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2025 Women’s and Gender Studies Student Conference


Join us for the Women’s and Gender Studies Student Research Conference on Saturday, April 12th, 2025! This exciting event provides a platform for students to present their research on a variety of topics related to gender, sexuality, identity, and social justice. Whether you’re a researcher, advocate, or simply interested in these vital areas of study, this conference will showcase innovative work and foster meaningful discussions. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with thought-provoking presentations, network with peers and scholars, and participate in workshops aimed at furthering the impact of gender studies in academic and social spaces. Don’t miss this chance to celebrate the power of student research and contribute to shaping a more inclusive future.

This conference is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at no cost. This year, it will take place at the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center from 9 AM-4 PM. We have a lot of exciting speakers lined up, and cannot wait to learn from you! Submissions for the conference are due by Friday, March 28th at 11:59 PM.

Registration for this event is included in the proposal submission form. Anyone is welcome to attend this conference at no charge, a light breakfast and full lunch will be provided. Pre-registration for the conference has closed, but you can still register the day of the event. If you do not plan to be present for the lunch, please indicate that on the registration form. Food is not guaranteed for those who register after April 4th.

Please e-mail wgsconference@iastate.edu with any questions!

The conference will be in Ames, IA at the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center: 606 Bissell Rd, Ames, IA 50011

All undergraduate and graduate students from across the state of Iowa are invited to present their research as it relates to topics within gender, women’s and sexuality studies topics. Presentations can be creative works, panels, powerpoint presentations, or other formats.

This conference is open to anyone and is free to attend! The event is geared towards college students. Everyone who plans on attending must register for the event. Same day registration is allowed, but food is not guaranteed.

Presenters (individual or group) will have 15-20 minutes to present their research.

There are free lots to park in over the weekend. Make sure that the lot you park in is not a 24 hours reserved lot. The closest lots to the Innovation Center are lots 3, 8, 6 and 6A. There are also limited meter spots for a fee. The is map highlights that lots closes to the Student Innovation Center.

There is no registration cost. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided for attendees who register by April 4th. Registrants after April 4th are not guaranteed food.

WGS 2025 Spring Conference Schedule 

Registration and Breakfast: 8:30 AM-9:00 AM, Main Lobby and Room 1118 

Welcome and Opening Speaker: 9:00 AM-9:30 AM – Auditorium, Room 0114 

  • Dr. Kelly Winfrey (she/her), Director of ISU Women’s and Gender Studies 
  • Dr. Terah (TJ) Stewart (he/him), Opening Speaker, Associate Professor at ISU 

 Session 1: 9:45 AM-11:00 AM – (link to session 1 abstracts)

1A: Rewriting the Rules: Education, Language, and Feminist Resistance – Room 2206 

Moderator: Dr. Carrie Ann Johnson 

  • Ashley Stevens (she/her), Gender Representation in Language Arts: An Analysis of Required Readings Iowa Public High School Language Arts Classes, ISU 
  • Adrián Elías Ortega Lobo (he/him), Teaching Spanish for Peacebuilding: A Pedagogical Experience in Central College, Central 
  • Marielle Macdonald (she/her), Punk Pedagogies: How 90s Riot Grrrl Culture Shapes Feminist Education Today, ISU 

 1B: Who Gets to Heal? Challenging Medical Bias and Systemic Injustice – Room 2221 

Moderator: Dr. Kelly Winfrey 

  • Miranda Hills (she/her), Reframing Exercise: Yoga and the Healthcare System, ISU 
  • Bridget McGovern (she/her), An Evaluation of Systemic Failures in Medical Practice and Their Impact on Patient Care: The Repair of Vaginal Trauma, ISU 
  • Ellis Deputy (he/him), Standards of Care or Conditions of Exclusion? Transgender Bodies and Medical Discrimination Under the Pre-2012 HBIGDA Standards of Care, ISU 

1C: Preserving the Past, Mobilizing the Present: Marginalized Voices in Higher Ed – Room 3204 

Moderator: Prof. Beth McMahon

  • Fynn Wadsworth (he/him), Tulips and Pansies: An Illustrated History of Central College Zine Project, Central 
  • Allie Clark (they/them), Student Activism in Higher Education, UNI 
  • Kylie Carstens (she/her), Navigating Political Tensions: Organizing an Inclusive and Educational Sex and Relationship Panel on Central College’s Campus, Central 

 Session 2: 11:15 AM-12:30 PM – (link to session 2 abstracts)

2A: Visible and Vibrant: Queer Community-Building Through Art, Games, and Faith – Room 2206 

