CFP: 6th Annual UC Womyn of Color Conference

Call for Papers & Workshops:

6th Annual UC Womyn of Color Conference

"Decolonizing Ourselves: Reconceptualizing Our Lives"

April 20-22, 2007 Davis, CA

http://wrrc.ucdavis.edu/wocc

The 6th annual University of California Womyn of Color Conference will be held this spring at UC Davis. Historically, this conference has provided a space for students and faculty to dialogue on issues concerning womyn of color. This year is no different. We invite proposals for academic panels/papers, informational workshops, skill building workshops, artistic presentations, and workshops from UNDERGRADUATE and GRADUATE students. We want students to feel empowered to make this conference their own by contributing new and creative ways to make their voices heard.

Proposals and Papers must be submitted by March 5th, 2007. Submit abstracts to wocc2007@gmail.com.

Conference Theme: "Decolonizing Ourselves: Reconceptualizing Our Lives"

Colonialism/Imperialism is a system in which a state or other entity claims power over territories or borders that are not their own. These borders can be real or imagined; they mark the boundaries of land, our labor and are written on our bodies. As womyn of color, colonization and imperialism touches the most intimate aspects of our lives because it is a system of that replaces existing social fabrics with oppressive hierarchical systems. These systems affect how we relate to each other, our families, institutions and ourselves. Despite attempts at colonization, womyn of color have managed to maintain our sense of self, community and culture. The conference invites presentations and papers that consider how we, as womyn of color, decolonize ourselves and reconceptualize our lives.

Possible formats:
*Papers/panels: If you have written a paper about an issue concerning womyn of color that you wanted to share, this is the place and time! You can organize your own panel of 3-4 papers and a commentator, or submit an abstract of your work and we will place it with a panel.

*Performative format: Do you have piece you feel speaks to theme of this conference? We welcome artistic performances from the arts (dance, music, drama, spoken word, performance art) to multi-media presentations (video, film, audio, digital media) and readings of creative fiction and non-fiction.

*Roundtables/ caucuses: We will reserve space for ethnic/race specific caucus to convene and dialogue about community specific issues. If there are issues and concerns you feel a certain caucus should address.

*Workshop format: Presenters will create venues to verbally and/or physically interact with the participants. We invite educators, artists, and community activists to lead workshops that emphasize interaction and challenge us to think in new ways.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to:

The "F" word
--Womyn of color and feminism
--Historical essays - examination of "unknown" or unwritten histories of womyn of color, and Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer womyn.
-- Models and methods for working across culture and/or class within feminist organizations.

Our Bodies our Selves
--Body image
--Eating disorders
--Cosmetic surgery
--Body modification

Violence
--Violence in the media
--Violence and the global economy
--Violence of law enforcement
--Womyn of color-centered approaches to challenge domestic violence and sexual assault
--Violence in faith communities
--Violence against queer womyn, children, and refugee womyn
--Violence and disability

Gender and sexuality
--Heterosexism and homophobia
--Gender policing and transphobia
--Racial myths and the regulation of sexuality/sexual expression
--Domestic violence in South Asian and Middle Eastern communities
-- Transgendered/womyn and incarceration
--Successful trans-feminist organizing
-- Organizing around transgendered and same-sex parenting rights

Health and Healthcare:
--Sterilization abuse, dangerous contraceptives and attacks on the reproductive rights of womyn of color
-- Sterilization projects that target poor womyn, incarcerated womyn, etc.
--Holistic projects that deal with multiple-intersecting issues of reproductive justice
--HIV/AIDS and STI's (Sexual Transmitted Infections)

Alternative spaces:
--Womyn of color and LBT resource centers and grassroots organizing.
-- Womyn of color and LBT organizations, alternative feminist visions, artist collectives, internet communities, blogrings, etc.

Land and Labor
--Feminist responses to Katrina, mining on indigenous lands, environmental degradation and environmental racism, etc.
--Feminist response to the Womyn of Juarez: maquilladoras and gender violence
--Undocumented womyn and labor
--Sex workers rights
--Immigration detention, border violence and xenophobia
--Imperialism and U.S. occupations

Educational Access
--Prop 209 and continuing backlash
--Recruitment and Retention efforts in UC schools
--Psychological affects of low representation of womyn of color in higher education

Submission Guidelines:
Individual Paper:
Contact Information for each person presenting:
Individual Author information including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail and telephone.
Presenter Bio/s: Please include brief biographies no more than 100 words for each presenter.
Session/Paper Title: maximum of 15 words
Paper Abstract (maximum of 250 words per abstract)
Special Requests (including audio-visual equipment needs)

Panel Submission: (The following is needed from each session participant)
Contact Information for each person presenting:
Individual Author information including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail and telephone.
Presenter Bio/s: Please include brief biographies no more than 100 words for each presenter.
Session/Paper Title: maximum of 15 words
Paper Abstract (maximum of 250 words per abstract)
Special Requests (including audio-visual equipment needs)

You will receive an email confirmation that your submission was received. Individual papers will be organized into sessions.

For more information
Maria Cervantes
Program Intern, WRRC
North Hall
wocc2007@gmail.com
(530) 752-3372