Next year, on 1 July 2009, the Australian Network for Research in Women’s History will be holding a day-long conference at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, which I am organising. Here is the theme -
The Girl in History
What does it mean to be a Girl rather than a Woman in history? What does it mean to be interested in the study of younger rather than older femininities? How exactly does one distinguish between these things, and what are the consequences of doing so?
The Network for Research in Women’s History invites papers which consider questions of young womanhood and girlhood in history. Of particular interest are papers which attempt to work through some of the conceptual, methodological and political issues raised when historians focus on youthful femininities. Other potential topics for papers are:
• The position of girls in past youth subcultures
• Histories of girlhood or ‘girl culture’
• The ‘Australian Girl’ and her relationship to Australian national identity
• The ‘Modern Girl’ and her relationship to histories of modernity
• Personal reflections on writing about the feminisms of one’s youth
• Personal reflection on what it means to be a young woman writing gender history, or a man writing about young women in history.
Abstracts of papers to be considered for this conference should be emailed to Dr Melissa Bellanta at the University of Queensland (m.bellanta@uq.edu.au, ph: (07) 3346 7410) no later than 6 February 2009.
