentations that allow adequate time for reflective discussion and interaction.

IMPORTANT: All panel proposals must include complete contact information for AT LEAST THREE participants PLUS a non-presenting moderator.  Incomplete panels with fewer than three participants will not be considered for review.  Workshops and roundtable proposals that feature multiple participants must include all participants’ names and contact information at the time of proposal submission.  In rare cases a one-person workshop may be considered, but the proposal should indicate why the presenter is uniquely suited to address the topic independently.

 

Proposal Submission Requirements
Different session formats carry different submission requirements.  We recommend reviewing the requirements below and assembling your proposal in a Word document from which you cut and paste beforelogging in to the submission system.
Panels

• Panel title
• Panel rationale (100-250 words) that describes the logic by which the papers are grouped
• Individual paper titles and individual paper abstracts (50-100 words) for each of the 3-4 papers that comprise the panel

 
Individual Papers and Poster Sessions

• Paper or poster title
• Paper or poster abstract (50-100 words)
• Paper or poster rationale (100-250 words)

 
Roundtable or Workshop

• Session title
• Session abstract (50-100 words)
• Session rationale (100-250 words)

 
Authors Meet Critics

• Book title, publication date, publisher and ISBN number
• Author name and affiliation
• Rationale (250-500 words) that discusses the book’s importance to the field of women’s studies as well as its relationship to the conference theme and/or subthemes
• List of 3-4 critics with affiliations and their rationale for inclusion

 
Sponsored Sessions are typically panel proposals and must comply with the guidelines above, whatever form they take.
 
Abstracts explain to conference attendees the proposal’s topic, foci, and/or goals in a clear and succinct manner in the program.  Abstracts may be revised or edited for the program. 
 
Proposal rationales and abstracts serve as the basis for evaluation by the Proposal Review Committee and should include some or all of the following, as appropriate:

• Objective or purpose of the paper, panel, workshop, etc.
• Perspective and/or theoretical framework and/or references to relevant texts, research, or on-going debates in women’s and gender studies or related fields
• Results and/or conclusions and point of view
• Relevance to the conference theme or subtheme
• Discussion of how the session will be structured

 
Authors Meet Critics Rationales Must Also Include:

• Name and affiliation of book author(s)
• Complete title of book
• ISBN (10 digit)
• Publication date and name of publisher
• Rationale that discusses the book’s importance to the field of women’s studies as well as its relationship to the conference theme and/or subthemes
• List of 3-4 proposed critics, including affiliations and rationale for inclusion for each person

 

IMPORTANT: All proposal rationales MUST be explicit about how the proposed poster, panel, paper, roundtable, or workshop is grounded in specific texts, authors, or research relevant to contemporary women’s and gender studies, queer studies, ethnic studies, or other related fields. With the exception of Authors Meet Critics submissions, remember to remove any IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (individual or institution names, for example) that would compromise NWSA’s commitment to anonymous review. Proposal rationales assist proposal reviewers with evaluating the session or paper’s appropriateness for inclusion in the conference program. Abstracts and proposal rationale may not exceed word limits above. Incomplete proposals will not be considered.

 
Conference Review Procedures
All conference proposals are reviewed anonymously (without author identification). Guidelines for reviewers are developed by the Proposal Review Committee and include:

• Topic: Is the topic/question/issue relevant to the field of women’s/gender studies?
• Relationship to Sub-Theme: Are the topics/questions/issues discussed in the proposal clearly connected to one of the five conference sub-themes?
• Frameworks: Is the proposal grounded in relevant feminist/womanist theoretical/conceptual/applied frameworks?
• Clarity: Is the proposal well-organized, coherent, and clear?

 
Proposal Status
NWSA will send accept/decline notifications by email on April 19, 2013 to all prospective participants. 
 
Registration and Housing
All conference presenters and attendees must be registered for the annual meeting.  The National Women's Studies Association has negotiated a group rate of $149 plus tax for single/double, $174 for triple, and $199 for quad rooms at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.
 
Travel Information
Cincinnati is served by the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky International Airport in Northern Kentucky.  Hotel shuttles and taxis are available for traveling between downtown Cincinnati and that airport.  Using other airports within a 1-2 hour drive such as Dayton, Columbus, or Louisville would require a rental car to reach Cincinnati.  Interstates 75 and 71 run through downtown for those driving.
 
Registration Refund Policy
The National Women's Studies Association regrets that it cannot refund conference registration payments. 
 
Accessibility Information
The National Women's Studies Association will make every effort to provide reasonable accommodations to presenters and attendees with disabilities.  Please indicate your need for accommodations using our online form.  We must receive requests for accommodations by September 3, 2013.  Please note that some services may be available for only some portions of the conference.
 
Childcare
NWSA is committed to providing high-quality, licensed and insured childcare that is partly subsidized by the organization.  You must make advance reservations for childcare on the conference registration form no later than September 3, 2013.
 
