MOTHERING & REPRODUCTION
Oct 18-20, 2012. Toronto, ON
This conference will examine the ethical, political, social/cultural,
economic, historical, religious, spiritual & psychological dimensions of
reproduction & mothering; this conference will feature an embedded
conference on MOTHERING, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
which will explore how mothers¹ decisions & experiences of reproduction &
mothering have been/are influenced by science & technology.
Conference.

Sponsored by the Motherhood Initiative for Research & Community Involvement
(MIRCI), http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org/, the newly launched feminist
scholarly & activist organization on mothering-motherhood, developed from
the former Association for Research on Mothering at York University, Toronto
(ARM, 1998-2010).
 
Keynote Speakers:
* Wendy Chavkin, Columbia University, author of 'The Globalization of
Motherhood: Deconstructions and Reconstructions of Biology & Care'
* Robbie Davis-Floyd, University of Texas Austin, author of 'Birth as an
American Rite of Passage'
* Alyshia Gálvez, Lehman College, author of 'Patient Citizens, Immigrant
Mothers: Mexican Women, Public Prenatal Care & the Birth Weight Paradox'
* Sujatha Jesudason, Founder, Executive Director, Generations AHEAD
* Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, Trent University, author of 'Are You a Boy or a
Girl?'
* Loretta Ross, Co-Founder, National Coordinator, SisterSong Women of Color
Reproductive Justice Collective
* Vaishali Sinha, Director, Producer, 'Made in India' [re the human
experiences behind the phenomena of "outsourcing" surrogate mothers to
India]
* Rickie Solinger, Historian, Writer, author of 'Wake Up Little Susie:
Single Pregnancy & Race Before Roe v. Wade', 'Beggars & Choosers: How the
Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion & Welfare in the US',
'Pregnancy & Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America'


This Call For Papers is for both the larger conference, and the embedded
one. Please feel free to submit to either, without necessarily specifying
which you have in mind for your abstract/presentation.

MIRCI welcomes submissions from scholars, students, artists, mothers and
others who research in this area. Cross-cultural and comparative work is
encouraged. Submissions may include:
* academic papers from all disciplines
* creative submissions including visual art, literature, performance art.

If you are interested in being considered as a presenter, please send a 250
word abstract and a 50-word bio by March 15/12 to
[log in to unmask]

** To submit an abstract, one must be a MEMBER of MIRCI ***
http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org/membership.html

Topics may include but are not restricted to:
* bioethics & fertility
* history of reproductive technologies
* abortion, birth control & assisted fertility in a cross cultural context
* reproductive technologies & the interplay of religion
* mothering in families of high order multiple births
* queer engagements with reproduction
* motherhood & the technological womb
* the experience of egg donation
* attachment with adopted & biological children
* outsourcing of reproduction to developing nations
* outcomes associated with scientific/technological intervention
* how science & technology inform social justice issues
* reproductive consciousness & politics of reproduction
* cross-cultural perspectives on reproduction including reproductive
technologies.  
* assisted reproductive technologies, state policy, and federalism¹s impacts
on women in the United States and around the world
* (mis)educative experiences teaching and learning about menstruation and
reproduction
* modern childbirth & maternity care
* mothering on the blogosphere
* mothering in the Information Age
* impact of social media on opinions regarding reproduction
* re/productive roles mothers play in de/constructing embodied
understandings of reproduction
* surviving tramautic birth experiences
* mothers in academe/research
* mothering & the workplace
* how technology permeates the work/home barrier
* birth plans
* reproductive decisions and a politics of location
* ³mothering² from a distance
* mothers' changing relationship with "the experts" regarding birthing,
infant care in the age of infectious diseases, baby books & birth control
* reproductive rights & wrongs, including rise of contraceptive technology
alongside state-coerced sterilization
* maternalist political rhetoric in favor of labor rights
* mothering bodies
* pre & postnatal bodies and reconstructive surgery
* eating disorders & reproduction
* maternal and erotic/maternal eroticism
* Indigenous mothers & mothering