Individual Paper Proposals
The Association invites scholarship and cultural work developed by individual WGSS-anchored educators and organizers. Please select this submission type if you are interested in presenting on an individually-authored paper or presentation. Individual Paper proposals are arranged into sessions by the Proposal Review Committee. If selected, you will be grouped alongside other accepted solo-authors based on shared areas of focus to present together. 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 to introduce the session, 10 minutes for each presenter, and 30 minutes for discussion.
What makes a Strong Paper Proposal?
We especially welcome Individual Paper proposals that:
- directly name the topic and argument offered by the author and how it aligns with the conference (sub)themes and invitations
- engages relevant WGSS scholarship that speak to the boundaries and invitations of the field
- provide clear exploration of the paper's goals and desired outcomes for the audience
- engage the standard facets of a conceptual/theoretical paper or an empirical paper presentation
Generally strong proposals offer:
"Clear tie in between feminist texts and the proposal (for example, a direct quotation; a brief description of the main theory or theories that are used within the proposal; a justification for why this text or historical/contemporary figure was chosen as it related to feminist movements). Intersectional, decolonial, and/or queer perspectives are interwoven throughout the proposal, and not simply tacked on at the end." - Melinda Chen, NWSA Member-at-Large
"A strong proposal uses clear, accessible language that can be understood by an interdisciplinary audience of readers. A strong proposal should clearly articulate the paper's topic, argument, and methodology or evidence. A strong proposal should cite relevant sources in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and should explain the relationship of the paper to the conference theme or subthemes." - Kristina Gupta, NWSA Vice President