30
October
2008
October
2008
27
October
2008
October
2008
WIFIS 2008 – Conference Report0
The seventh annual meeting of Women in French in Scotland (WIFIS) took place on 18 October 2008 at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow’s splendid nineteenth-century municipal library. The conference, organised by Joy Charnley and Caroline Verdier (Strathclyde), and Elisabeth Campbell (University of the West of Scotland) welcomed a group of six historians from the Association Les Femmes et la Ville, Marseille, as part of the Glasgow/Marseilles Twin Towns Programme, as well as participants from Bordeaux, Montpellier, Haute-Alsace, Berlin, Avignon, Bielefeld, and throughout the UK. Conference papers presented in the five sessions took up a broad spectrum of work by and about women, including Louise Labé, Taos Amrouche, Catherine Breillat, eighteenth-century pedagogical novels by women, and the letters of Euphrasie Rodrigues, a young pianist active as a Saint-Simonian. Highlights of the Mitchell’s extensive archives and special collections were toured with Marion Beaton, department co-ordinator. The WIFIS plenary was given by the distinguished feminist historian Françoise Thébaud, professor of modern history at the University of Avignon and co-editor of CLIO, on ‘L’aventure intellectuelle de l’histoire des femmes et du genre en France’. The organisers are grateful to the University of Strathclyde and the University of the West of Scotland for financial support. The October 2009 meeting will take place at the University of Aberdeen, organised by Elizabeth MacKnight, e.macknight@abdn.ac.uk. For more information, please visit the WIFIS blog at http://wifis.edublogs.org. (Report by Elisabeth Campbell, Joy Charnley, and Caroline Verdier).
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October
2008
October
2008
WIFIS 2008 – Thank you!0
The WIFIS 2008 conference was a great success and we would like to thank everyone for their enthusiastic participation and contributions.
Thanks again to everyone
Caroline, Elisabeth & Joy
29
September
2008
September
2008
WIFIS 2008 – Programme0
Please click on the following link to view the final programme for the 2008 WIFIS conference :
5
September
2008
September
2008
Call for papers – Women in French 2009 – Aston University0
Call for Papers
Women in French One-Day Conference
‘Women at play / Les femmes s’amusent’
Aston University, Birmingham, UK
9 May 2009
Whereas issues concerning women at work, both professional and domestic, have been widely studied and documented in recent years, the question of women’s free or in particular leisure time has not been explored to the same extent.
Leisure is understood as social time which is used for individual or collective self-expression, and is commonly perceived as playing an increasing role in women’s lives since the introduction of the 35-hour week in France in 2000. The aim of this interdisciplinary one-day conference is to generate discussion on
how French and Francophone women express themselves when ‘at play’ in the broadest sense of the term. What role is played by leisure in the lives of women today? What types of leisure activities are women choosing to experience, ordinary or extraordinary, conventional or transgressive? How are such
experiences represented in a variety of media?
This one-day conference aims to bring together female scholars with an interest in any area of French and Francophone studies. Papers are sought from areas including literature, cultural studies, film/media studies, history, sociology, politics and economics. Issues that papers at this conference might address
include:
• women and cultural activities
• women and the creative arts / hobbies
• performing women (e.g. theatre, music, dance, comedy)
• women and consumption / new technologies (e.g. shopping, gambling, cyberspace)
• women and holidays / tourism
• women and sport
• women and socialising
• women and community life
Papers should be no longer than 20 minutes in length and can be delivered in English or French. Abstracts for individual papers (300 words) should be sent to the organisers, Dr. Kathryn Jones and Dr. Nathalie Morello, at k.n.jones@swan.ac.uk and n.morello@swan.ac.uk by December 15 2008.
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August
2008
August
2008
Directions to the WIFIS 2008 Venue + Accommodation Suggestions0
Here are the directions to the Mitchell Library where the WIFIS Conference will take place this year.
