BWSA Graduate Student Panel Call for Proposals

The Black Women’s Studies Association invites proposals from graduate students in any discipline for a panel on Black LGBTQ Studies. Proposals may focus on any region and any time period. Preference will be given to students who explicitly center Black trans women, Black lesbian studies, and Black queer women in their broader research agenda. Four panelists will be selected based upon the proposal’s clarity; its potential to diversify the panel with regard to discipline, region, and time period; and the depth of its engagement with the field of Black LGBTQ Studies. Panelists are required to write 750-word posts for the BWSA blog about their research prior to the panel. Each panelist will receive a $250 honorarium. Submissions are due by June 30, 2021 and the panel will be held in Fall 2021. Participants will be notified of their acceptance by August 31, 2021.

Topics for consideration include but are not limited to:

  • Black women’s community-building practices

  • Black women’s activism

  • Black girlhood

  • Black women in literature, film, or music

  • Artistic representations of Black women

  • Incarcerated Black women

  • Black women’s labor

  • Black women’s health and wellness

  • Black queer theory

  • Black feminist theory

  • Black women’s joy and pleasure

Submissions will only be accepted from current members of the Black Women’s Studies Association. To join BWSA or renew your membership, click here. If you are unsure if your membership is current, please email membership@blackwomensstudies.com.  

To submit a proposal, please upload a single file with the following information to a secure Dropbox folder using this link.  Please direct any questions to Dr. Stephanie Andrea Allen, BWSA Conference Chair, at conference@blackwomensstudies.com.

  • A cover page with your name, email address, phone number, discipline, degree program, university, and paper title

  • A dissertation abstract, thesis abstract, or description of your research interests in no more than 250 words

  • An abstract of your proposed paper describing its research question(s), its main argument, and its significance (i.e. Why does this research matter and how does it contribute to existing scholarship?) in no more than 250 words

Black Women's Studies Association

Black Women’s Studies Association