Feminist Studies faculty and students presented their research at the national Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) summer institute. This year’s conference, “40 years of MALCS, Centuries of Activism: La Lucha Sigue for Racial, Reproductive and Decolonial Justice,” took place on July 13-15, 2023, at UC Davis. Assistant Professor of Feminist Studies Meagan Solomon presented “Reflections on Chicana/Latina Lesbian Feminism from This Bridge to the Digital Dyke Age.” Associate Professor of Feminist Studies Brenda Sendejo, MALCS chair and conference co-chair, presented on a roundtable titled “Chicana Movidas: Reflections on 50 years of Chicana Knowledge-Making” with her co-contributors to the Chicana Movidas anthology. The following students presented papers under the guidance of Sendejo: Myla Benally “Restoring the Meaning of Hózhó Within a Decolonial Framework: A Return to Balance and Beauty” and sof varnis “Weaving as a Decolonial Practice: Reconciliation, Transformation, and Spiritual Activism Among the Mampujan Weavers.”

Associate Professor of Feminist Studies Brenda Sendejo was invited to participate as a faculty mentor in the Crossing Latinidades Humanities Research Initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Crossing Latinidades engages cross-institutional and cross-regional comparative research, training doctoral students, and new scholarship in emerging areas of inquiry about Latinos. The initiative serves as the anchor of the consortium of R1 Hispanic Serving Institutions at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Sendejo is among a group of Latino Studies faculty across the U.S. who will be paired with doctoral students through the professional mentorship program.

Associate Professor of Feminist Studies Brenda Sendejo and Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala attended the El Mundo Zurdo conference for the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa at the University of Texas at San Antonio from November 4-5. The roundtable that Bahrainwala and Sendejo co-organized was titled “Reflections on Radical Love, Care, and Consent: How Anzaldúa Informs Our Liberatory Praxis.” Bahrainwala presented “Pandemic lessons: Consent as anti-Racism,” and Sendejo presented “Movidas of Healing: The Spirit Work of Movement Era Chicanas.” The roundtable was well attended by lead scholars in the field of Anzaldúan Thought.

Associate Professor of Feminist Studies Brenda Sendejo attended the National Women’s Studies Association annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from November 10-13. This year’s conference theme was “Killing Rage: Resistance on the Other Side of Freedom.” Sendejo presented a paper titled “The Spirit Work of bell hooks and Gloria Anzaldúa: Lessons on Radical Love as Resistance,” which drew from her book manuscript in progress.

Associate Professor of Feminst Studies Brenda Sendejo was invited to present her research as part of Mexic-Arte Museum’s Chicano/a Art Movimiento y Más en Austen, Tejas 1960s to 1980s exhibit and lecture series. Her paper was titled “The Chicana Movement in Austin: A Legacy of Activism, Feminism, and Intergenerational Encuentros” and drew on themes from the exhibit that intersect with Sendejo’s work on the Chicana/o movement and emergence of Chicana feminist thought in Texas. The lecture series and exhibit were supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.