St. Kate's to Host Women's and Gender Studies Collaborative

On March 8th, St. Kate’s will open its doors to the greater Twin Cities area for the first time since 2015 in hosting the Women’s and Gender Studies Collaborative.

The Women’s and Gender Studies Collaborative is a collegiate directed conference that brings together the interdisciplinary work of undergraduate students in the Twin Cities, with a specific focus on women’s and gender studies. Students from any major or minor that have done work or research on topics connecting to women’s and gender studies, such as gender, race, sexuality, ability, religion, or other differences, are all encouraged to submit their work in the conference. Starting this year, the conference has opened submission requests to both undergraduate students and 2018 St. Catherine University alumni.

Andrea Durante, a student coordinator for the conference, said, “If a student is really proud of what they’ve done, or they want more exposure to the activism work, this is a place where they can showcase that to other students.” Additionally, Durante commented that what makes this conference “unique” is that it is bringing together students from all over the Twin Cities that are already doing this research in these fields or are activists in the area, in order to expose each other to new work.

When St. Kate’s made the decision to host this conference, program directors made the conscious decision to hold this event in cooperation with International Women’s Day and Toshi Reagon, famous singer and musician, performing at the O’Shaughnessy Theater. This provides students with a full day of enriching entertainment, beginning the day being present at the conference and ending it with a highly-anticipated performance by Toshi Reagon in the evening. It also connects the purpose of the conference to a global perspective.

“To put together a student conference around women’s and gender studies on International Women’s Day signals that we are trying to think about the whole world,” said Sharon Doherty, St. Kate’s Program Director. “We are trying to think about these issues in a global context, not just a small, inward US context.”

Students from any field of study are encouraged to submit research or work to this conference. Presenting at The Women’s and Gender Studies Collaborative provides students with many benefits; the opportunity to share work they are proud of, to network with other student activists in the area, to practice future presentation, and the ability to add ‘Presented at a Conference’ on a resume.

“We love encouraging students at various stages of their university career to get their voice heard outside of their usual context. When more intersectional work is presented, we provide the students a conference where the student’s voices are the conference,” said Doherty.

Addison Cross, a student hoping to present at this year’s conference, commented on her choice to submit her research, saying, “I am planning on presenting my research (Nationalism and Populism in Western Europe) at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research,” Cross said. “However, I thought this conference would be a good chance for me to practice my presentation locally.”

Students interested in submitting a proposal to present at the 2019 Women’s and Gender Studies Collaborative must do so before Friday, February 15th. For any questions regarding the conference, email WomenGenderCollab@stkate.edu.