Sisterhood in action: CWS at 40

Posted on 13 March 2024

This year’s Sisterhood in Action, which took place on March 8th, International Women’s Day, also marked 40 years of CWS. 2024 is a very special year for the Centre for Women’s Studies, and the SiA conference was a beautiful moment to begin to celebrate our community full of sisters of all genders. It was also, as it is every year, a chance for our spectacular students to share their ideas and learn from each other.
There was even an appearance from the famous Knicker Bunting, courtesy of Ann! A fixture of the Centre since 2011, it was made by Durham-based textile artist Julia Triston for the Carnival of Feminist Cultural Activism conference in 2011. It was made from pairs of knickers sent in to the artist with stories about when they were worn.

Keynote Speaker: Dr Patricia Hamilton, Lecturer in Sociology: Paddling in the Waves

Panel 1: The Possibilities of Feminist Self-Expression

Lizzie Merrill, CWS PhD student: Towards a collaborative analysis of artwork and metaphor

Daisy McManaman, CWS PhD student: “I’m a Barbie Girl” Exploring the complications and contradictions of Barbie’s construction of femininity

Alice Myers, CWS PhD student: The power of the personal in influencer culture: considering feminist scholarship on confession.

Panel 2: Feminist Adventures in ‘World’-Travelling

Yang Wu, CWS MA student: "Wave" in feminist histories: narrative, time,
space and ‘world’-travelling

Alice Flinta, CWS PhD student : All the things we gain: Self-translation and
Translingual. Empowerment in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Writings in Italian

Charlotte Oakes, CWS PhD student: ‘Frauen hört, hört das Hexengeflüster’:
The casting of sensory connections between the Neue Frauenbewegung and
a transnational network of feminist witches.

Table Talks: small group discussions of research plans and progress
40 Years of CWS: Reflections from Dr Ann Kaloski-Naylor & Professor Stevi
Jackson, much-loved ex-CWS staff