Source:  Women's and Gender Study Program
Date: 24-26 March 2011
Location: United States, Tennessee

Welcome

On behalf of Middle Tennessee State University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, I cordially invite you to participate in our ninth biennial conference: Global Discourses in Women’s and Gender Studies, March 24 - 26, 2011. Our conference theme reflects our interest in promoting feminist perspectives that foreground the influence of global forces on women’s and/or gendered existence and in examining connections between local/national and global issues that relate to women’s and/or gendered existence. We welcome scholars, activists, non-profit professionals, students, and others who engage issues of social justice, particularly those related to women and gender.

Our keynote speaker is internationally-renowned Cambodian sex slave trade survivor and anti-human trafficking activist Somaly Mam. Mam has dedicated her life to exposing the multi-million dollar global sex trade industry and to campaigning against the trafficking of human beings, particularly the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.  Her work in this area, including the founding of the Somaly Mam Foundation http://www.somaly.org, has led to enormous international recognition. For example, she was featured as a CNN Hero in 2006, named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2009,” and was the recipient of the first “Roland Berger Human Dignity Award.”

We aim to make this conference a very satisfying experience for all participants; consequently, we offer the following:

• Very reasonable conference costs. (Please see registration information.)

• Single panel per session conference format. This format worked extremely well at our 2009 conference as it provided the opportunity for larger audiences at sessions, substantive audience engagement with material presented, and sustained exchange of ideas among presenters and conference participants. This format also promotes interaction among conference participants that can contribute to a positive conference experience.

• Professional development workshop. This workshop is free and open to all registered participants.

• Film and panel discussion.

We hope you will seriously consider attending the conference. We strive to make our conference a safe and comfortable space for sharing perspectives, ideas, and experiences.

Please feel free to email or call us if you have any questions.

Newtona (Tina) Johnson
Director, Women’s and Gender Studies Program