“It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”
-Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Dear Conference Community,
It is hard to find the appropriate words to describe our feelings as we host this conference for the forty-ninth time (yes, 2026 will be our fiftieth anniversary!). Overwhelmingly, we feel gratitude and joy in connecting and learning from your scholarship, community engagement, and artistic works. We are proud to sit in the footprint of such a long-standing event centered on community and connection. We are buoyed by the passion and commitment emanating from your proposals, your workshops, and your enthusiasm for this conference. We are humbled by your kindness and grace as we all continue to find ways to do more with less. We are also devastated by attacks on our field, the shuttering of offices and programs central to our work, and the disregard for human rights marking the current moment. We are uncertain about how to proceed in the wake of so much upheaval, and we are anxious about what is yet to come.
These are the thoughts running through our heads as we reflect upon this year’s conference theme, “Embodying Feminism: Calling In, Calling Out, Calling to Action.” We developed this theme in the summer of 2024 with the intent of honoring the ongoing activism and legacy of reproductive justice activist Loretta Ross while also concretizing and being explicit about what it means to embody feminist ideals. The theme of embodying feminism acknowledges that feminism is an ongoing lived and intellectual movement, always in the process of achieving some objectives while simultaneously missing the mark on others. It is a space of contestation and a site for envisioning not just relations of power but also futures of possibility. Developing and imagining a future that works for everyone feels more urgent than ever.
Yet, how and why do we gather when so much has shifted so quickly? Is the conference a celebration? Is it a collective mourning? Can it still be a call to action? We anticipate it will be all of these things and more. We hope you find spaces of joy and connection while also grappling with the heaviness because it is possible to do both of these things at once. We have endeavored to foster an event that is accessible, inclusive, and inspiring because this should be the floor, not the ceiling. We have reserved time to share food and conversations because we still can. We have developed a program that sits firmly in the conversations and the disciplinary rigor of WGSS because our work still matters. And we stand unwavering in our commitment to embodying, enacting, and celebrating feminism because, dear colleagues, we cannot afford to do otherwise.
Stephanie Rytilahti and Karla J. Strand
Conference Co-Chairs