11th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

The International Gender and Sexuality Studies Academic Conference is presented by the Women’s Research Center and BGLTQ+ Student Center in conjunction with the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program at the University of Central Oklahoma. 

Our conference this year explores the theme “Community at the Margins.” We invite papers considering ways in which individuals and groups who find themselves on the margins create sustaining networks of care, resilience, and meaning. Let us therefore examine marginality not as exclusion, but as a site where relationships and community are built.

With your participation, we will take up many questions related to WGSS in multiple disciplines during our two-day conference at the University of Central Oklahoma on September 26 and 27, 2026, while sustaining a productive and positive space for students, scholars, activists, and community members alike. To encourage international participation, there will be a limited number of virtual presentations available only for those residing outside of the United States.

All submissions are welcome. The selection committee interprets our theme broadly and encourages proposals that reflect on women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. The conference will include presentations that address issues of women, gender, and sexuality studies across various disciplines, including, but not limited to, the social sciences, humanities, fine arts, activism, and STEM fields. We invite students, faculty, staff, scholars, and activists to propose papers, panels, roundtable discussions, and workshop presentations. Please submit abstracts (max 200 words) through the link listed here: forms.office.com/r/k2wYjbsQVj