Rescheduling Conference
Womandla! Feminism and Social Movements in the Global South is pleased to reach out to delegates so that we can begin to consider the future of the conference, and collaboratively develop alternative formats to pursue in 2021.
Across these last months, we have felt uncertain about simply moving the conference online, as we know that this can often reinforce unequal geographies. However, we are still very committed to ensuring that Womandla! can take place in some format, as we are sure you are too.
Having taken these last months to observe the format of many different online conference and seminar forums, we have recently been inspired by the Body, Self and Family: Women's Psychological, Emotional and Bodily Health in Britain, c. 1960-1990. This project's Online Seminar Series Program brings participants together to address a central question in a seminar series which takes place across a few months. We propose that this offers a potential online format that may suit the needs and desires of our conference convenors and delegates alike.
At this stage, we would like to gauge interest from delegates and other interested parties to see if you would be interested in participating in a seminar series somewhat like Body, Self and Family. It is envisaged that this seminar series could take place between March/April and June 2021. We would encourage all delegates to try and attend other seminars, although individual panels within the proposed seminar series would also be organised with respect to comparable timezones.
In addition, we have taken the opportunity to reach out to the funding bodies that had previously committed a significant contribution to this event, especially the Third World Quarterly Global South Colloquium Fund. We are pleased to confirm that, should Womandla! transform into an online seminar series, a financial contribution would be available to support the participation of delegates located in Southern Africa and elsewhere across the Global South (ie. Africa, Asia, Latin America, Pacific Islands, the Caribbean), and, should finances permit, postgraduate, early career researcher, and independent scholars in the Global North. Those in receipt of a bursary would need to commit to presenting in the online seminar series and attend at least one other panel session.
We encourage you to fill out the following survey before 5 March 2021 in order to help us decide whether this is a feasible format with which to proceed. At the same time, we would also like to give you the opportunity to share any ideas you might have for alternative conference formats.