The Conference Application is closed.
Keep reading to learn more about the conference:
Increasing attention being paid across the world to sexual and gender harassment and sexual violence occurring between students within universities. However, there remains a dearth of research and expertise globally on sexual misconduct carried out by faculty and staff in universities. This conference will bring together cross-disciplinary voices engaged in advocacy, research, and organizational change around power-based academic sexual misconduct in order to build a common understanding of the nature of the problem and to generate ways forward that are effective across international policy and legal frameworks. The conference will provide an international forum to discuss this issue, opening up a space for sharing resources, discussing barriers to change, and identifying successful practices.
In addition, this gathering will facilitate the development of an international network of scholars and activists that will continue to work together after the close of the event. We anticipate that this will be the first in a series of conferences that will take place at different international locations every two years, and that this conference will be a seed-bed for networks and actions to take place following the conference. The event is being put on by a group of scholar-activists from the US and UK in receipt of a grant from the National Science Foundation (HRD-1836685). Information about the organising committee can be found here.
The primary purpose of this conference is therefore to share knowledge and build links between advocates, academics, survivors, experts, and other change-makers from different countries and contexts working on this topic. We would therefore particularly like to receive applications from attendees from outside the US and UK.
Format
Conference activities will consist primarily of workshops, discussions, and other types of sessions. We are therefore aiming to move beyond the tradition format of paper presentations, but those who wish to present their research are invited to apply to submit a poster. We are also open to applications from attendees who would like to participate without leading a session or presenting research. There are three possible levels of involvement in the conference:
- Attending and participating in discussions
- Running a workshop/discussion/session
- Presenting research in a poster session
For those who would like to run a workshop/discussion/session, we invite submissions of proposals of 250 words for the following formats of sessions between 30 and 90 minutes long:
- Panels or facilitated discussion sessions (please indicate speakers and why the topic is of interest)
- Working groups to address particular needs
- Workshops
- Cultural and/or wellbeing activities
- Presenting a poster about your research or advocacy work
- Remedies, plans of action, best practices, etc.
- Please feel free to propose other types of sessions
We are open to topics that are of wide interest as well as topics that address specific needs for particular groups. We are keen to include a diverse range of types of sessions, so we also welcome proposals that do not fit into the formats above, as long as they encourage discussion and knowledge-sharing.
Inclusivity and representation
The conference will be capped at 100 attendees in order to ensure space for dialogue. We will be prioritising delegates who plan to share the knowledge gained from the conference to particular groups or communities of practice that they are part of.
We will be aiming to have good representation of groups at the conference including non-US based activists/academics; attendees from countries from the Global South; current students; people of colour; people from disability communities; gender non-conforming attendees.
This conference is intended to be a safer and inclusive space. We are therefore particularly keen to receive abstracts from advocates and academics from marginalised positions, whether due to disability, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, class background, or other multi-marginalised identities, and the conference will have a NO TOLERANCE policy for language, discrimination, or harassment/bullying based on sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, audism, and ableism.
We welcome applications from survivors of staff/faculty sexual misconduct, as well as other forms of sexual violence. We also welcome suggestions for how to make the space as inclusive as possible for survivors and other marginalised groups.
We would also like to receive applications for attendees who would like to participate remotely. Additionally, we welcome proposals for online discussions during the conference. Anyone will be able sign up to watch the plenary sessions, so you do not need to apply for the conference in order to do this. The link to watching plenary sessions will be available on this website.
Accessibility
All conference buildings are ADA compliant. All accessibility requests should be made at time of application and all efforts will be made to provide accommodation, including sign language interpretation and CART captioning. Childcare will be provided free of charge.
We are adopting the guidelines from this Accessible Conference Guide:
http://www.sigaccess.org/welcome-to-sigaccess/resources/accessible-conference-guide/
Timeline:
Application submission deadline: The deadline for applications has now been extended in light of the fact that many activists in the US have been involved in efforts to respond to the proposal to amend Title IX. Therefore, we are extending the deadline for everyone to February 1.
For further information see https://facultysexualmisconduct.com/ or email FacultySexualMisconduct@gmail.com
Faculty and Staff Sexual Misconduct Blog 