Note in the following call for papers that there is a special request for museums, historic sites, and other public history venues that interpret rural women.

CALL FOR PAPERS
CONFERENCE OF RURAL WOMEN'S STUDIES ASSOCIATION 
Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, Minnesota, June 22-25, 2000

        The Rural Women's Studies Association invites proposals for individual
papers, presentations, sessions, and workshops for its conference at the Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, Minnesota, June 22-25, 2000.  Sponsored by the newly-formed Rural Women's Studies Association, and co-sponsored by Women Historians of the Midwest and the Minnesota Historical Society, this meeting succeeds six previous conferences on Rural and Farm Women in Historical Perspective.  The conference will be held on a triennial basis by the RWSA, which is an international association for the advancement and promotion of farm and rural women's/gender studies in historical perspective.  

        The Program Committee welcomes proposals from an interdisciplinary perspective exploring all aspects of the lives of rural women and the historical interpretation of those lives, including: the work of farm women;  farm women and technology;  farm women and agrarian culture;  gender systems in agricultural production;  the meanings of gender, race, class, and ethnicity in rural society;  farm women in developing economies;  farm women and government policy;   farm women's relationship to the environment;  sustainable agriculture;  women in small towns;  and literary approaches to rural life.  

        We continue to explore the intersections between academic concerns and farm activism, and we solicit participation by farm activists and presentations which address rural activism.  Because the conference will be held at the Minnesota History Center, we are especially interested in papers which consider the role of historical agencies, museums and historic sites in preserving the records of rural women, and in interpreting their lives.  We welcome papers which highlight local issues such as gardening by Hmong women and Latinas in the agricultural labor force.  Special sessions and excursions will be planned to historic sites such as the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Museum and the Oliver Kelley Farm.  

        We encourage submission of full session panels, but individual proposals
are welcome.  We especially welcome proposals from and about women outside the United States and solicit panels or papers which incorporate cross-cultural perspectives.  We encourage alternative formats, such as book roundtables, documentary films, and open mike
sessions.

        Deadline for submission of proposals is October 15, 1999.  Individual presenters should send 4 copies of a one-page abstract.  Proposers of full panels should also include 4 copies of a session abstract (or description of alternative session type).  Potential presenters should also submit 4 copies of brief vitae which includes phone, email, and
fax number.  Proposals should be sent to: 

Susan S. Rugh
Department of History
332 KMB
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801) 378-2742
[log in to unmask]

        For questions about the RWSA conference or RWSA membership, please
contact Debra Reid, [[log in to unmask]] 1300 Briar Cliff, #227, Bryan, TX 77802 or Ann McCleary [ History Department, State University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118.

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