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Dear All, Apologies if you receive duplicate emails.

I am writing to invite you to submit abstracts to our forthcoming conference. Please see below, check our website for updates, post the attachments and forward to anyone who might be interested.
Many thanks and best wishes
Tarnjit

Our Journeys Conference 2011

On October 1st, 2011, SAFAR – This Institute of Sikh Feminist Research will host a one-day conference entitled Our Journeys Conference 2011 at The Centre for Women’s Studies in Education (CWSE), Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Scope of the Conference
The Our Journeys Conference 2011 will explore and challenge past and current constructions concerning Sikhi and gender. With an interdisciplinary approach, this conference intends to examine gendered relations within Sikhi as well as Sikh philosophy regarding social life, gender relations, sexualities, racialized and gendered practices, institutions, cultural productions, theoretical concepts and frameworks, and understanding the application of Sikh philosophy rooted in the past, present and possible insights regarding the future of Sikh thought.

Although academic in scope and orientation, Our Journeys Conference 2011 is deliberately organized to be accessible to a diverse audience and range of interests. The conference will explore the topic of Sikh journeys from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. It is intended to provide a space for the articulation of Sikh feminist visions; intellectual and cultural inquiries; critical reflections on Sikhi and gender; and various modes of Sikh feminist thought, in Punjab, India and in the Diaspora.

Keynote speaker: The renowned Sikh scholar and feminist theologian Prof. Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh author of The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of theTranscendent, The Birth of the Khalsa: A Feminist Re-memory of Sikh Identity and Sikhism: an Introduction, is the keynote speaker.

Call for Abstracts

Submissions from academics, educators, students, activists, community and independent researchers, those who work in or research this area are welcome. Topics can include (but are not limited to): race, nationhood, class, culture, ability, ecology, politics, theologies, social relations, psychology, sexuality, feminist scholarship, genealogy, transnational and geopolitical topics relating to Sikhism and gender, Sikh the[a]logy, the feminine perspective in the Sikh canon, gender in Sikh institutions, historical Sikh women, gender in social and political history, patriarchy in Sikh communities, Sikh women role models, Sikh liberation theology, Sikhism and social justice, Sikh feminist research methodology, and connecting Sikh theology to activism.

Submission guidelines: Deadline for submission of a 300 word abstract (including citations) is July 1st, 2011. Submissions are to be made on-line, please check the website for updates (www.sikhfeministresearch.org). Successful candidates will be informed by July 31st, 2011. Authors are requested to follow, either APA, MLA or Chicago style guidelines. Abstract submissions should include title, author(s), affiliation(s) and key words. Ethical responsibility: authors are required to follow the ethical guidelines of the Tri-Council Policy Statement and their research institutions when conducting any research. Authors of abstracts accepted for oral presentations are expected to submit manuscripts of their completed papers by October 1st, 2011 for publication in a special issue of the peer-reviewed, academic on-line journal: Sikh Feminist Review. These manuscripts shall undergo a double blind peer review process (details can be found at www.sikhfeministresearch.org). If you have a!
ny questions please contact the editorial board of SAFAR at editorial@sikhfeministresearch.org.

Thank you for considering participation in the Our Journeys Conference, we look forward to seeing you in the fall!

SAFAR – The Sikh Feminist Research Institute – is a not-for-profit dedicated to Sikh feminist scholarship and research. Please visit our website www.sikhfeministresearch.org

The problem persists around the world – and it’s also an urgent reason to fear our own government

Gerald Caplan (The Globe and Mail)

Twelve girls and women have been murdered by family members in Canada since 2002; these grisly deaths, perversely known as honour killings, have all taken place in certain minority communities. But these minorities have no monopoly on such savage brutality. In Ontario alone between 2002 and 2007, 202 women were murdered by their partners, an astonishing average of 42 each year.

These appalling statistics were the basis of my column last week on violence against women in Canada, which discouraged a number of readers who have long been engaged in the struggle to end this horror. What they rightly pointed out is how long this battle has been raging, and yet how widespread the phenomenon remains throughout the world. Read more…

Honour killings in Canada: even worse than we believe

Gerald Caplan

Special to The Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Jul. 23, 2010

If you are already sufficiently appalled knowing there’ve been 12 despicable “honour killings” in Canada since 2002, don’t read any further. This is only the tip of a nightmarish iceberg, I’m afraid.

For some reason, the term honour killings seems to be reserved for murders committed by male family members against daughters or sisters in South Asian or Middle Eastern communities. These unimaginable crimes have been receiving much high-profile notoriety in the Canadian media, as they surely deserve. All Canadians must now know of the tragic murder of 16-year old Aqsa Parvez of Mississauga, strangled to death three years ago by her brother and father. Read more…

By Carrie Stetler

June 26, 2009, 4:31PM

http://www.nj.com/homegarden/design/index.ssf/2009/06/julia_cooper_commemorative_sta.html

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today hailed committee passage of her bill, H.R. 1700, which establishes a National Women’s History Museum on the Mall in Washington, DC to honor the role that women have played in American History. It passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure by a voice vote.

“Less than five percent of the 2,400 national historic landmarks chronicle women’s achievement and of the 211 statues here in the U.S. Capitol, only ten are of female leaders,” Rep. Maloney said. “The museums and memorials in Washington are one measure of what our society values. We already have museums for stamps and spies. This bill would provide women, comprising 53% of our population, a long overdue home to honor their many contributions to building our country.” Read more…