Women's and Gender Studies

The 22nd SCSU Women’s Studies conference aimed to provide a critical site of collective inquiry into the intersections of women (and girls), community, and technology.  In what ways have women and girls worked with technology, broadly defined, for the advancement of communities and/or shaping and building movements?  This conference investigated the past, present, and future of the intersections of women, community, and technology and showcase feminist in(ter)ventions with technology. It also explored how women and girls have participated (or not) in the fields of technology and in what ways does this inquiry intersects with the studies of gender, race, class, and sexuality.

We were excited to announce our keynote speaker in this year was Anita Sarkeesian.  A media critic and public speaker, Anita Sarkeesian is the creator of Feminist Frequency, a video webseries that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. Her work focuses on exposing and deconstructing the sexist stereotypes and patterns in popular culture, and highlighting issues surrounding the targeted harassment of women in online and gaming spaces. She has received particular attention for her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, which examines tropes in the depiction of female video game characters. In 2015, she was chosen as one of the Time 100, Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. 
In conference sessions this year, we will investigate important topics and questions such as: what ways have feminist practices and women’s movements impacted women’s place in the world of technology?  How might the interplay between women, community, and technology have shifted feminist discourses?  What are some of the global movements that underscore feminist interventions and inventions of technology?  What lessons may we glean from women in communities throughout the world utilizing media and technology in fighting against war and destruction? What are some of the best practices of feminist in(ter)ventions for sustainable communities?
 
Some themes that were explored:

• Women & the Media
• Girls Who Code
• Black Girls Code
• Feminist Apps
• Feminist Ethics & Technology
• Feminism, Environment, and Technology
• Women, Sustainability, and Technology
• Gender, Class, and Technology
• Gender, Sexuality, and Technology
• Feminist Values and STEM
• Gender and STEM Ethics
• Women in STEM
• Women in the History of STEM
• Women Making History & STEM
• Reproductive Technologies and Feminist Concerns
• Feminist Pedagogy and Technology
• Women, Social Media/Technology, and Academia
• Online (In)Visibility of Bodies
• Feminism and Big Data
• Feminist Knowledge and Media Technology
• Digital Humanities and Gender
• Gender and Social Media/Technology
• Girlhood in the Age of Social Media
• Community (Re-)Building and Technology
• Women’s Leadership, Media, and Technology
• Women’s Labor & Technology
• Women, Movements, and Technology
• Spirituality and Technology
• Religion, Gender, and STEM
• Representation of Women & Social Media
• Gender, Sexual Violence, and Technology
• Anti-Sexual Violence and Media Technology
• Online Misogyny and Harassment
• First Amendment Rights & Emerging Technologies
• Gender and Blogging
• Women Making Social Media
• Feminist Social Media
• Feminist Blogging
• Black Twitter Feminism
• Gender, Race, Social Media, and Violence
• Online Parenting
• Parent Communities
• Gender, Sexuality, and Healthcare Technology
• Social Media and Movements
• Women in the Global South & Technology
• Indigenous Women & Technology

 Conference sessions juxtaposed global, comparative, intersectional, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational perspectives for the collective re-thinking of women, community, and technology. We had serious fun through meals and performance, with women, girls and their allies speaking of their struggles and power.

For more information, please contact: 

Women’s Studies Conference Committee
Women’s Studies Program, EN B 229
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT 06515

Conference Committee:
Dr. Yi-Chun Tricia Lin
Liny4@southernct.edu

Dr. Heidi Lockwood
Lockwoodh1@southernct.edu