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Deadline for abstracts: August 30, 2019

Date of workshop: November 22, 2019 

The current momentum around menstruation has drawn together scholars, activists, policymakers, health practitioners, and entrepreneurs–each differently invested in menstrual health. Over the past year, the Menstrual Health and Gender Justice Working Group has brought together Columbia University researchers across different departments interested in menstruation, encouraging individual and collaborative research that crosses disciplinary boundaries to address complex questions. This workshop hopes to broaden that reach and to facilitate further interdisciplinary collaboration and networking in the Greater New York area. 

Information for Contributors:

This one-day workshop seeks to critically evaluate the current state of research on menstruation, with interest in examining whose voices are being represented, which actors shape the dominant narrative, whose voices are marginalized, what gaps in data, research, and policy exist, and how interdisciplinary collaboration may help remedy some of these gaps. The workshop also serves as an opportunity to make connections with menstrual health researchers in the Greater New York area.

Submissions may address research in any area of Critical Menstruation Studies that engages:

  • Historical, socio-cultural, religious and political economic perspectives
  • Feminist, queer, and post-colonial theory
  • Science, technology, biomedical informatics, and clinical approaches 
  • Policy and programmatic interventions

and/or explore the following topics, among others:

  • Menstrual hygiene management initiatives
  • The emergence and implications of FemTech
  • De-gendering menstruation/queering menstruation
  • Menstruators of diverse identities and experiences
  • Menstruation across the lifecourse (puberty, menarche, menopause, etc.)
  • Menstrual disorders
  • Menstrual health education
  • Menstrual activism
  • Research methods or data on menstruation 

Submission Guidelines:

Researchers are invited to submit proposals for flash presentations (5 minutes, 3 powerpoint slides max.) on any of the above or other topics related to menstruation. We welcome submissions from all different disciplines, career levels, and stages of research, and we particularly encourage graduate students to submit their research. Please submit an abstract (300 words max.) and a brief bio (100 words max.) at the following link (https://forms.gle/9ZsDYFsbB7Pjggko9). For any questions regarding submission guidelines please contact Michelle Chouinard (michelle.chouinard@columbia.edu).

We welcome submissions from all researchers in the Greater New York area. Please feel free to share this call with interested colleagues. Please note that we cannot provide travel support for the workshop.