The Women’s and Gender Studies Spring 2024 Student Conference was held April 20, 2024 at the Iowa State University Memorial Union. The topic of the conference was: Transforming Gender and Society.
Speakers
Opening Speaker: Jordan Mix (they/them) graduated from Drake University in 2016 with degrees in Law, Politics, and Society; Sociology; and Women and Gender Studies. While at Drake they were the president of Drake’s LGBTQ organization, Rainbow Union, helped establish the first all-gender bathroom on campus, and collaborated heavily in writing Drake’s Transgender Inclusion Statement. Jordan also completed their graduate studies in Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
In 2019, Jordan was the head curator of a project called Breathe, Learn, Act — the first ever virtual care package for parents and loved ones of transgender and non-binary kids. Jordan joined the Iowa Safe Schools team in March of 2020, where they work with K-12 educators to develop LGBTQ-Inclusive curriculum, facilitate an online academy for Iowa’s K-12 educators, and lead training sessions for students, educators, and other community members.
When they’re not working, you can find Jordan hiking with their wife, cheering on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team with their cat, and honing their home barista skills.
Keynote Speaker: Meggie Mapes (pronouns: she/her/hers; Ph.D. Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2016) is the Introductory Course Director and Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. Her research explores feminist rhetoric and critical/cultural studies, with a particular focus on prison abolition and intimate partner violence. As an award winning author and speaker, her work can be found in Women’s Studies in Communication, Journal of Feminist Scholarship, and Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, to name a few. She is also an open access and open education advocate. Dr. Mapes loves to bake and lives in Kansas City with her partner and two dogs – a rottweiler and a sharpei.