Mapping Geographies of Self: Woman as First Environment (July 30th -August 2, 2014)
Northern New Mexico College //  Española, New Mexico
Call for Papers AnnouncementÂ
 Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) invites submissions for its annual Summer Institute to be held this year at Northern New Mexico College in Española, NM from July 30-August 2, 2014. This year’s theme is “Mapping Geographies of Self: Woman as First Environment.† MALCS invites conference participants to submit proposals for papers, workshops, posters, and performances that relate to this year’s theme.
Española, New Mexico is ninety miles from Albuquerque to the El Rito campus of Northern New Mexico College. To the West is the Rio Grande; to the East are the Sandia and Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges. These mountains cradle the entire route as it snakes North into the geographic landscape of northern New Mexico. Four sacred peaks mark this landscape, tracing P’o (water and time). Etched into the countless volcanic rocks surrounding the trails of the North are millions of images recording time immemorial –histories of the Old Ones and the Mother from whom they emerged. She is the origin; she is the first environment. While this concept is not particular to northern New Mexico, to the Southwest or to the Americas, it is a critical component of our experiences and our stories as Chicana, Afro-Latina, Asian- Latina, and Indigenous women.
Northern New Mexico has remained a rural and heavily agricultural area of the U.S. Southwest. Consequently, farming and sustainability are key elements of our lifeways. At the same time it has also engaged in the complexities of technological and health advances that have driven the U.S. economy. We are a sited people, whose spirit of place influences our work, our art, our communities, our lives. Attentive to Nambi Nava (our land), mind, body and spirit and carrying on the tradition of Las Vegas, New Mexico partera Doña Jesusita Aragón, we choose “Mapping Geographies of Self: Women as the First Environment†for the 2014 Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social Summer Institute theme. We bring together Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept “the geography of self†and Mohawk activist and mid-wife Katsi Cook’s “woman is the first environment.â€
We invite proposals focused on, but not necessarily limited to, the following topics:
Agriculture
Health (physical and emotional)
Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health (STEM-H)
Trauma (physical and emotional)
Knowledge in the Digital Age
Education, Literacies, and Critical Pedagogies
Migration and Technology
Healing, Religion, Spirituality and Indigenous World Views
Access and Inequality
Identities, Hybridity, Intersectionality and Invisibility
Career Pathways
Power, Community, Social Activism and Decolonial Politics
Environmental Justice
Sustainability Practices
Latinas & IndÃgenas in Transnational and Global Contexts
Theater and Social Performance
Research Focused on Underrepresented Populations in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Health/Medicine
Gender, Sexualities, Queer and Trans Movements and Belonging
Support Networks and Best Practices
Interdisciplinary Work
All materials must be electronically submitted via email to: moc.liamg@ocixemwen.4102sclam
SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED: APRIL 7, 2014
Notifications of acceptance will be made by April 30, 2014
Questions about the submission process may be sent to: moc.liamg@ocixemwen.4102sclam
Proposals must include the following:
1) 100-word abstract suitable for publication in the conference program book
2) 250-word proposal narrative
Submissions for Panels must include proposals and abstracts for each paper
and the name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and affiliation of each participant
3) Audio/visual needs
4) Contact person’s name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and
affiliation (if applicable)
