Conference Title: Social Justice Conference: A two-day workshop with emerging feminist scholars
Description: Supporting Women in Geography (SWIG) is a student-led organization dedicated to the participation and success of women in geography. As women continue to face unequal recognition and representation both within academia and throughout the geographic discipline, the importance of increased support and encouragement is vital. As such, we are extremely excited to host an interactive workshop with some of the country’s most promising feminist geographers. The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for students to engage with emerging scholars interested in social justice and activism through an introduction into applied feminist methodological approaches to research. The goals for this event are to 1) serve as a networking opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students, and 2) to explore groundbreaking feminist research strategies aimed at promoting social justice. We are very excited to host Dr. Caitlin Cahill, Dr. Jen Jack Gieseking, Dr. Lieba Faier, and Dr. Sapana Doshi as participants in this workshop. Their work embodies the diversity of scholarship emerging out of feminist theory and practice, and continues to propel disciplinary interest in difference and justice. Each scholar will give a 40-minute presentation of their current research interests and pursuits. The talks will be open to all interested students and faculty from SDSU or other academic institutions and will be accompanied by discussion sessions and breakout workshops.
When?
March 16-17th, 2015, 10am-4pm. The schedule for the conference can be viewed here: http://geography.sdsu.edu/News/SWIG_Conference_2015.html.
Where?
Scripps Cottage, San Diego State University
Who is this event for?
This event is open to everyone, especially graduate students, faculty, undergraduates, and community members who are interested in social justice research, and/or feminist theory. This event will be an excellent way to meet emerging feminist scholars engaged in cutting-edge social justice work. These scholars push boundaries of scholar-activism, and will be sharing valuable insights and strategies for undertaking social justice research that will be particularly valuable for graduate students interested in this type of scholarship.
Who are the speakers?
Dr. Caitlin Cahill (Pratt Institute) is Assistant Professor of Urban Geography and Politics and an affiliate faculty member of the Critical & Environmental Psychology Program. She does participatory action research with young people investigating the everyday intimate experiences of global urban restructuring, specifically as it concerns gentrification, immigration, education, and discriminatory policing. Caitlin is interested in creating collective spaces for dialogue, creativity, knowledge production, critical research and action.
Dr. Jen Jack Geiseking (Bowdoin College) is a sociocultural geographer, feminist and queer theorist, and urban environmental psychologist. Jack’s work focuses on how space and identity produce one another in digital, material, and imagined environments, with a focus on sexual and gender identities. S/he is particularly interested in how participatory digital and computational research methods and analytics can inform and support or inhibit research into and productions of social, spatial, and economic justice.
Dr. Lieba Faier (University of California, Los Angeles) is Associate Professor in Geography with research interests in cultural and spatial theory, feminist thought, ethnography, political economy, weather and natural resources, and relations among Japan, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Here work brings ethnographic and feminist approaches to understanding the spatial and cultural dynamics of contemporary transnational processes, particularly as these pertain to people’s lives in Japan, the Philippines, and the United States.
Dr. Sapana Doshi (The University of Arizona) is Assistant Professor at the School of Geography and Development and a Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies. Her work on urban social movements explores the nexus of cultural politics and political economy in cities of the Global South and traverses the fields of critical development studies, feminist political geography and urban geography. Her current research is on the politics of global city redevelopment, eviction and resettlement in Mumbai, India with a focus on social mobilization among displaced residents of informal slum settlements.
How can I attend this event?
RSVP your interest in attending to Lydia Wood, lwood@rohan.sdsu.edu. Indicate which dates you would like to attend, provide a brief summary of your research interests (in two or three sentences), and let us know whether you would like to discuss your current research (e.g., thesis, dissertation, manuscript in progress) in a breakout workshop with participating scholars. A full schedule for the workshop is available upon request.
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Kate Swanson
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
San Diego State University
http://geography.sdsu.edu/People/Faculty/swanson.html