(Re-)Producing Motherhood, Motherwork, and Mothering (hybrid conference)
Boston, MA USA and online
Organization: IAMAS
Event: hybrid conference
CfP for IAMAS’ 2025 Conference: (Re-)Producing Motherhood, Motherwork, and Mothering
Location: Boston, Mass. (USA) and online
Dates: June 17-20, 2024
Abstract due date: Nov. 30, 2024
The 2025 International Association of Maternal Action + Scholarship (IAMAS) conference will be hosted at Boston University. We invite scholars, writers, artists, and activists to join our examination of mothering and motherhood. Our goal is to name our inheritances, honor our present responsibilities, and orient ourselves towards better worlds. With this theme, we invite considerations of time, place, race, gender, sexuality, class, subjectivity, religion, ableism, media, literature, politics, education, and more.
Any research, analysis, art, and/or thought leadership that centers maternal research, matricentric feminism, or motherhood will be considered, and we encourage participants to examine practices and theory that connect to race-based oppression, racial solidarity and allyship, and potential avenues for innovative growth and sustainable community building. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Reclaiming, (un-)learning, and critiquing motherhood in a patriarchal society
- Utopian and activist visions of mothering
- Intersectional, international, and transgenerational perspectives on motherhood and mothering
- Media and literary analysis of mothering and motherhood
- Economics and policies of motherhood: waged work, universal basic income, neoliberalism, poverty, etc.
- Historical and psychological research on mothering, parenting, and carework
- Engaging with matricentric feminism, motherhood studies, and mothering in the Academy
- Queering motherhood and mothering
- The drama, art, and creativity of mothering
IAMAS is devoted to furthering scholarship, activism, and practices of mothering and mothering across all disciplines. Thus, we invite submissions from scholars, activists, and practitioners whose work centers motherhood in multifaceted and interdisciplinary ways. We also welcome workshops, art, poetry/fiction, interviews, roundtable discussions, and more. While all presentations should be substantive and thoughtful, we believe that knowledge production should not be limited to and by academics. We encourage creativity, engagement, and community building.
A few notes to consider before submitting an abstract:
- Individual papers are welcome; however, we encourage applicants to propose a group panel and/or roundtable discussion in order to promote more focused and productive group conversation. Sessions are 75-minutes.
- We aim to make rich, bold conversation a key component of our time together. We encourage you to consider HOW you will present your information as well as what you will present. We encourage creativity and showcasing new/successful methods of (online) teaching.
- Children are welcome in all conference spaces.
Cost: 4-day conference costs are based on a sliding scale. Pricing for in-person and virtual attendance is the same. We encourage you to seek funding from your institution or via grants when possible. Limited scholarships are available. More information is online.
Abstracts are due Nov. 30, 2024. Abstracts will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning Oct. 15, 2024.
In addition to panel talks, the conference will include:
an invitation to reception that includes heavy appetizers and drinks,
attendance to our 5th annual MOMA award presentation,
extensive opportunities to network and take part in meaningful mentoring,
self-paid dinner meet and greets that center specific disciplines and career stages
undergraduate roundtables, and
a stellar keynote address
*Membership can be purchased separately. Full price is $50/year USD, with a student rate of $25/year USD. Membership to IAMAS permits access to two writing retreats (usually one in August and one in January), weekly writing accountability sessions, our reading group, and much more.
** Please note: we encourage you to choose the package that keeps equity at the forefront. If you are underemployed but have access to funding that permits a higher-priced ticket, know that you can help keep IAMAS’ scholarship program healthy by contributing more. Similarly, if choosing a ticket that matches your income level negatively impacts you, we encourage you to make a choice that aligns better. Our goal is for everyone who is interested in attending our conferences to be able to do so, but we need everyone to support this model fully for it to work.
*** In order to remain accessible to all, we will be offering 30 full-scholarships that will be awarded on a rolling basis. More information will be included after abstracts are accepted.
Abstracts are due Nov. 30, 2024. Abstracts will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning Oct. 15, 2024.
IAMAS welcomes people of all disciplines, as well as activists, lawyers, writers, artists, and maternal advocates. Our conferences offer the intellectual rigor expected from academic conferences, while recognizing that knowledge can be accrued and practiced in different ways. We welcome all who are engaged with maternal scholarship, thought leadership, and activism to join regardless of career, motherhood status, sex/gender identification, or sexual orientation. More information is on our website at https://iamas.com.
If you have questions about conference pricing, abstract submission, programing, or other related issues,
please contact Katie B. Garner at kbgarner@iamas.com.
If you have any questions about the conference venue, location, or Boston University,
please contact Lynn O'Brien Hallstein at lhallst@bu.edu.
Katie Garner