Moderator: Dr. Michèlle Schaal  

  • Markie Madsen (she/her), Queerness in Iowa, ISU  
  • Misha Misyuk (they/them), From Pariah to Pack: Queer Community in the Apocalyptic TTRPG, U of Iowa  
  • Allison McPherson (she/they), Breaking Holy Binaries: How Queer Christians Experience God’s Boundless Identity, ISU 

2B: Reimagining Spaces: Queer Ecologies, Inclusive Design, and the Future of Belonging – Room 2221 

Moderator: Dr. Alissa Stoehr 

  • Natalie Deam (they/them), Tender Nests: Queer Ecology in the Midwestern Anthropocene, ISU  
  • Caroline Alba (she/her), Beyond the Binary Blueprint: Speculative Housing Design for LGBTQIA+ Co-living, ISU 
  • Em Mach (she/her), Dimensions of Discomfort: How Standard Classroom Seating Disadvantages Diverse Bodies, ISU 

2C: Women, History, and Power: Challenging Systems of Oppression – Room 3204 

Moderator: Dr. Clara Montague 

  • Lauren Fisher, Political Pathways: Mapping Ideological Landscapes of Female Heads of State, ISU 
  • Tanusree Bhattacharjee (she/her), Unveiling Patterns of Justified Violence Against Women: A Data-Driven Perspective, ISU 
  • Chikako Inoue (any/all), Being a Bridge in Colonial History and Present: A case study of Comfort Women commemoration in Europe and New York, Grinnell  

 Lunch Break: 12:30 PM-1:15 PM – Room 1118 

Keynote Speaker: 1:15 PM-2:15 PM, Auditorium, Room 0114 

  • (WGS Faculty and TAs)-Intro 
  • Pidgeon Pagonis (they/them), Keynote Speaker 

       Advocate, Speaker and Filmmaker 

Session 3: 2:30 PM-3:45 PM – (link to session 3 abstracts)

3A: Resisting the Script: Feminist Anger, Queer Identity, and Literary Rebellion – Room 2206 

Moderator: Dr. Valerie Billing 

  • Eva Koch (she/her), Milton’s Perfect Eve: The Intersection of “Barbie” and “Paradise Lost”, Central  
  • Theodora Hadley (she/her), The Uses of Lucy’s Anger, Grinnell 
  • Morgan DeGorge (she/her), Anne Lister’s Lesbian Identity in Diaries, Grinnell 

3B: Seeing and Being Seen: Power, Perception, and Identity in Media and Performance – Room 2221 

Moderator: Dr. Carrie Ann Johnson 

  • Julia Peixoto (she/her), The Framing of Latina and White Women Victims in True Crime Podcasts, ISU 
  • Anjelica Ortiz (she/her), “Get Ready With me for the News”: Self-Branding Practices among Women Broadcast Journalists on TikTok, U of I  
  • Elham Khamoushi (she/her), Power Femininity and Postfeminist Discourse: A Rhetorical Analysis of Health Food packaging, ISU 
  • Rylee Foreman (they/them), Disability on Stage: Representation and Perceptions of Visible and Invisible Disabilities in College Theatre, ISU 
keynote (Business Card (US))

Opening Speaker – Dr. Terah (TJ) Stewart

Terah J. Stewart, PhD (he/him) is a graduate faculty member and an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Iowa State University. He is also a faculty affiliate with Women and Gender Studies and the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. His research and writing focus on people, populations, and ideas that are hypermarginalized and/or those who have stigmatized identities, including college students engaged in sex work and erotic labor, fat students on campus/fatphobia and sizeism in postsecondary contexts, and identity-based student activism. He also engages conceptual and empirical work on antiblackness in non-black communities of color. His work centers critical disruptive onto-epistemological frameworks and theories to destabilize dominant ways of knowing and being, including Black/endarkened. feminist, womanist, and afropessimist perspectives.

keynote (Business Card (US))

Keynote Speaker – Pidgeon Pagonis

Pidgeon Pagonis (they/them) has worked for over a decade as an intersex advocate, speaker, consultant, photographer, and filmmaker to shed light on the human rights violations endured by intersex people. Their goal is to help end the non-consensual irreversible medical procedures meant to discipline unruly intersex bodies. Pidgeon’s accessible advocacy helps people complicate their preconceived binary notions about “biological differences”. Their work has been essential for those who want to show up for intersex people in their lives, but aren’t sure where to start.

Whether advancing the intersex cause as the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project (IJP), co-producing viral informational videos, creating art that centers intersex voices, appearing on the cover of National Geographic “Gender Revolution” special issue, or being honored as an LGBT Champion of Change in by the Obama White House, Pidgeon has staked out a place at the fore of debates on intersexuality.