Scholarships and Travel Grants
NWSA encourages student research and involvement at its annual conferences via scholarship awards. Award amounts typically range from $400-1,000. For full details on how to apply for the NWSA Graduate Scholarship Award or the Lesbian and Women of Color Caucus awards, please visit: www.nwsa.org
 
NWSA offers a limited number of registration scholarships and travel grants to accepted presenters. Students, scholars and activists with a demonstrated need for financial assistance are encouraged to apply.  Particular consideration will be given to assisting doctoral student presenters and emerging scholars who have not previously received NWSA travel grants.  The registration scholarships and grants are also intended to encourage the participation of individuals from under-represented constituencies in the NWSA. 
 
The travel grant application deadline is May 17, 2013.  Apply online at www.nwsa.org
 
Questions about Call for Proposals or Annual Meeting
Please direct questions about submitting proposals or questions of a general nature to the national office at (410) 528-0355 or nwsaoffice@nwsa.org.
 
  

STANDING COMMITTEE PRE-CONFERENCES
The Program Administration and Development Committee and the Women’s Centers Committee host daylong sessions that offer important networking and professional development opportunities for women’s and gender studies and women’s center administrators on Thursday, November 7.  Organized by the respective standing committees of NWSA, the pre-conferences include a registration fee in addition to the general conference registration. 
 
STANDING COMMITTEE PRE-CONFERENCES
The Program Administration and Development Committee and the Women’s Centers Committee host daylong sessions that offer important networking and professional development opportunities for women’s and gender studies and women’s center administrators on Thursday, November 7.  Organized by the respective standing committees of NWSA, the pre-conferences include a registration fee in addition to the general conference registration. 
 
Program Administration and Development Pre-Conference
The PAD Pre-conference organizers invite the submission of proposals on a broad range of topics related to women’s/gender studies program administration and development. Submissions for the PAD Pre-Conference need not fit into general conference themes; rather they should be aimed at best practices and innovations in program administration. (Proposals that are not specifically related to program administration and development should be submitted to the general conference). 
 
We especially encourage proposals for workshops, roundtables, complete panels, or any variety of other formats.  Proposals for interactive sessions or sessions with a hands-on component are especially welcome. Authors of individual papers and those with ideas for panels are encouraged to use the Program Administrators’ Google group to generate interest to complete panels.  All proposals must be submitted via NWSA’s online proposal submission system. 
 
Suggested topics include but are not limited to: 
 
Women’s and Gender Studies Curriculum

• New approaches to introductory courses
• Technologies and on-line teaching in the women’s studies classroom
• Globalizing women and gender studies
• Connecting with STEM disciplines
• Developing and assessing meaningful high impact learning experiences/applying the Teagle report findings

 
Program Budgets and Sustainability

• Practical ideas for working/negotiating with college/university administrators
• Budgeting and fundraising
• Creating “Friends of Women’s Studies” and alumni networks

 
Mentoring Students and Colleagues

• Recruiting students to women and gender studies
• Strategies for helping students find graduate programs
• Mentoring early career colleagues

 
Program Administration and Innovation

• Collaborating with Women’s Centers
• Making successful tenure and promotion cases for other faculty members
• Using social media effectively
• Sharing innovation success stories

 
Professional Development and Institutional Change

• Balancing scholarship and administration
• Strategies for institutional change about race/white privilege in departments and institutions
• Successful grant seeking strategies for developing faculty

 
For more information on the NWSA Program Administration and Development Committee, visit www.nwsa.org
 
Women of Color Leadership Project
The WoCLP is committed to increasing the number of students and faculty members of color working within the field of women’s studies, related disciplines, and interdisciplinary fields; working at women’s centers; and assuming positions of power and leadership in NWSA, including the Program Administration and Development and Women’s Center Committees.  The WoCLP is also designed to support women of color in their professional goals and leadership development.
 
Women of color in women’s studies, ethnic studies, or related fields may apply if they aspire to leadership within women’s studies or NWSA.  Applicants may include advanced graduate students, faculty, and current program administrators who wish to be more involved in program or Association leadership.  To learn more please visit www.nwsa.org
 
NWSA Women’s Centers Pre-Conference
The NWSA Women’s Centers Committee invites proposals for its Pre-Conference, to be held Thursday, November 7, 2013, the day before the NWSA conference. Approximately 100-150 professionals attend the daylong Women’s Centers Pre-Conference each year for networking, discussions, brainstorming, and exchange of ideas. Accordingly, strong preference will be given to proposals that foster group interaction such as roundtables and skill-building workshops. We particularly encourage proposals that engage creatively with one or more of the following NWSA sub-themes, as they have been applied to Women’s Center work.  We also strongly encourage Women’s Center related submissions to the general NWSA conference. We suggest submitting different proposals for the pre-conference and the general conference.
 
