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Feminist Scholars Convene in Milwaukee For Annual National Women’s Studies Conference

Between Thursday and Sunday this week, as many as 1,800 feminist scholars from around the country will meet in Milwaukee for the National Women’s Studies Association’s (NWSA) annual conference. Ms. and the Feminist Majority Foundation’s national campus organizers will join distinguished faculty and graduate students from across academic disciplines in celebrating the latest feminist scholarship.

In addition to hundreds of workshops, panels will feature such feminist luminaries as Kimberlé Crenshaw, former NWSA president Beverly Guy-Sheftall as well as event keynote speaker Sara Ahmed, the director of the Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Since 1977, the NWSA has worked to strengthen the field of women’s studies through feminist scholarship, building an ever-expanding membership of individuals and institutions nationwide. In recent years, addressing the need for a more inclusive space, the NWSA has centralized scholarship by women of color within its programs. It launched the NWSA Women of Color Leadership Project, a conference mainstay, at which esteemed scholars, including Angela Davis and bell hooks, will deliver keynote addresses.

Each year, some of the most well-attended conference workshops are the Ms. Sessions, featuring Ms. scholars sharing their experiences and insights about writing for the popular press. Currently in their fourth year at the conference, these Ms. writing workshops provide feminist scholars with the tools they need to translate their cutting-edge research into articles and blogs for Ms. and other media outlets.

In addition to the Ms. Sessions, Ms. in the Classroom will be introducing two innovative new Ms. Digital Readers at the exhibition booth. The readers are the first of their kind, compiling the best articles from Ms. magazine and the Ms. Blog into accessible, engaging online textbooks to be used in feminist classrooms in the U.S., Canada and globally.

Ms. in the Classroom program director Karon Jolna hopes this year’s NWSA conference will grow Ms.’ network of feminist scholars and offer them new and creative ways to engage their students. “Ms. in the Classroom strengthens the connections between academia, women’s studies, and the Ms. community of activists,” says Jolna. “With faculty participating in 48 states and more than 500 universities and colleges, [teaching tools like] Ms. Digital Readers, designed for use in the most popular women’s studies and general education courses, take on an even greater sense of currency for the next generation.”

Media Resources: Feminist Newswire 11/12/15

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