11th annual Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life Conference to take place at Idaho State University March 5-6

Idaho State University will host the 11th annual Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life Conference on March 5 and 6 in the Pond Student Union Building.

“ISU’s Gender and Sexuality Conference provides an important opportunity to hear and learn from a wide range of disciplines and fields regarding how gender and sexuality form important angles of inquiry across a diversity of topics such as family and community health as well as industry and economic development,” said Jeremy Thomas, ISU professor of sociology and chair of the conference planning committee.

The keynote address will be on March 6 at 2 p.m. in the PSUB’s Salmon River Suites. Audrey Giles, associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, will be the speaker. Giles’ keynote address will be titled “Looking Beyond the tip of the Iceberg: Injury, Gender, and Colonialism in the Canadian North.”

Giles is a leading expert on the Arctic Winter Games, the Dene Games and aboriginal peoples’ involvement in physical activity and sport. Her research on the cultural dimensions of drowning prevention and risk communication has received national media attention. Giles has also published 60 academic journals in books and journals including the Canadian Journal of Public Health, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Journal of Aboriginal Health and Food, Culture, and Society.

The conference will feature a variety of speakers from Idaho State University, as well as universities around the United States and Canada. Presenters will speak on various topics including “Forrest Gump: Identifying the Need for an Intersectional Approach to Gender Studies,” “The Psychological Underpinnings of Gender and Success at the U.S. Supreme Court Idaho State University” and “Body Image and Experience of Interpersonal Violence in Incarcerated Women.”

“ISU’s Gender and Sexuality Conference provides a unique space where students and faculty can come together with local community members in order to explore how Pocatello and Southeast Idaho can benefit from research that illuminates these important topics,” Thomas said.

The conference is free and open to the public. Presentations will be held Thursday, March 5, from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Friday, March 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will also be a meet and greet with keynote speaker Audrey Giles on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Bridge Restaurant, 815 S. First Ave. in Pocatello.