Women’s Studies conference focuses on contemporary feminism and social action

NEW PALTZ — The Women’s Studies Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz will host an all-day conference titled “Feminism and Social Action,” Saturday, Oct. 18, on the campus in New Paltz. This year’s conference will explore contemporary feminism and its connections with other movements of social justice.

The conference, which is sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program and Conference Services Department at SUNY New Paltz and the Village of New Paltz, will present a keynote panel consisting of three politically active women, Nancy Naples, Julia Walsh and Cynthia McKinney, as well as an evening performance by Reno.

“This conference promises to be another exciting day of discovery and inspiration about women’s lives and experiences,” said Denise Bauer, coordinator of Women’s Studies. We are particularly pleased to have the Village of New Paltz cosponsoring the event as a local example of feminist social action.”

Naples, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut, is the author of several books on feminism and social change, and editor of two anthologies, the most recent of which is “Teaching Feminism Activism: Strategies from the Field.”

Walsh, an elected member of the New Paltz Village Board of Trustees and international relations student at New Paltz, is an NGO representative at the United Nations for the Young General Assembly, campus coordinator for Democracy Matters and one of the founders of the campus student group, Synthesis.

McKinney, former Congresswoman from Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, served on the Armed Services Committee and the International Relations Committee, where she focused on being an advocate for voting and human rights and for helping strengthen ties between the United States and the global community. She is currently working on a Ph.D. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Mass.

Twenty-one workshops will explore feminism and its connection with other social movements in the past and present. Workshops include feminist art, social justice teaching, feminism and the movement against globalization.

Registration for the conference will begin at 8 a.m. in Lecture Center 100, with the welcome and keynote plenary to follow at 9 a.m. The evening performance by comedian, Reno (she goes by her last name only), who has performed comic monologues in New York City for many years, begins at 8 p.m.

The cost of the entire conference, including the evening performance, is $35 (meals are extra); $5 for SUNY New Paltz students. Tickets for Reno may be purchased separately for $15; $5 for students.

For more information about the day’s workshops, contact Women’s Studies at (845) 257-2975, or visit www.newpaltz.edu/wmnstudies. For registration information, contact Conference Services at (845) 257-3033. Pre-registration deadline is Oct. 9. Participants must register for lunch and childcare.

If you need a sign language interpreter, please register by Oct. 1.