Jennifer Heath and Rita Stephan are assembling an edited volume about women’s initiative and actions up to and during the so-called Arab Spring. This comprehensive collection will examine historical roots of Arab women’s leadership from antiquity to the present, giving voice to women’s voices by exploring wide-ranging topics such as tweeting in Tunisia, graffiti in Egypt, the campaign for driving in Saudi Arabia, the “women’s revolution” in Syria, the raisons d’etre of Islamist women, the roles of minority women, and more.

The book will feature essays, interviews, and artwork describing women’s leadership (and threats to it), resistance, mobilization, rights, and reforms from numerous points of view and contexts throughout the region, culminating in analysis of what this can mean for the future, its opportunities and challenges.  Their purpose is to produce a cross-over book that will appeal to both scholarly and general audiences and that realistically illustrates Arab women’s agency and strengths.

Deadline for 500-word abstracts, interview proposals, and images, with 300-word author biographies is June 3, 2013.  Articles (no longer than 5,000 words) will be due September 9, 2013. Please send all written materials as WORD.doc and all images as JPEGs to Jennifer Heath, HeathCollom@comcast.net and Rita Stephan, rita.stephan@gmail.com, subject heading SPRING.

For more information contact the authors.

The loss of a desired pregnancy and the inability to experience pregnancy are intensely personal phenomena; these losses are also, in our culture at least, extremely (and some would argue, inexplicably) private. There is no shortage of books that help prospective parents through the process of recovering from an unintended pregnancy loss or “dealing with” or “surviving” infertility, whether that fertility is explained or unexplained but this is different in that it will include the first-person narratives of individuals who have experienced miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy loss, and/or infertility or who have undergone treatment for infertility. Each of these narratives will be accompanied by an author-crafted analysis that employs concepts and theories of narrative.

This book is currently under contract with Peter Lang Publishing and will a part of the Health Communication Series (series editor: Gary Kreps) with an expected publication date of Summer 2014.

The vision for this project contains two distinct sections: lay perspectives and clinical perspectives. Baglia and Silverman believe such an approach will 1) serve to inform individuals (whether lay or professional) and couples for whom the current information may lack the depth that can only come from a storyteller and 2) provide for students of health communication examples of narratives that are not reflective of dominant (i.e. biomedical) discourses.

Here are some specific narratives the editors are looking for:

• Lesbians or lesbian couples who have experienced pregnancy loss
• Gay men or gay couples who have experience pregnancy loss
• Women and/or couples of color who have experienced pregnancy loss
• Narratives of pregnancy loss from 30-50 years ago
• Narratives involving couples experiencing relational disintegration before, during, or after pregnancy loss
• Narratives of surrogates or of women and/or couples who have employed surrogates
• Narratives involving a crisis of faith
• Nurses providing a single case study of a pregnancy loss
• Primary care physicians providing a single case study of a pregnancy loss
• Doulas/midwives providing a single case study of a pregnancy loss
• Counselors and/or grief therapists providing a single case study of a pregnancy loss
• Reiki practitioners, acupuncturists, and/or massage therapists providing a single case study of a pregnancy loss

Deadlines:
Chapter Proposals: April 1, 2013
Notification of Acceptance: May 1, 2013
Completed Chapters: July 15, 2013

Please include in your Chapter Proposal:

• A 500-word abstract of your narrative (including working title)
• A 100-150 word bio
• A copy of your vita (including courses taught).

Submission Guidelines:

• Submissions should be grounded in one or more concepts or theories related to narrative and offer an analysis of the narrative appropriate for a college classroom
• Submissions should be in APA format and created in MSWord
• Final page length and style will vary depending on author and story; we encourage inventive/imaginative forms of storytelling
• Please send submissions to both rachelesilverman@gmail.com and jaybags01@hotmail.com with Pregnancy Loss Narrative in the subject line

This national conference is the culmination of a year-long interdisciplinary research seminar bringing together graduate students and faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and across North America. During the 2012-2013 academic year, researchers have been meeting in small groups and panels to discuss the complexities inherent in LGBT research including ethical issues, sampling and recruitment, methodologies, diversity and intersectionality, connecting research to practice, and technological advances in LGBT research. This final symposium aims to provide a broader range of researchers an opportunity to present their own challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned in conducting social science research with LGBT populations.

Closing speakers will be Cheryl Angelaccio (Lambda Legal) and Naomi Goldberg (Movement Advancement Project) discussing how to generate and use social science research on LGBT issues to inform policy and litigation.

Proposals for presentations at the symposium should fall into the following categories:  original research with LGBT populations, conceptual and theoretical issues associated with LGBT research, and incorporating LGBT research in practice settings.

Request for Proposals deadline: March 1, 2013.  Proposals should be limited to 750 words. Submissions from graduate students are especially encouraged.  Proposals may be submitted in the form of paper presentations or panel discussions.  Accepted paper presentations will be formed into panel discussions based on similar topics. Panel discussions consist of four presenters and last 80 minutes. Notification of acceptance will take place by March 15, 2013.  The conference is free of charge, but space is limited, so registration is required.

Limited funding is available to offset the cost of travel and lodging for graduate student presenters. Please indicate your interest in obtaining funding travel in your proposal submission.

Abstract Submissions: Please submit abstracts (including presenters’ names, affiliations, funding request, and contact information) via email to lgbtresearch.uiuc@gmail.com, the address for any questions regarding proposal submissions.

