Sexual orientation and sexual identity is becoming more visible in every modern professional space, including the academy. This puts demands upon and frees up space for queer scholars to critically think about themselves and their social contexts. It is incumbent upon young scholars (graduate students in particular) to define our intellectual spaces through our disciplinary training and our affinities with queer studies. Queer pride graduate student association (QPGSA) is an organization at Northwestern University that seeks to foster interdisciplinary approaches to queer studies – very broadly conceived.

We invite paper abstracts of 500 words or less presented in panel presentations (approximately 20-25 minutes) or roundtable discussions (approximately 10 – 15 minutes). Contributions to historical, sociological, theoretical, visual, and literary studies aimed at sexuality, gender, or sexual/gender identity will be considered. We are particularly interested in exploring the connections between academe and activism. Honors undergraduate theses will also be considered.

In addition to submitting abstracts of individual research, we also invite students to submit proposals for panels. Interested parties should submit a title for the panel, description of the panel, abstracts of 4-5 papers to be presented, and contact information for a panel moderator/respondent and all paper presenters.

Please send an abstract, along with your contact information, to queertopia.nu@gmail.com. Abstracts must be submitted by 5pm on Friday, March 7, 2008.

Include the following contact information:

Name
University
Email address
Phone number

Please circulate this announcement to all those who may be interested.

About QPGSA: The Queer Pride Graduate Student Association is a social networking and advocacy group for graduate students enrolled in The Graduate School at Northwestern University. We are dedicated to providing opportunities for Northwestern’s gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, queer, and allied graduate students to meet and socialize with other graduate students in nonacademic settings. In addition to the various quarterly and monthly social events, we are dedicated to increasing our visibility on campus through our participation in speaker series as well as other academic and professional presentations and through our partnerships with a number of on-campus organizations, including the Rainbow Alliance (NU’s Undergraduate LGBT organization), the LGBT Resource Center, and the Gender Studies Department.