The annual Women’s and Gender Studies (WGSS) Symposium at Northeastern University brings together feminist thought leaders—scholars, journalists, activists, and public intellectuals—to address an urgent concern of the moment from varieties of feminist perspectives. This year, the symposium will celebrate 50 years of Signs: Journal of Women Culture and Society on the occasion of the anniversary of its founding half a century ago. The journal has been in residence at Northeastern WGSS since 2015. The symposium will use the journal as a lens to examine the past, present, and future of women's and gender studies and will pay special attention to public feminism and its place within the history of feminist studies. Tickets are free, but registration is required. Breakfast and lunch will be served. 

Signs was founded in 1975 as part of an emergent tradition of feminist scholarship and has been publishing continuously ever since, establishing itself as a preeminent journal in the field of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. At the time of the journal’s founding, its editorial staff sought to raise consciousness and develop theories about women’s oppression in both academic disciplines and society more broadly. The journal has consistently strived for intellectual nuance and robust interdisciplinarity, engaging with questions of concern to academics and activists. To honor half a century of publication, our fiftieth anniversary celebration aims to think big. This symposium addresses persistent conundrums and theoretical throughlines that have shaped our field for over half a century.

Over the course of four roundtables (emphasizing discussion and dialogue), panelists will engage the continuing power of feminist theory, always cognizant of our own contested histories and imagined futures.

This year's events will begin at 9:15 on Friday, March 15 with a welcome from WGSS program director and Signs editor-in-chief Professor Suzanna Walters. Roundtables will be held throughout the day as scheduled below. Register for all events or for single sessions as your schedule allows if you cannot commit to the full day! All events will be held live and in person at the Cabral Center on Northeastern's Boston campus.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

8:45 am: Check in begins; breakfast 

9:15 am: Welcome from the Program and the Journal

9:30 - 10:45 am: “Our Histories, Ourselves"
Lorna Bracewell (Flagler College), Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Spelman College), Sherie Randolph (Georgia Institute of Technology; Founder, Black Feminist Think Tank)
Moderator: Susan Ware (Signs Board of Associate Editors)

10:45 - 11:00 am: Coffee/Snack Break

11:00 am - 12:15 pm: “Feminist Praxis in Perilous Times"

Mary Anne Case (University of Chicago Law School), Breanne Fahs (Arizona State University), Chandra Talpade Mohanty (Syracuse University)
Moderator: Durba Mitra (Signs Board of Associate Editors)

12:15 - 1:30: Lunch

A short video of Signs editors reflecting on the journal and their contributions to it will be shown.

1:30 - 3:00 pm: Public Feminism and the Place of Provocation

Marcie Bianco (Stanford Social Innovation Review), Soraya Chemaly (Women's Media Center), Salamishah Tillett (Rutgers University - Newark), Andi Zeisler (Founder, Bitch Media),
Moderator: Suzanna Walters (Signs, Editor-in-Chief)

3:00 - 3:15: Break

3:15 - 4:30: Thinking Feminism for the Future

Sophie Lewis (Brooklyn Institute for Social Research), Treva B. Lindsey (Ohio State University), Jane Ward (University of California - Santa Barbara)
Moderator: Carla Kaplan (Signs Board of Associate Editors, Chair)