For more information on the conference, or to register, see the website at www.lgbtresearch.weebly.com or send questions to lgbtresearch.uiuc@gmail.com.

This study has been approved by University of Missouri, Kansas City’s Institutional Review Board. If you have any concerns about your rights as a participant please call 816-235-5927.

But it’s not all about the drama. Many of the housewives are not actually housewives, but hard-working businesswomen who have used the series to develop their careers through beauty products, book contracts, clothing and accessory lines, and spin-off series. There have also been four spin-off shows starring former or current housewives in their own reality series. As reality television continues to grow in popularity and the housewives find themselves as Bravo staples, in the tabloids, and online it seems only fitting that they receive some scholarly recognition.

For this collection, already under contract with McFarland Press, Editor Rachel Silverman of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University seeks original submissions that address the housewives in all their glory. As a critical examination of our current television culture, this collection is grounded in (but not limited to) critical/cultural, media, and television studies. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Analysis of Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality, Religion, and Ability
• Female and/or Male Friendships
• Beauty Standards/Cosmetic Surgery
• Conspicuous Consumption
• Reality-Celebrity status
• Social media, branding, and tabloid exposure
• Spin-off series and International versions of the Housewives

Deadlines: Chapter Proposal – March 1, Notification of Acceptance – March 18, Completed Chapters – July 1

Chapter proposals (300-500 words) should be submitted as an email attachment in MSWord to: Rachelesilverman@gmail.com with “YourLastName – Housewives” as the title. Please include a short biography and a condensed version of your CV with the proposal. Final submissions (3,000-5,000 words) should adhere to APA Style.

The third I-Mean Conference will address the relationship between language and identity. It seeks to explore ways in which researchers can fruitfully work across methodological and disciplinary boundaries. We also welcome scholars from other disciplines who have an interest in the links between language and identity.

For individual papers abstracts of no more than 350 words (max and including references, if absolutely necessary) are invited. Abstracts should not include the name and affiliation of the author(s). Submit abstracts by Jan. 31, 2013 to http://linguistlist.org/confservices/imean2013

The conference web-site is now live at: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/cahe/research/bristolcentreforlinguistics/i-mean/conferencedetails.aspx For more information contact i-Mean@uwe.ac.uk, Kate.Beeching@uwe.ac.uk or Jo.Angouri@uwe.ac.uk

With the theme “Shifting Visions: Gender, Sexuality, Discourse and Language,” IGALA 8 aims to bring together scholars from diverse fields of knowledge as well as geographical regions who are interested in broadening and deepening our understanding of the complex relationships among language, gender and sexuality. In so doing, we encourage new ways of signifying these concepts and their interrelationships, in the following conference thematic areas:

1. Education & Pedagogy
2. Politics & Journalism
3. Culture & Literature
4. Media & Technology
5. Ethnicity & Religion
6. Health & Wellness
7. Race & Social Class
8. Age & Life Stages
9. Multiculturalism
10. Multilingualism

Major conference speakers include Bonny Norton, University of British Columbia; Marjorie Goodwin, University of California, Los Angeles; and Jane Sutherland, Lancaster University.  CBC journalist and broadcaster Chantel Hebert will be the special guest speaker, focusing on Canadian French-English Politics.

For general submission guidelines go to www.igala8.com or email info@igala8.com with inquiries.

We encourage submissions that provide critical insights into mothering, fathering and family issues; that draw direct links between theories and/or research findings; or that offer practical approaches to issues facing contemporary mothers and families. The overarching goal of this conference is to provide an environment to explore new ideas and approaches for tackling issues that concern mothers as well as important others who fill a care giving role in the family. Examples of possible topics include, but are not limited to: global reproduction; birth practices and rituals; histories of family formation; the “new” fatherhood; changing public policy on maternal care; co-parenting ideologies; activism and motherhood; cross-cultural perspectives on the meanings of motherhood; literary and media representations of the changing figure of the mother; and public health perspectives on motherhood and pregnancy.
We welcome submissions from scholars, students, activists, artists, community agencies, service providers, journalists, mothers and others who work or research in this area. Cross-cultural, historical, and comparative work is encouraged. We also encourage a variety of types of submissions including individual academic papers from all disciplines, proposals for panels, creative submissions, performances, storytelling, visual arts, film, music, audio and other alternative formats.
All submissions will be peer reviewed. Individual presenters, panelists, as well as individuals submitting alternative presentation proposals (e.g., performance, media, music) will be notified of acceptance by January 20, 2013. Following the conference, a selection of papers will be considered for a published, edited collection. Submissions must include a title, and a maximum 250-word abstract for individual papers, panels, and other submission types (e.g., performance, media, music). Additionally, panel submissions must add short (50-100 word) abstracts of the individual papers that will be included in the panel. Conference registrants are invited to submit ONE presentation proposal.

The proposal form can be found on the Museum of Motherhood website: http://www.mommuseum.org/apply/ GUEST SPEAKERS/PERFORMERS: TBA Conference will be held at: Museum of Motherhood, 401 East 84th Street, New York, NY Conference Fee: $150
If you have any questions about the upcoming conference, please feel to email your query to any one of us on the academic conference organizing committee: Aurelie Athan – MA Program Director, Full-time Lecturer, Department of Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, US. [Athan@exchange.tc.columbia.edu] Lynn Kuechle – Coordinator, Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota, US. [momscholar@gmail.com] Lynda Ross (Chair) – Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada. [lyndar@athabascau.ca] Laura Tropp – Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY, US. [ltropp@mmm.edu]