NWSA 2013 Negotiating Points of EncounterFor 2013, the NWSA takes up the geographies, histories and political stakes of various feminist engagements, confrontations and struggles—intellectual and institutional, local and global, public and intimate. How is it that we are or should be negotiating these points of encounter as the contours of theories, disciplines, communities, economies, forms of protest, and even national borders/identities shift?  How are new spaces for thinking and doing “otherwise” opened up by reassessing loyalties, renegotiating borders, reconceptualizing pasts, and reimagining embodiments?  How do such changes demarcate both exclusions and inclusions?  What might they tell about new (or old) ways of effecting change?  And what justice or injustices do they foster and/or resist?
 
Please note:  In order for your proposal to be considered for the Pre Conference, select the WCC Pre Conference track in the online submission system.
 
NWSA Subthemes Adapted to Women’s Centers:
 

• The Sacred and The Profane: What are the intersections or points of encounter between The Sacred and The Profane for Women’s Centers? Namely, how do Women’s Center professionals negotiate academic climates where The Sacred and The Profane shift depending on context, and are often overlapping or conflated? For instance, we may feel our work is sacred, while others may perceive it as profane. What are the possibilities for common ground, productive engagement, and effective encounter?

 

• Borders and Margins: How are Women’s Centers (re)located within academic communities both feminist and otherwise? And, what are the ways in which is this placement is codified, disrupted, and/or effectively resisted? How might Women’s Centers professionals effectively occupy borders and margins and what are the emotional, political, and epistemological costs of such marginalization? Or, how might we remap cartographies of exclusion to produce more equitable landscapes? In other words, what are the possibilities for moving Women’s Centers from margin to center?  

 

• Futures of the Feminist Past: What are some of the lessons to be learned from the history of Women’s Centers in the academy, and how do these lessons shape the present and future of feminism in the academy? For instance, some individuals and institutions might assert that Women’s Centers are a thing of the past, no longer needed or relevant. What are the historical and contemporary grounds for these claims, and how might Women’s Centers utilize the feminist past to enact a more equitable present and future place for women in the academy? Moreover, is the past really so different from the present? How might feminist legacies operate in positive in negative and/or positive ways in the mission, values, and methods used by Women’s Centers?

 

• Body Politics:  How have Women’s Centers impacted the historical and contemporary transformation of body politics within academic institutions? What are the somatic needs of students, faculty, and staff at our institutions, and how do we effectively meet or advocate for resources that can accommodate diverse forms of embodiment? What kinds of bodies are encountered in our everyday work, and how do these bodies (re) shape the resources, programs, and/or advocacy offered by Women’s Centers?  

 

• Practices of Effecting Change:While Women’s Centers are usually overlooked as a source of feminist theory, our work is often recognized for its contribution to feminist praxis. Indeed, Women’s Centers offer a particularly productive site for the work of effecting change in the academy. What are some of the significant accomplishments for Women’s Centers nationally or locally? What are established “best practices” and innovative “promising practices”? What does change look like at our institutions and in the larger society? How is “change” assessed and benchmarked?

 
Poster Session
In addition, we are accepting poster submissions that focus on programming and events. We will also consider posters that address conference sub-themes as applied to Women’s Centers. 
 
Primarily, we hope that the poster format will facilitate the exchange of ideas about effective and innovative events and programs. Posters should describe a successful program or event and explain its goals and methods. In order to inspire others to replicate your event or program, posters might also include advertisements, handouts, assessment results, photos, learning outcomes, timeline, required materials, collaborators, recommended readings, outreach techniques, and other relevant logistical details.
 
We look forward to receiving your proposal submissions!  Should you have any questions, please contact the Women's Center Pre-Conference Co-Chair: Joanna Snawder, j-snawder@neiu.edu
 
 
 

2013 IMPORTANT DEADLINES AT A GLANCE
 
February 20, 2013

• Deadline for General Conference, Pre-Conference, and Authors Meet Critics proposals to be received via the website http://www.nwsa.org

 
April 19, 2013

• Accept and decline notifications will be sent via email for all submissions.
   
• Conference registration launches.

 
May 17, 2013

• Registration scholarship and travel grant applications due.
   
• Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP) applications due. 

 
June 3, 2013

• Preliminary conference schedule posted online for review. 

 
June 26, 2013

• Registration scholarship, travel grant, and Women of Color Leadership Project participants will be notified about their awards and/or participation.

 
July 8, 2013

• All presenters must be 2013 NWSA members and pre-registered by this date in order to appear on the conference program.  Names of participants who have not joined or registered will be removed from the program book.

 
September 3, 2013

• Conference attendees and/or presenters with accessibility requests should indicate their needs via our online form by this date.  Make advance reservations for childcare on the conference registration form by this date to guarantee on-site care.