Call for Proposals: “Decolonizing Futurities, Radical Imaginaries”
21 December 2021
“Decolonizing Futurities, Radical Imaginaries”
The Gender and Social Justice Graduate Students at the University of Alberta are pleased to announce our graduate conference in conjunction with the 9th annual WGS Undergraduate conference, “Decolonizing Futurities, Radical Imaginaries,” which will take place on March 18th and 19th, 2022 in person at the University of Alberta as well as online via Facebook and YouTube. We are seeking research paper and creative submissions that explore social justice praxis, particularly centering decolonization, imagined futurities, BIPoC feminisms, queer politics, and/or other intersectional issues.
- Enable graduate students from various disciplines to present and exchange their research;
- Foster an emerging multidisciplinary praxis community of students, scholars, and activists concerned with gender, BIPoC, queer, disability, class and/or other intersectional social justice issues;
- Catalyze activism among students to imagine and transform the academy into an active space of resistance to structures of oppression; and to
- Create a space where the voices and stories of community members who have been made most vulnerable are centered.
Along with the traditional academic gathering, the conference will provide a space for praxis-oriented discussions, including workshops, a panel discussion with non-profit organizations, artistic performances, and/or research-creation presentations. It will also facilitate mentorship engagement between graduate and undergraduate students. The organizers are particularly interested in papers and creative projects exploring the topics outlined in the objectives, but submissions are not limited to them. Papers citing BIPoC scholars will be prioritized.
We encourage submissions from current graduate students representing various disciplines, including STEM and Natural/Applied Sciences, with a hope to promote multidisciplinary dialogue focusing on gender, BIPoC, queer, disability, class and/or other intersectional social justice issues.
Please submit a 500-word abstract together with a 250-word bio in Word format (.docx) using this form by February 10, 2022. Kindly include your name and the tentative title of your submission on the attached Word document (GSJ Conference: Name, Paper Title). Decisions will be communicated to applicants by February 24, 2022. Please note that those selected will be required to submit a full paper or description of the creative project by March 7, 2022.
The organizing committee may have scholarships to support participants who may otherwise not be able to participate in the conference. More information on scholarships will be communicated after the acceptance date. The organizers will center accessibility needs of all the attendees. If you have questions about the accessibility of this conference or require accommodations, please send an email to gsjcon@ualberta.ca.