Call for Proposals for the 25th SCSU Women’s & Gender Studies Conference

by Women’s & Gender Studies Department, SCSU

(Re)making the World: A “How-To” Conference on Feminist, Crip, and Decolonial Worldmaking, April 17–18, 2026, at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven

In As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance (2017), Leanne Betasamosake Simpson writes:

Resurgence is not a metaphor. It is the flight out of settler colonialism, towards something we have been taught is impossible.

This conference takes Simpson’s call for radical resurgence seriously — positioning “how-to” as a feminist practice, politic, and theorizing.

The 2026 Southern Connecticut State University Women’s & Gender Studies Conference invites communities to gather for a feminist, crip, and decolonial practice of refusal, survival, and worldmaking.

In an era of rising authoritarianism, climate catastrophe, and technological dispossession, we ask

How do we refuse extractive systems of labor, knowledge, and identity?

How do we create alternative economies of care, access, justice, and decolonial business?

How do we unlearn oppressive epistemologies and forge liberatory practices?

How do we crip, queer, Indigenize, and decolonize institutions not built for us?

How do we resist algorithmic bias, surveillance capitalism, and technocratic ableism?

How do we (re)imagine feminist futures?

The 2026 conference offers a space to explore the pedagogies, practices, and possibilities embedded in the question of “how to?” across disciplines, communities, and movements. We seek proposals that move beyond critique to praxis — embracing failure as pedagogy, interdependence as resistance, and joy as a radical act.

Submission Guidelines: Individual papers, workshops, roundtables, performances, exhibitions, teach-ins, skill-shares, activist toolkits, and other creative or non-traditional formats are welcomed.

We encourage proposals from caregivers, community organizers, entrepreneurs, artist-activists, and others whose work centers lived experiences, collaborative strategies, and collective visions for justice and inclusion.

The deadline is Jan. 5, 2026 (earlier submissions encouraged). Notifications will be sent by Jan. 30.

Send proposals to wgs@southernct.edu with the subject “2026 SCSU WGS Conference Submission” and include the name of the proposer, email, phone number, affiliation (if any), and any accessibility needs. The proposal should be approximately 150-250 words and should include a 50-word bio for each presenter and a separate section with a description of the proposed format of the session.

Registration details will be available shortly. Please email or phone the Women’s & Gender Studies Department at wgs@southernct.edu or 203-392-6133.

Sierra Club Demands No Pipeline Expansion!

by Sena Wazer, Sierra Club CT

The Trump Administration has stated their intention to drive methane gas pipeline expansion in the Northeast. These expansions harm our communities, drive climate change, and raise our electricity prices.

Yet instead of standing up, governors across the Northeast—including in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts—are allowing for these expansions to move forward.

So we’re fighting back. But to be effective, we need to build people power across our states, and to do that, we need your help!

The No Pipeline Expansion (NOPE) Northeast Coalition is hosting an in-person and interactive workshop on Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Middletown. The workshop will include an opportunity to learn about gas pipeline expansions in Connecticut and the Northeast, build power, strategize next steps, and take action.

Whether you are a new or experienced activist, have engaged with the NOPE Northeast Coalition before or are brand new, we want you to join us. To find more information about the workshop and RSVP, please go to bit.ly/nopepipelineworkshop.

Please email sena.wazer@sierraclub.org with any questions and check out the coalition’s past work at nopenortheast.org.

Join the Party: Build the Movement!

by Connecticut Working Families Party

The Connecticut Working Families Party (WFP) was built on a simple idea: When working people come together, we win. WFP helps elect transformational leaders who fight for fair wages, racial justice, immigrant rights, and a democracy that works for ALL of us—not just the wealthy few.

To keep that work independent and people-powered, we rely on dues-paying members. Any recurring gift—at any amount—makes you a member. Your dues help us train candidates, organize communities, and win elections for the working class. If you believe in a Connecticut where everyone can thrive, not just the elite—join us. https://tinyurl.com/9ww2zxhw.

News from the First Unitarian Universalist Society

From 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, the First Unitarian Universalist Society will feature guest speaker Robin Greenfield at our service, at 608 Whitney Ave.

Robin is an activist, social reformer and servant to Earth, humanity and our plant and animal relatives. Robin lives simply and sustainably to be the change he wishes to see in the world and in active resistance to destructive and exploitative systems. His life is an experiment with truth and integrity. This year he devotes the entire year to foraging the entirety of his diet and teaching others how to forage. He also embarks on the One Million Community Fruit Trees Initiative with a goal of planting 1 million fruit and nut trees from 2025 through 2035. Read more at robingreenfield.org.

Lynne Charles will facilitate the service, which will be followed by a vegan potluck hosted by the UU family.

For more information about our congregation and how to Zoom our services, please visit uunewhaven.org.

TEDxProspectHill is Coming to New Haven on Dec. 14, 2025 at the Foote School!

 

Join us for a day of impactful talks featuring eight inspiring speakers, all coming together to spark conversations and new ideas. Interested in attending? Get your tickets at tedxprospecthill.eventbrite.com. Student tickets are $5, general admission tickets are $10. The Foote School is located at 50 Loomis Place, New Haven, and is wheelchair accessible. The event is from 4-8 p.m.

