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Wednesday, May 8, 2019

From the Chief Diversity Officer

Posted: Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Call for Proposals: SUNY Pride Conference - October 18, 19

The SUNY Pride Conference Committee cordially invites students, community members, resource professionals, junior and senior faculty members, and administrators to submit proposals for the seventh annual SUNY Pride Conference on Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, on the campus of SUNY Oneonta. The conference theme is "Celebrating Our Histories, Envisioning Our Futures." This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots that many recognize as the linchpin event that fundamentally changed the course of history for LGBTQIA+ people both in the United States and around the world.

The SUNY Pride Conference is meant to highlight and celebrate LGBTQIA+ experiences through fostered dialogue across academic or practical experiences, disciplinary focuses, and institutional perspectives as well as provide support and resources to those who attend. Today’s students entering college come with new attitudes and understandings around gender and sexuality. Despite progress made in areas of policy, education, and popular culture, much work remains to be done to give the best support and education to students in a nation and world full of uncertainty. This year’s theme serves to provide an avenue for different voices to be heard and allow for greater representation of individuals who are so often silenced.

Conference participants are encouraged to reflect on the ways that our histories—and herstories—need to be celebrated and continually uncovered from hidden corners of sociocultural days past as one way of embracing our individual and collective journeys. Participants are also encouraged to consider envisioning a future that none of us are guaranteed—futures that challenge us all to do better by our LGBTQIA+ ancestors and siblings, and our current and future selves.

The SUNY Pride Conference committee is excited to announce the return of the Professional Track, designed to help current professionals and educators who work with and serve the LGBTQIA+ community (teachers [K–12], faculty members, administrators, staff members, counselors, community leaders, advisers, etc.) share research, trends, and best practices for supporting students in the community and beyond. New this year is the opportunity for Professional Track presentations to include students in the audience. Please note on the submission form if you would like your presentation to count toward the Professional Track.

Student presenters should seek guidance from a faculty or staff member at their home institution. The faculty or staff member should mentor students through the process of writing the conference proposal, organizing a presentation on a specific theme, and presenting their scholarship to an audience.

Guidelines for Presentation Submission
All presentations should accomplish the following:

  • Explore the SUNY Pride Conference theme through the analysis of research, best practices, lived experience, and activism.
  • Promote audience engagement, personal and collective reflection, and robust discussion.
  • Include a strongly articulated purpose, conceptual foundation, contextual background, and contributions to intersectional LGBTQIA+ scholarship and advocacy.

To submit a proposal, please complete the form on the conference website. Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, September 10.

Please visit the conference website over the summer for more information and updates. Please contact Emily Phelps, chair of the SUNY Pride Conference Committee, with questions.

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