NORMAL — An Illinois State University event has reached its 25th year, allowing students to go beyond writing articles about their research to presenting and finding cross-disciplinary connections to their topics.
The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Student Research Symposium includes student panels and presentations as well as keynote speakers. It gives students a unique opportunity to interact across disciplines and learn by showcasing their work, said Alison Bailey, Director of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at UIS.
“It’s really helpful and empowering for (students) to not only be able to write about these ideas, but also to talk about them in a clear and concise way,” she said.
This year’s keynote speakers will cover the topic “Queering Gender,” typically focused on the intersection of transgender and non-conforming people, transphobia, and politics.
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“Transphobia has become a very powerful cause in politics,” Bailey said.
Keynote speakers include Arlene Stein, who kicked off the symposium on Friday with a talk comparing her work on culture wars and the repression and acceptance of LGBTQ+ identities. Stein is director of the Women’s Research Institute at Rutgers University.
Organizers had hoped to get Stein to speak at the event for several years now, Bailey said. Stein linked the current situation to research she did 20 years ago.
“It’s the same thing in a different bottle,” Bailey said.
Registration and a full list of events are available online at about.illinoisstate.edu/wgsssymposium/.
The sessions are all on Zoom, except for the awards ceremony that concludes the symposium at noon on April 15. Upcoming keynotes are:
- Trans scholar and athlete Veronica Ivy talks about trans participation in sport at 7 p.m. Monday
- Karma R. Chávez, associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, talks about queer migration and immigration at 7 p.m. Thursday
- Author and illustrator Maia Kobabe, who wrote “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” talks about gender representation in graphic novels at 7 p.m. April 14
In addition to keynote speakers, there are also panels of students to present their research and panels of professors and professionals working in the field.
There is also an exhibit at the ISU Milner Library covering the event’s 25-year history. The exhibition is open until May 7.
The WGSS symposium began in 1996, led by history teacher and part-time director of women’s studies Sandra Harmon and graduate students Jenny Howell and Tesa Brager, according to the university. Bailey has been involved since the start of the event.
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The symposium missed a year in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The event has since grown and brought together many feminist and gender scholars, as well as activists and artists involved in similar work. Not every year has such a timely theme, Bailey said.
“Some issues are timeless, like when we brought in Dolores Huerta,” Bailey said.
The 2007 event featured Huerta, who coined the “Sí se puede” slogan of the farmworker movement and co-founded the National Association of Farmworkers, which later became United Farm Workers.
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The event is interdisciplinary in nature, Bailey said. Women’s, gender and sexuality studies have almost always been, as departments often attract professors from fields like English literature, philosophy, history and sociology.
The interdisciplinary approach of the event is also helpful for the student, she said.
“They’ll have a cross talk about the ideas they’re passionate about,” Bailey said.
Presidents of area colleges and universities react to Lincoln College closure
Keith Cornille
“We are saddened to learn that Lincoln College will be ceasing its academic programs after its current spring semester. Heartland and Lincoln College have maintained a good relationship over the years. Like Heartland, Lincoln College has a long history of serving our community in Lincoln. , Bloomington-Normal, and throughout the region. We appreciate Dr. Gerlach’s leadership as President of Lincoln College, and his assistance in facilitating the strong transfer partnership we have had with the institution. – The President of Heartland College, Keith Cornille.
Silas McCormick

“Like so many others, we were deeply saddened to learn that Lincoln College will close in May. Our first classes were held on the Lincoln College campus in the fall of 1944. Since that time, Lincoln College has been a neighbor, friend, and an integral part of our community. Throughout our existence, we have shared faculty, students, the Lincoln community, and countless wandering visitors who thought they were us or vice versa. He is hard to imagine they won’t be with us come drop by. We love the Lincoln College family, we pray for them, and if there’s anything we can do to help, we want to do it. – Silas McCormick, president of Lincoln Christian University
Georgia Nugent

“We are saddened to learn of the closure of Lincoln College due to the challenges that have faced this transforming institution of higher education. These are sobering realities for all of us in higher education facing to a changing landscape. While our colleagues at Lincoln College work to support their students with transitional services, we at Illinois Wesleyan – like our other institutions – work to create opportunities for seamless transfer to further the educational goals of Lincoln students – Georgia Nugent, President of Illinois Wesleyan University
Connor Wood
Terri Goss Kinzy, President of Illinois State University

“I was saddened by the news that Lincoln College is closing after more than a century and a half of service. We at Illinois State University send our thoughts to the college community and the City of Lincoln. The Illinois State University community will support Lincoln College students, faculty, and staff in any way we can as they face this difficult time.” -Terri Goss Kinzy, President of Illinois State University
Jamel Wright

“I was saddened by the news that Lincoln College is closing after more than a century and a half of service. We at Illinois State University send our thoughts to the college community and the City of Lincoln. The Illinois State University community will support Lincoln College students, faculty, and staff in any way we can as they face this difficult time.” – Jamel Wright, President of Eureka College
James Reynolds Mug, Millikin

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the sudden closure of Lincoln College, an institution that served as a mainstay of higher learning in central Illinois for many years. Millikin owes a debt of gratitude to Lincoln College, which in 1901 merged with Millikin when it was just getting established so that we could be licensed by the state of Illinois.Our two colleges were partners until the mid-1950s. We are proud to be one of the few institutions invited to partner with Lincoln College to meet the transfer needs of their students.Millikin offers nearly all of the same academic programs as Lincoln and aims to make the transfer process as transparent as possible – Jim Reynolds, President of Millikin University
Contact Connor Wood at (309) 820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood