Southern Feminisms Conference set for Thursday-Saturday
JONESBORO – The women and gender studies group at Arkansas State University will host an interdisciplinary conference, "Southern Feminisms," beginning Thursday evening, with sessions continuing on Friday and Saturday.
"The conference seeks to explore issues of feminist theory and practice as they occur particularly in the Southern regions of the U.S.," explained Dr. Michele Merritt, assistant professor of philosophy and conference organizer. "The idea is that feminism is not a monolith -- it means different things to different people, depending on context. One of those contexts is the geographical location, which in turn helps to shape the cultural atmosphere.
"Thus, our conference explores the way feminism has been operationalized and utilized specifically in the South. We will have presentations addressing issues of politics, socioeconomics, health, reproductive justice, gender identity and embodiment."
The keynote speaker is Dr. Susan Bordo, professor of women and gender studies at the University of Kentucky, who will present the annual Greenfield Lecture Thursday at 7 p.m. as part of the university's Lecture-Concert Series.
Her lecture, titled "Hillary, Feminism, and Me: Why 'Baby-Boomers' and 'Millennials' Need to Start Talking To Each Other," will be in the first floor auditorium of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building. A reception and book signing follows.
Following registration Friday, scholarly panels on a variety of relevant topics will run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Arkansas River Room and Black River Room on the third floor of the Reng Student Union. The Saturday session begins at 10 a.m. and wraps up at noon.
"We hope many people from the university and the community will come out to this free event," Merritt added. "It promises to be enlightening and inspiring, and our hope is that it fosters more communication and scholarship across disciplines pertaining to this relatively new field of inquiry."
This conference is sponsored by the Greenfield Lecture Endowment, Lecture Concert Series, Multicultural Center, College of Nursing and Health Professions, College of Liberal Arts, Department of History, Department of English, Philosophy, and World Languages, and Arkansas Court-Appointed Special Advocates.
A detailed program is available on the conference website.
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