Keynote Speaker: Nel Whiting

It gives us great pleasure to announce the first of our keynote speakers. Nel Whiting is a Learning and Development Coordinator with Scottish Women's Aid. This means that she teaches various professionals (such as police officers) about domestic violence, and how women in such situations can best be supported. Nel has taken this approach to learning into the academy through her teaching on the Gender Justice, Masculinities and Violence module at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She studied for a Masters in Women, Culture and Society at the University of Dundee and won the Leah Leneman essay prize 2010 (awarded every two years by Women's History Scotland) for an essay based on her dissertation.

We are very excited to be welcoming Nel back to Dundee. Her work shows such a commitment to the fight for women's safety and happiness, both inside and outside of the academy. We hope that Nel's perspective, as an activist and an academic, will help us to connect the narratives of these two different discourses.

Feminism and Academic 'Giving'

Dr Judy Robertson has written a post for the Thesis Whisperer on academic 'givers and takers'. She writes, 'I'm sorry to say that I attended an ACM Women's Breakfast a month ago where a female speaker recommended only asking powerful male colleagues to be your mentor on the ground that women won't help other women. I think this is complete bollocks. I have been fortunate to have some very helpful women mentors and I try pretty hard to help other women'. 

I very much hope that this isn't a common view among female academics, but perhaps I'm being naive. This is partly why events like ours are important, so that we can help and support each other - and overcome misogynistic views that frame women as incapable of giving each other a leg-up. Hopefully with more networking opportunities, such as the Smashing the Patriarchy conference, we'll be well positioned to show that women can flourish through helping each other and believing in the sisterhood.

Childcare at the Conference

In the last few days we've been thinking about provision of childcare at our event in January. We know that some events are child-friendly and allow kids into the sessions - or, we could also consider using the university creche or taking on a couple of childcare professionals for the day. I've personally never been to a conference where childcare appeared to be in evidence, which must really scupper the chances for mothers (especially single mothers) to get involved with face-to-face academic debate. We want to make sure that we provide the best environment for everyone concerned. If you're thinking about coming, and it would be better for you to bring kids, please email us and let us know. You could also tell us whether you prefer to keep your kids with you or to have them in another room nearby.
If you have concerns about childcare, or anything else that could be helped by a bit of organisation on our part, then please let us know so that we can work towards making this the best experience we can. We might not think of everything ourselves, but we'll work like the dickens to solve problems once we know they're there. Our email is smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail.com, drop us a line.

Independence and Feminism

We're very excited about the interest in our event and the support we've received so far. Thanks to all who have retweeted, facebooked and shared the blog. The organisers have also been brainstorming ways that we can show off Dundee to our visitors. We will add some details about local accomodation, eating, travel, etc. nearer to the time. At the moment our thoughts are on the culture that Dundee has to offer, and how we can squeeze as much of it as possible into the short time we will have.

This excitement about our local area got us thinking about the Scottish independence debate and how that might affect us as feminist academics. This is an ongoing, interesting, and extremely important conversation for all Scottish people and, indeed, all British people.

While there are many issues related to independence that particularly affect women, it would also be a good idea for Scottish female academics to think about how independence might affect us. The differences in policies with regards to higher education between Westminster and Holyrood have been marked, as have the policies affecting women: the intersections are ripe for discussion. Possibly something else for us to talk about when we meet in January as we soak up Dundee's cultural sights and think about our future.

Smashing the Patriarchy: Call for Papers

We are very excited to unveil our CfP! Please read, share, and get in touch.

Smashing the Patriarchy in 100,000 Words? The Use of Feminism in Academic Theses.

University of Dundee,

Monday 13^th January 2014

CFP

A seeming resurgence of student feminism has become visible over the last couple of years; feminist societies and feminist students have engaged visibly and creatively with the feminist debates facing women and society today; from the No More Page 3 Campaign, to the microaggressions and Everyday Sexism Project, and producing photographs of signs reading ‘I need feminism because...’. Online activism has made the spread of information and campaigns more accessible.

But how does the increasing visibility of student feminism translate into academic work? Does it remain a part-time interest, or does it feed and inform our work? Is the academy a welcoming place for those already involved in activism? How does our academic work contribute to feminist activism?

This day of talks, workshops and networking aims to investigate how postgraduate students who use feminist methods and perspectives, or who identify as feminist activists, feel about the relationship between feminism and their academic work. We hope to create a friendly environment in which to discuss these issues, to offer fellow feminist researchers a springboard for further support and collaboration. We welcome papers which critique feminist methodology and interpretations or aspects thereof.

In association with the Feminist and Women’s Studies Association (http://www.fwsa.org.uk) and the University of Dundee, this event will include keynote lectures from those working within the academy and activism, while creating a space for postgraduate students from across the disciplines to discuss their work and their feminisms.

Abstracts of up to 300 words are requested for talks of 15 minutes, to be delivered as part of a workshop setting. We encourage interdisciplinary work.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

·         How feminism impacts your approach to your subject

·         Towards a feminist methodology

·         Feminism and its relation to identity politics or intersectionality

·         The relationship between your identities as feminist/activist and academic

·         Feminist academia: resurgence or decline?

·         Can feminist research be conducted within the academy?

·         Is feminist research relevant in 2013?

Abstracts should be emailed to smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail.com by 1^st October 2013 with a short biography (100 words or less).