Join Me for a Conference on Communicating Motherhood
Monday, October 29, 2012 
I've been a fan of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) for a long time. I've written about some of their books, their calls for papers, and have attended their conferences. If you want to get beyond the stereotypical "mommy blogger" image, you really need to dig into some of the work that they do.
Today I'm excited to tell you about a conference they are planning for June 2013 that is a perfect fit for those of us that are using our writing to communicate the experience of mothering, whether on a blog, on twitter, through fiction, or elsewhere. The conference will be an amazing place to hear some of your favourite bloggers and feminist mothers speak (see the incredible list of already confirmed speakers below), a place to be inspired to tell your own story, and a place to learn about other people's mothering journey.
I am excited to be one of the confirmed keynote speakers, but they aren't done recruiting yet. If you have an idea for something you would like to present, take a look at their call for speakers below and throw your name into the hat.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI)
COMMUNICATING MOTHERHOOD/MOTHERS COMMUNICATING:
"HIGH CULTURE" TO POP CULTURE TO NEW SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE
June 24-27, 2013, Toronto, CanadaWe welcome submissions from scholars, students, activists, artists, community workers, bloggers, mothers and others who research in this area. Cross-cultural and comparative work is encouraged. We are open to a variety of types of submissions including academic papers from all disciplines and creative submissions including visual art, literature and performance art. This conference will explore the nature, status, representation and experience of mothers and motherhood in various historical, cultural and literary contexts, and examine the many ways in which mothers have been and are affected by, viewed, and/or challenged contemporary cultural norms and dominant ideologies and representations of their role.
Topics may include but are not restricted to:Representations and depictions of mothers/mothering/motherhood in fiction, poetry, drama, art, music, film, advertising, TV, facebook, blogs, twitter; investigations into navigating cultural expressions of "good" and "bad" mother/ing; transmitting maternal knowledge(s), parenting skills, mothers/mothering and language, mothers and literacies, feminist motherlines; teaching/learning about mothering/ motherhood through literature, popular culture, celebrity culture, new media; parenting/mothering in literature, art, popular culture, social media, the blogosphere; queer engagements with mothering/motherhood in literature, popular culture and social media; de/constructing embodied understandings of mothering, mother, motherhood; how communication technology permeates the work/home barrier, assists/ challenges relationships and attachment with adopted and biological children; the impact of literature/popular culture/social media on opinions regarding reproduction; mothers' relationship with "the experts"; expert discourses vs. grassroots communications; transmission of culture and ethnicity through various maternal modalities; mothering in the Information Age; communicating mothers/motherhood across the generations; crossing national borders and class divides through New Social Media; communication and other revolutions (or political organizing), new social media-linking or dividing moms?; low-income and young mothers' access to and use of New Social Media; cybermothering; mothers/motherhood and Communication Studies; mothers/mothering and education, learning and pedagogy.
CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Joanne Bamberger, Author of PunditMom.com and Mom's Mothers of Intention
Myrel Chernick and Jennie Klein, Editors of The M Word: Real Mothers in Contemporary Art
Catherine Connors, Author of HerBadMother.com
Gina Crosley-Corcoran, Author of TheFeministBreeder.com
Ann Douglas, Author of The Mother of All Parenting Books
Jocelyn Fenton Stitt, Minnesota State University, Mankatoand Pegeen Reichert-Powell, Columbia College, Chicago; Editors of Mothers Who Deliver
May Friedman, Ryerson University; Editor of Mothering and Blogging: The Radical Act of the MommyBlog
Heather Hewett, SUNY New Paltz; Contributor, Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction and Mothering in the Third Wave
Andrea Liss, California State University, San Marcos; Author of Feminist Art and the Maternal
Anne MacLennan, York University; Author of "Women, Radio and the Depression: A "Captive" Audience from Household Hints to Story Time and Serials"
Maki Motapanyane, Mount Royal University; Editor of Mothering in Hip Hop Culture
Lynn O'Brien Hallstein, Boston University; Author of White Feminism and Contemporary Maternity
Andrea O'Reilly, York University; Editor of Textual Mothers/Maternal Texts
Shelley Park, University of Central Florida; Author of Mothering Queerly, Queering Motherhood
Elizabeth Podnieks, Ryerson University; Editor of Mediating Moms: Mothers in Popular Culture
Amanda Richey, Kennesaw State University, Co-Editor of Mothering and Literacies
Deborah Siegel, Founder of GirlwPen.com; Author of Mama w/ Pen
Bonnie Stewart, Author of CribChronicles.com...and ME!
If you are interested in being considered as a presenter, please send a 250 word abstract and a 50-word bio by NOVEMBER 15, 2012 to info@motherhoodinitiative.org
** TO SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT FOR THIS CONFERENCE, ONE MUST BE A 2013 MEMBER of MIRCI: http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org
Of course information on registering for the conference will be posted later too, once the venue and cost is confirmed. Who will I see in Toronto in June 2013?
Reader Comments (9)
now, this is interesting. i can't wait for more information.
Ok, this sounds REALLY good, Annie! I would love to attend this.
Yeah ... this looks soooo interesting! Thanks for sharing. I would to attend. I'll see what I can manage.
Looks very interesting, Annie. I remember your post last year from their conference on mothering and activism - the conference sounds so... thoughtful!
Oh wow, this looks amazing - but the timing is terrible. I had to give up a trip to New York the last week in June last year -- too much going on at the kids' school. :( Can't wait to hear all about it!
My kids are done school by then (21st is the last day). Are yours still in school then?
Annie this conference looks amazing! I am going to put it on my schedule right now and start saving my pennies for a trip out east!
Thank you for this information. I'd love to submit a paper to present at this conference.
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing, I'll have to put it on my calendar!