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Women's and Gender Studies
and Related Conferences
DNA, RACE, AND HISTORY
~ Center for Race and Ethnicity,
Rutgers University
Call For Papers deadline: December 15, 2007
Conference: Fri-Sat, April 18-19, 2008, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Although scholars have long agreed that race is a social rather than genetic or biological reality, recent trends in DNA analysis have blurred this distinction. Across societies, genetic evidence is being called upon to perform a kind of racially-charged cultural work – to repair and recast the past, and to reshape identity in the present. Today, genetic markers are discussed often as a proxy for race and ethnicity, lending renewed authority to biological conceptions of human difference. Employed for diverse purposes including genealogy, anthropology, evolutionary biology, medicine, and public history, genetic evidence promises to reshape understandings of individual and collective ancestry, the histories of particular social groups, and the significance of race in history and in the present.
This conference brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines – history, cultural studies, genetics, law, medicine, anthropology, ethnic studies, sociology, and other fields – to examine the emerging and often contested connections between race, DNA, and history.
We welcome papers on a variety of topics, including the historical use of DNA in biomedicine and the social sciences, the implications of the use of DNA in law, epidemiology, and other fields, the historical uses and misuses of genetic information, the cultural and scientific crafting of genetic evidence into genetic assertion, the way in which genetic testing is reshaping understandings of group identity, both within and across cultural and national boundaries, and the cultural, ethical, social, and philosophical challenges raised by relying upon DNA to resolve questions of history and identity.
The DNA, RACE, AND HISTORY conference will consist of a series of intensive panel discussions of short pre-circulated papers (15-30 pages).
Paper proposals (DUE by DECEMBER 15, 2007) should be no more than 1-2 pages in length, should engage intersections between race, history, and the mapping, testing, analysis, and cultural meanings of DNA in and beyond the United States, and should provide a platform for broad, cross-disciplinary discussion.
Travel and accommodation expenses relating to conference will be covered by the Center for Race and Ethnicity. Interested participants are asked to submit their paper proposals to Jeffrey Dowd (jdowd@rci.rutgers.edu). We expect that an edited volume will be published from the proceedings.
Organizers:
• Keith Wailoo, Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity/History/Health
Policy,
Rutgers
• Mia Bay, Associate Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity/History,
Rutgers
• Catherine Lee, Sociology, Rutgers
• Alondra Nelson, African-American Studies, American Studies, and
Sociology,
Yale
Fourteenth Berkshire Conference on the History of Women Continuities and Changes ~ June 12-15, 2008, Minneapolis
http://www.umass.edu/history/berks/index.htm
The 14th Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, “Continuities and Changes” will be held June 12-15, 2008, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN, USA.
The theme points us to perennial historical issues in two ways. First, after the past forty years of pathbreaking and creative scholarship, is women’s history characterized by deep continuities over the very long term, or can we identify sharp turning points? What are the appropriate markers for change in women’s history? Is a traditional timeline of history, periodized by political regimes and cultural revolutions, useful for understanding women’s lives? Or should women’s historians propose a new periodization for human history?
A second dimension of our theme looks to the continuities and changes of our interpretations of women’s history: how has the field changed? What (if any) have been persistent themes, issues or interpretations? How has interdisciplinary scholarship shaped women’s history, and how has women’s history contributed to discussions in other fields? What issues, challenges, and opportunities are posed by public history or classroom (at any level) audiences?
NWSA 2008 ~ Resisting Hegemonies: Race and Sexual Politics in Nation, Region, Empire
The National Women's Studies Association leads the field of women’s studies in educational and social transformation. Our annual conference regularly draws more than 1,200 attendees and is the only annual meeting in the US exclusively dedicated to showcasing the latest feminist scholarship.
The 2008 conference will open on Thursday, June 19th with two pre-conferences hosted by the Program Administration and Development and the Women’s Centers Standing Committees. These daylong events offer networking and professional development opportunities for women’s and gender studies and women’s center administrators. Patricia Hill Collins is this year’s Keynote Speaker.