TEDxProspectHill is an independently organized TEDx event licensed under the global TEDx platform. Rooted in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of New Haven, this event brings together voices from the community, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and academia to foster dialogue, build connections, and create opportunities for meaningful partnerships. By bridging gaps between groups, TEDxProspectHill seeks to amplify diverse perspectives and strengthen collaboration across sectors.  This year we are exploring the theme “What If?”, inviting community to share perspectives that spark conversation and reimagine the systems we live within. For more information visit tedxprospecthill.com. To get in touch with our organizing board, please email hello@tedxprospecthill.com.

Some No Kings Next Steps

Some No Kings Next Steps: There was a No Kings Next Steps video conference last night [Oct. 21]. Here are some things that they talked about:

  1. A) Budget battle/government shut-down: Call senators and tell them to hold the line on asking the GOP to negotiate on healthcare. Or text “shut-down” to 30403 and they will text back what to do.
  2. B) Take control of the narrativeand share your posts on your social media of your stories of how the actions of Trump Administration are affecting/hurting you, criticism of organizations that preemptively capitulate to the Trump Administration, and to showcase stories or resistance (“social proof”).

The next meeting of the Greater New Haven Indivisible group is on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Stetson Library (2nd floor) at 197 Dixwell in New Haven.

For more info: greaternewhavenindivisible@gmail.com.

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News from Greater New Haven Indivisible

Thanks! to everyone who attended the No Kings New Haven event this past Saturday. Across the US, it was the largest peaceful protest in American history – and it was amazing to see so many people on the New Haven Green having a good time while fighting for democracy and progressive values and against autocracy! Way to go, everyone!!

Photo: Chris Volpe for the New Haven Independent

There are Indivisible groups across the US, CT, and in the area. You can check the National Indivisible website where groups are (https://groups.indivisible.org/). Every local Indivisible group decides their own actions in order to work towards change, fight back against rising authoritarianism, and prove—action by action—that courage is contagious.

People Have the Power!

Janis Underwood, Greater Westville Indivisible

In the middle of September, a small group of neighbors were talking about the October 18 nationwide call to action put out by the national Indivisible organization. We noticed New Haven did not have a No Kings Rally in the works. We decided New Haven was not about to be left out of standing up to the authoritarian overreach of this current administration.

Over the next few weeks we mobilized an army of volunteers who came to help in droves and brought expertise, enthusiasm and themselves. We were determined to showcase unity and an action for a peaceful, action-oriented protest that resulted in the New Haven No Kings rally.

Photo: Chris Randall

Over 20 community groups came to share their organizations’ mobilization efforts with sign-up opportunities and information. Much to our joy, several thousand people came to march together with their signs, songs, slogans, puppets, umbrellas and HUGE spirit. The wonderfully diverse community of New Haven made this happen!

Did we know what we were doing? Not exactly, but we had a goal in mind and found people who shared their expertise and talents to help make it happen. Did we make mistakes…certainly. Would we do it again? After a little R & R … maybe!

People never realize their power until they exercise it. You Can Too!!!

Contact Nan to get involved. Her email is greaterwestvilleindivisible@gmail.com.

ICE Raids Dixwell Avenue Car Wash

ICE and Homeland Security Have Kidnapped Immigrants in the Greater New Haven Area

In the past month, employees at a car wash in Hamden have been taken by ICE, and a man on the New Haven Green was grabbed by Homeland Security. Below are excerpts from articles about these cases

 

by Mona Mahadevan and Thomas Breen Oct. 15, 2025, New Haven Independent

Hamden’s mayor, town council president, and two dozen immigrant rights activists and fellow politicians gathered on Dixwell Avenue Wednesday afternoon [Oct. 15] to denounce an ICE raid that took place at a nearby car wash Wednesday morning.

Still looking for answers as to what exactly happened, the elected officials said that federal agents seized a total of eight people.

An eyewitness to the raid, meanwhile, said she saw at least 10 agents show up — some wearing masks and tactical gear — and described a man being slammed to the ground and a woman being hauled away into an unmarked van.

Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett said at Wednesday’s press conference at the Keefe Community Center that the raid happened at the Optimo Car Wash, located at 1126 Dixwell Ave., at approximately 10:20 a.m.

She said that, as part of this raid, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a mother and father while their kids were in school.

“The acts from the administration and ICE are deplorable, they are disgusting, they are not what we represent in Hamden,” Garrett said. “People are living in fear because of an inhumane presidency.”

[See entire article at bit.ly/4qxO2hG]

Feds Seize Immigrant On Green; Girlfriend Shaken

Laura Glesby, Oct. 21, 2025, New Haven Independent

A Fair Haven woman watched from a distance on the New Haven Green as a group of federal immigration agents arrested her boyfriend of 10 years on Tuesday.

She was too afraid to come closer, as she too is undocumented.

She watched late Tuesday morning as three agents surrounded her boyfriend on the southeast corner of the New Haven Green, across the street from CVS. They handcuffed him and took him inside an unmarked black van, where a fourth agent waited with the door open.

One of the agents wore a jacket identifying him as “Police HSI,” short for Homeland Security Investigations. Another covered the bottom half of his face with a black mask.

The woman, who spoke with the Independent on Tuesday afternoon, had reported an incident of domestic violence from her boyfriend to the police over a year ago.

He was charged at the time with breach of peace in the second degree, assault in the third degree, and interfering with an emergency call. She said that he completed a domestic violence rehabilitation program.

Following his successful completion of the program, he appeared in court on Tuesday morning for a dismissal of the case.

Norma Rodriguez-Reyes contributed reporting and interpretation. Paul Bass contributed reporting.

[See entire article at bit.ly/4oCWQkz]

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