Welcome
Gender, Bodies and Technology (GBT) is an interdisciplinary initiative originating with the Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) Program at Virginia Tech that explores relationships between technology and gender, race, class and identity with particular attention paid to bodies as a site where these relationships can be investigated. Specific topics of interest include: feminist analysis of the use of technology in new and emerging representations of bodies, gender and race in the context of technological design and production, gender, race and sexuality in the context of SET (science, engineering and technology) education; and the gendered implications of technology in contexts ranging from classrooms to workplaces to the Internet.
Launched in Spring 2007, out of a strategic planning session of the Women's and Gender Studies program, the initiative represents an interdisciplinary nexus of topics where the scholarly strengths of numerous faculty affiliated with WGS converge. Twelve faculty and four graduate students from Women's Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Sociology, Theatre Arts, English, Education, Computer Science, and the School of Visual Arts compose the GBT planning group.
In Spring 2010 the GBT initiative hosted a conference that attracted international participation from over 120 scholars in this burgeoning field of research. Please see Past Programs to view a conference program. Feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive and requests to strengthen and build a network of scholars in this area were strongly articulated. Scholars whose work relates to the Gender, Bodies and Technology nexus are encouraged to join our growing listserv. Please contact Sharon Elber at selber@vt.edu to be added to the listserv.
We are currently in the planning stages for hosting our second biannual conference, "Gender, Bodies & Technology: (Dis)Integrating Frames" scheduled for April 26-28, 2012.
Confirmed keynote speakers for the conference include:
Dr. Judith Halberstam
Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Gender
Studies, University of Southern California
Dr. Judy Wajcman
Head of Department of Sociology, London School of Economics & Political Science
Dr. Allucquére Rosanne (Sandy) Stone
Professor of New Media and
Performance Studies at EGS, Professor of Digital Arts and New Media
Production in the ACTLab at University of Texas at Austin
To view the call for papers and online submission form please see: Call For Proposals
For more information about the Gender, Bodies and Technology Initiative and the growing network of scholars in this area, please contact:
Katrina Powell
Director
Women's and Gender Studies Program
Department of Sociology
Virginia Tech
Email: wgs@vt.edu