The following link opens a document with a map and instructions to reach the conference venue as well as a list of accommodation for those wishing to stay overnight:
directions-to-mitchell-library-accommodation-suggestions4
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June
2008
June
2008
WIFIS 2008 – Fiche d’inscription0
Please click on the following link to download the registration form for the 2008 WIFIS conference:
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May
2008
May
2008
CFP: Femmes engagées : Women Intellectuals in France 1986 to present0
11-12 June 2009, IGRS (Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies), London
The fact that 2008 marks the centenary of Simone de Beauvoir’s birth allows us to reflect on the place of women intellectuals in contemporary French society. Even if the last twenty years haven’t seen the rise of a Beauvoir-like figurehead who typifies the qualities of the intellectual, nevertheless, women have become increasingly involved in many different areas of intellectual life. Women have intervened in a range of domains: politics, culture, journalism, art, literature in a context which shows the growing interaction between the public and the private.
This conference seeks to establish a picture of the different types of women’s interventions since Beauvoir’s death; it will also evaluate the role of French and French speaking women intellectuals in France and beyond. Throughout the course of this conference, we will look at the reasons why women intervene in the public arena and by what methods, for example, through the means of political/militant associations, academia as well as more formal politics. We hope, through this conference, to reappraise the link between engagement and women intellectuals and to consider the role played, and indeed, the role still to be played by women intellectuals in the sphere of culture, art, science, society and politics.
Though the focus of the conference will be mainly on the two decades since Beauvoir’s death, papers that draw comparisons with historical exempla and thus allow us to extend the historical and/or geographical parameters in order to trace and compare the trajectories and characteristics of French and French speaking women intellectuals throughout the ages will also be welcomed.
Proposals may include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
-women and engagement-the concept of the intellectual in France, the evolution of the definition of the intellectual
-women intellectuals and the French speaking world
-women and the ‘death of French culture’
-journalism, new technologies and engagement
-literature and engagement-philosophy and intellectual life
-feminism today in France
-the heritage of women intellectuals
-the impact of feminism on women today and the future of feminism
-women intellectuals and political parties
-the debates on parité and laïcité
-the role of associations in engagement (Chiennes de gardes, Ni putes ni soumises…)
-engagement in art (plastic arts, cinema, music)
-French feminists and transnational links
Abstracts for papers (in English or in French) of 300 words approx should be sent to the conference organisers: Elise Hugueny-Léger and Imogen Long, before 30th June 2008. We expect to publish the conference proceedings.
Elise Hugueny-Léger, St Andrews University (esmh@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Imogen Long, Leeds University (i.j.t.long00@leeds.ac.uk)
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February
2008
February
2008
WIFIS 2008 – Call For Papers0
WOMEN IN FRENCH IN SCOTLAND 2008
CALL FOR PAPERS
A one-day conference to be held at the Mitchell Library (Glasgow) on Saturday 18 October 2008 The annual Women in French in Scotland conference is organised by women academics in French departments at Scottish Universities and has two broad aims:
- to promote scholarly exchange based on research in French Studies by or about women
- to maintain a network of contacts amongst women teaching and researching in French Studies
Abstracts (200 words) are invited for 20-minute papers in English or in French on topics concerning women in any area of French Studies. This year two French historians from Marseilles, who will be visiting Scotland to celebrate the twinning with Glasgow, will be speaking at the conference,
so other papers on women in French history are particularly welcomed. We are also very interested in receiving offers of papers on teaching issues and non-literary topics (translation, politics, media). Please send abstracts (and queries) to the organisers by 31 May 2008: Elisabeth Campbell (Elisabeth.Campbell@uws.ac.uk ), Joy Charnley (j.charnley@strath.ac.uk) and Caroline Verdier
(caroline.verdier@strath.ac.uk ).
The conference will start around 10.00 and will include a series of papers as well as a discussion of professional matters concerning women in French Studies. It will provide a valuable opportunity to meet and discuss with female colleagues from other institutions. It is also hoped that it may be
possible to organise an introduction to the Mitchell Library’s extensive collections.
The Mitchell Library, the biggest municipal library in Europe, is situated in central Glasgow, at Charing Cross, and can be reached by train (Charing Cross Station) or bus (nos 44 and 57 amongst others pass nearby)
Conference organised with the support of the School of Media, Language and Music at the University of the West of Scotland and the French Division at the University of Strathclyde
