Wilkes University will collaborate with King’s College to host the annual 2025 Women’s and Gender Studies Conference on April 14 and 15, on the King’s College campus. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Evolution of Family Roles and Balancing Work and Family Dynamics.” Abby Palko, the inaugural director of the residential commons program at Colgate University, will serve as this year’s keynote speaker.
Palko will open the conference with her talk “Intensively Empty Nests: What Happens When Ideologies of Intensive Motherhood Grow Up and Go to College” at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 14, in the Burke Auditorium at King’s College.
This presentation will explore questions and reflections on how intensive mothering ideologies enforce current expectations held of mothers, and how they, in turn, impact students’ experience of higher education. The keynote address is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Palko’s scholarship focuses on cultural and literary representations of motherhood, with a focus on how rhetoric shapes and influences parenting. She also serves as a board member for the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship (IAMAS) and has taught courses in Irish literature, comparative literature, gender studies and motherhood studies.
“We look forward to this annual opportunity for students and faculty from Wilkes University and King’s College to share their research and learn more about the field of Women’s and Gender Studies,” said Helen Davis, professor of English and interim director of the women’s and gender studies program at Wilkes. “Everyone is welcome to join us at King’s College for this year’s conference.”
Community members as well as students and faculty from Wilkes University and King’s College will present their research on the third floor of the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15. In the past, sessions from the conference have included research presentations, panel discussions, video screenings and performance art. The conference is free and open to the public.
This year’s conference marks the 14th year of collaboration between Wilkes University and King’s College. The conference is organized by Helen Davis, interim director of women’s and gender studies at Wilkes University, and Valerie Kepner, director of women’s studies at King’s College.
For more information, visit www.wilkes.edu/WGS.