by Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez
It is nearly Spring and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program is working hard to ensure that the April 2022 Student Conference, “Mobilizing the Intersections of Power and Justice,” is a great experience for all. Undergraduate and graduate students at institutions across the state of Iowa are invited to submit proposals to participate in the conference. Presentations can take the form of original research, a creative project, pedagogy, activist work, or a thematic piece within the fields of feminism, sexuality, and gender.
Proposals are due on Monday, March 21st and can be submitted here: Proposal Submission Form
The conference is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in attending, but not presenting can register here: Attendee Registration Form. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The ISU WGS Program is delighted to welcome Dr. Lina-Maria Murillo, Assistant Professor in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, History, and Latina/o/x Studies at the University of Iowa, as the keynote speaker. Her presentation, “Reproductive Justice Now!: A Historical Approach” stems from a collaborative effort with University of Iowa Professor Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz. The two published a chapter titled “Reproductive Justice in the Heartland: Mothering, Maternal Care, and Race in Twenty-First Century Iowa” and are currently working on an edited collection focused on reproductive justice advocates’ activism and health care provision in Iowa.
Dr. Murillo is also completing her first book titled Fighting for Control: Reproductive Care, Race, and Power in the U.S-Mexico Borderlands. This work examines century-long tensions between advocates for population control, namely proponents of Planned Parenthood, and Chicana activists committed to greater reproductive access for most Mexican-origin women in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region.
Dr. Murillo’s research is supported by various grants and fellowships, including the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Her writing appears in the Washington Post, Rewire News, and Notches. Her article “Birth Control, Border Control: The Movement for Contraception in El Paso, Texas 1936–1940” with the Pacific Historical Review, was published in 2021. “Espanta Cigüeñas: Race and Abortion in the U.S-Mexico Borderlands” is forthcoming in Signs: A Journal of Women and Culture in Society. Dr. Murillo is also co-director with Professor Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz of the Maternal Health and Reproductive Politics Obermann collaborative at the University of Iowa.
Please visit the conference website or email wgsconference@iastate.edu to learn more about the conference.