Women's and Gender Studies Conference

Home - Signature Events - Women's and Gender Studies Conference

The Women's and Gender Studies Conference is an annual event jointly hosted by Wilkes University and King's College.

2025 Conference: The Evolution of Family Roles and Balancing Work and Family Dynamics

April 14 & 15, 2025 | Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center, King's College

Keynote Address

Intensively Empty Nests: What Happens when Ideologies of Intensive Motherhood Grow Up and Go to College

  • Speaker: Dr. Abby Palko
  • April 14, 2025, 7 p.m.
  • Burke Auditorium, King's College
 

Our keynote speaker is Dr. Abby Palko, the inaugural Director of the Residential Commons Program at Colgate University. She works with and across the four Residential Commons to support the intellectual life component of Colgate’s Living-Learning communities. Her scholarship focuses on cultural and literary representations of mothers and motherhood, with a particular interest in the ways that rhetoric about motherhood shapes and influences women’s mothering practices.

Dr. Palko also serves as a Board Member for IAMAS (the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship) and has taught courses in Irish literature, comparative literature, gender studies, and motherhood studies at every level from middle school through graduate school.

Call for Proposals

Presentation proposals are due by March 3, 2025. Please use the proposal submission form external website to submit your 150-word abstract.

For this year's conference, papers analyzing the lack of adequate childcare, evolving family roles and responsibilities, parental leave, and effective ways to manage professional responsibilities while maintaining a healthy family dynamic would be appropriate.

As in years past, we are happy to have presentations on a broad range of gender-related topics which do not have to connect directly to the conference theme. We invite students, staff, faculty, and community members to participate in this Conference. Session types include research presentations, panel discussions, video screenings, and performance art (e.g., poetry slam, dramatic performance, dance). We also welcome presentations about service-learning, community service, and travel abroad opportunities.

Contact

For more information or questions about the conference, please contact Dr. Valerie Kepner, Director of Women’s Studies at King's College, or Dr. Helen Davis, Interim Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Wilkes University.

Wilkes Unviersity and King's College

Accessibility

Wilkes University is an equal opportunity institution. For more information, please consult our nondiscrimination policy statement.

Patrons requesting accommodations or services at Wilkes University or university-sponsored events in accordance with The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III: Public Accommodations are asked to contact University Events.

It is recommended that requests be made at least five (5) business days prior to any event.

University Events