In order to encourage the participation of more individuals, especially those from Florida-based institutions, the Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University has extended the deadline for general CFP submissions until January 9, 2014. The keynote speaker is Carrie N. Baker (Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College). [Also see our previous post 2015 Southeastern Women’s Studies Association: “Trafficking in Gender”.]

Description: The FAU WGSS Center is proud to host SEWSA 2015: “Trafficking in Gender: Feminist Dialogues on Embodiment.” The 2015 Southeastern Women’s Studies Association conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel in Boca Raton on March 26-29, 2015.

We invite paper abstracts and complete panel, workshop, and roundtable proposals on all aspects of gender and embodiment. Submissions can also address feminism in relation to the themes of (im)mobility, trafficking, and movement. Gayle Rubin’s landmark essay, “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex,” provides a touchstone for SEWSA 2015 conference theme.

Suggested topics/approaches for proposals: theories of sex and gender and “modes of reproduction”; sexual subcultures and sexual minorities; routes of transnational feminist politics; sex and profit (prostitution, domestic labor, etc.); body trafficking, displaced and misplaced bodies; various forms of illicit trafficking (organs, cultural objects, drugs); anti-trafficking movements and activism; kinship systems, gift exchange, the politics of marriage, and the relationship of social systems to political and economic arrangements; engendering health; narratives of activism; pedagogical meditations on teaching gender and embodiment; and circulations of cultural production (music, film, literature, visual arts).

The conference topic is inspired by our Center’s current initiative to raise awareness about sex trafficking, particularly in South Florida. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center found that the state of Florida ranked 3rd in the number of phone calls amassed by their human trafficking hotline in 2011. Our keynote speaker, Carrie N. Baker, an Associate Professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College, has published The Women’s Movement Against Sexual Harassment (Cambridge UP, 2004), and her current research is on sex trafficking.

Call for Papers: We invite you to submit individual proposals of 250 words in a Word document for this general call for papers and the deadline general conference submissions has been extended to January 9th. (The LGBTQ, People of Color, and Student caucus panels have already selected their presenters.) Submissions should detail requests for specific audiovisual equipment, if needed. We also ask that a proposal for a complete panel, roundtable, or workshop include a short description of the central topic, supplemented by brief abstracts of individual speakers’ contributions. Please e-mail abstracts to: SEWSA2015@fau.edu

All presenters, chairs, and respondents must be members of SEWSA. Please visit the SEWSA 2015 Conference Registration site for information about SEWSA Membership Fees and Conference Registration, as well as to access the payment portal.

Hotel rooms have been set aside at the Wyndham Hotel located at 1950 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431. Visit this link SEWSA Conference 2015 – Wyndham Boca Raton or call 1-888-404-6880 for reservations and mention the SEWSA group rate, which is for a Single Room ($169/night) and Double Room ($179/night). The room rate includes complimentary continental breakfast, WiFi, self-parking, special discounted rate for a Yoga Class at Yoga Journey.  More information about other hotels near the conference site will be forthcoming.