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About the conference
About the conference
What does self and community empowerment in our professional and daily practices look like? What are your practices of of empowerment and advocacy? How do you analyze and engage the structures of power that shape our world in relation to gender? Join us as we explore these questions in an interdisciplinary environment.
What does self and community empowerment in our professional and daily practices look like? What are your practices of of empowerment and advocacy? How do you analyze and engage the structures of power that shape our world in relation to gender? Join us as we explore these questions in an interdisciplinary environment.
Two days of interdisciplinary panel and flash sessions, talks, workshops, and performances. Scroll down to learn about our Featured Speakers and the Schedule-at-a-Glance. Also accepting donations for Marty's Closet.
Two days of interdisciplinary panel and flash sessions, talks, workshops, and performances. Scroll down to learn about our Featured Speakers and the Schedule-at-a-Glance. Also accepting donations for Marty's Closet.
Click below to register. All events are free and open to the public.
Click below to register. All events are free and open to the public.
Featured Speakers
Featured Speakers
Lyz Lenz, author
Lyz Lenz, author
Lyz is a New York Times bestselling author, whose writing has appeared in The Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, and others. Her book God Land was published in 2019, through Indiana University Press. Her second book Belabored, was published in 2020 by Bold Type Books. Lyz’s essay “All the Angry Women” was also included in the anthology Not that Bad edited by Roxane Gay. Her third book, This American Ex-Wife, published in 2024, was an instant New York Times best seller. She is also the host of the This American Ex-Wife podcast.
Lyz received her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. She lives in Iowa with her two kids and two dogs. She writes a regular newsletter, Men Yell At Me, where she explores the intersection of politics and our bodies in red-state America.
Muffie and Felipa have dedicated their lives to education and community activism, building awareness regarding current laws and accepted practices within the tribal nation and state, working with local, county, state, tribal, and national law enforcement to address hate crimes, and developing programs and curriculums for schools and educators to engage our youth on the experiences and challenges of being Native Two-Spirit LGBTQ.
Muffie and Felipa grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation reservation, but found they could not be married there in 2015. They began petitioning for changes in the reservation’s law, resulting in the passage of same-sex marriage.
Mousseau and De Leon live in Rapid City, but some of their children and grandchildren live on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Schedule-at-a-Glance
Schedule-at-a-Glance
Daytime events will be held in the Muenster University Center on the 2nd floor.
Tuesday evening, a conference reception and concert will be held in the National Music Museum. Schedule is in Central Standard Time.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
8:45 A.M. Breakfast and registration opens
9:30-10:45 Paper Session: Historical and Cultural Investigations
11:00-12:15 Workshop: Women, Mental Health and Addiction
12:15-1:00 P.M. Lunch served
1:00-2:00 Keynote: Lyz Lenz, "The Antidote to Despair"
2:00-3:15 Flash Lecture Session
National Music Museum Reception and Concert
5:00-6:00 Reception and Tour the Museum
6:00-7:00 What can we do? Perform Music by Women
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
8:45 A.M. Breakfast and registration opens
9:30-10:45 Paper Session: Advocacy and Activism
11:00-12:15 Flash Lecture Session
12:15-1:00 P.M. Lunch served
1:00-2:00 Keynote: Felipa De Leon and Monique “Muffie” Mousseau, "Standing Up Because of Experience"
2:00-3:15 Paper Session: Social Media and Performance
3:30-4:45 Roundtable: Women's Authorship
Donate to Marty's Closet
Donate to Marty's Closet
Donate to Marty's Closet, which serves gender diverse South Dakotans in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. Located at the Prism Center in Sioux Falls, Marty's Closet offers in-person and virtual styling and a week's worth of free clothing. We will have donation boxes set up and a QR code for cash donations.
Call for Proposals - now closed.
Call for Proposals - now closed.
This is a call to action! There have been recent shifts in the political, social, and cultural discourse around the identities, power, and positionalities of women as well as gender diverse and sexual minority folx. These shifts upend progress in some areas while offering opportunities for new growth elsewhere. Along with research and dialogue, action is fundamental because it empowers us to put theory into practice.
The University of South Dakota Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Conference is an opportunity for people across a myriad of genders, sexualities, and identities to explore the practice of empowerment and advocacy as well as analyze and engage the structures of power that shape our world. Our goal is to foster communication that builds cross-disciplinary bridges between academics, practitioners, and citizens in addition to exploring self and community empowerment in our professional and daily practices.
We invite submissions that demonstrate this ethos through scholarship, advocacy, artistic expression, and engagement. We encourage dialogue about challenges and triumphs, advice and advocacy, creative methods of replenishment and refueling for sustained action, and future roads ahead. Let’s do something!
The conference also seeks submissions of artwork for a juried exhibition held in conjunction with our conference. This exhibit will be held in the Muenster University Center at the University of South Dakota.
Submit proposals to wgss@usd.edu. Proposals will be accepted through the month of January 2025. All presenters and artists will be notified in February 2025. Proposals should be submitted as an electronic email attachment.
Guidelines for Individual or Session Proposals
Guidelines for Individual or Session Proposals
The conference welcomes proposals for individual presentations or sessions from faculty, students (undergraduate and graduate), and organizations, professionals, and community members. In addition to academic papers, we welcome posters, readings of creative writing, roundtable or workshop sessions, and music or dramatic performances.
Submit an abstract of 300-500 words detailing the content and scope of the presentation. Include title, name and affiliations, and contact information. Individual presentations should not exceed 15 minutes. Session proposals should not exceed 75 minutes. Please identify any equipment or space requirements.
Meet the conference chair
Meet the conference chair
Sara E. Lampert (she/her) is associate professor of history at the University of South Dakota and has been coordinator of the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program since 2015. This is the fourth (!) conference that she has chaired, including Cultures of Change (2017), Untold Stories (2019), and Care (2022). Please reach out if you have questions or ideas for the conference. We want to help you realize your vision, too!
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