Call for GSR Applications: 2022 Thinking Gender Conference Coordinator

Call for Graduate Student Researcher Applications – AY 2021-2022

The Center for the Study of Women (CSW) is accepting applications for a 25% Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) for Fall of 2021 and Winter and Spring of 2022. In Fall of 2021 and Winter of 2022, the GSR’s main responsibility will be to plan the 2022 Thinking Gender Conference. In Spring 2022, the GSR will perform research-related activities (including research, analysis and writing), and other tasks based on the needs of the center. We invite applications from UCLA graduate students whose research, teaching, and/or organizing interests intersect with this year’s theme.

All applications must be submitted using the online application form by Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 11:59 PM.

Thinking Gender is an annual public conference that draws scholars from across disciplines – humanities, social sciences, life sciences, arts, law, education, public health, and public policy – to share research on women, sexuality, and gender. Thinking Gender 2022 will be the 32nd year of the conference. Due to the pandemic, the conference will be held virtually over Zoom in Spring 2022.

DEADLINE: Sunday, September 12, 2021

Interviews will be held the weeks of September 13th and September 20th.

CONFERENCE THEME: Transgender Studies at the Intersections

This year’s conference theme “Transgender Studies at the Intersections” highlights work in transgender studies that engages substantively with race, Indigeneity, Blackness, settler colonialism, and/or empire. Following the lead of trans-of-color critique, this year’s Thinking Gender prioritizes work that identifies and imagines what trans liberation or trans justice looks like when we put race, Indigeneity, Blackness, settler colonialism, and/or empire at the center, and vice versa. We welcome approaches that identify anti-racist and anti-colonial critiques of gender binarism and gender essentialism and/or interrogate how they have erased and excluded trans ways of being, knowing, and relating. We invite a wide range of scholarship including but not limited to social movement histories; studies related to medicalization and de/pathologization; examinations of joy, resistance, resilience, and collective care; disability studies; research ethics; and conceptualizations and mobilizations of political rights.

While we are particularly interested in applications from candidates with strong research and/or activist interests related to this theme, we invite all UCLA graduate students with an interest in intersectional feminism to apply.

The selected applicant will have the opportunity to collaborate with CSW Director Grace Hong in refining this conference theme and developing a program that makes a significant contribution to transgender studies.

ELIGIBILITY AND COMPENSATION

The Conference will take place in Spring 2022. This position provides a 25% Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) appointment with a monthly salary during Fall 2021, Winter 2022, and Spring 2022. Fee remissions will be included.

The GSR must be registered as a full-time student (enrolled in a minimum of 12 units) at UCLA during the academic year and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 throughout the duration of the appointment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the CSW Director and Management Services Officer and in collaboration with the CSW Program and Research Developer, the Conference Coordinator will:

Plan and oversee an interdisciplinary conference
- Develop and implement plans that will aid the conference goal of serving graduate students and contributing to feminist research
Head the conference selection and program committee
- Curate conference abstracts and papers
- Review and critique submissions
- Lead and prepare agendas for conference planning meetings
- Write and prepare conference documents, including but not limited to calls for submissions, publicity materials, manuals, etc.
Build and engage with a network of prominent scholars and administrators to create an interdisciplinary program
- Develop cross-campus fundraising strategies and hone academic development skills
- Interact with high-level university administrators
- Spearhead outreach initiatives

QUALIFICATIONS

Registered UCLA graduate student in 2021–2022 academic year
Experience organizing or participating in research conferences
Demonstrated ability to lead networking, fundraising, and outreach initiatives
Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and to collaborate during meetings and discussions
Strong organizational skills, including:
- Demonstrated ability to set and meet deadlines and priorities
- Ability to organize and present information effectively and concisely
- Ability to set and maintain a reliable work schedule
Research interests related to the conference theme and compatible with CSW’s core research on women, sexuality, and gender. We encourage students in any discipline to apply.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

The following materials are required when submitting your application through the online application system:

Cover letter: Outline how your research interests relate to the conference theme, and what sessions you would incorporate (keynote speakers, workshops, etc.) that would both support the theme and serve the professional and research development needs of graduate students (1 page maximum)
CV
Unofficial UCLA transcript (with most recent coursework and grades)
List of references: Provide at least two references (name, title, contact information, relation to applicant), one of whom must be a UCLA faculty member. We advise that references be able to comment on your research aptitude (particularly as it relates to the theme), organizational skills, and capacity to oversee the production of a conference.

If selected for an interview, please be prepared to suggest and discuss possible sessions related to the theme, speakers, outreach and fundraising strategies, and formats for the conference.

SUBMISSION DETAILS AND DEADLINE

Please submit your application online via Submittable.

For questions, please contact the CSW Management Services Officer, Rosa Chung, at rosa@women.ucla.edu.