This Special Issue of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal highlights a unique moment in history in two ways. First, it offers a collection of articles based on presentations made at the inaugural International Girls Studies Association (IGSA) conference hosted by the University of Norwich in April 2016. I thank the guest editors, Victoria Cann, Sarah Godfrey, and Helen Warner, who, in keeping alive the spirit of this amazing international event, have worked to produce a collection of articles and an interview with a filmmaker, all of which focus specifically on media as a critical axis of feminist research and activism, and the reviews editor, Marnina Gonick, for three excellent book reviews. While there have been other international conferences on girlhood (including “A New Girl Order: Young Women and the Future of Feminist Inquiry” convened with Monash University and held at the University of London in 2001, and the “Transforming Spaces” conference held at Concordia University in 2003), the Norwich conference was clearly central to the idea of sustainability. The next IGSA conference will take place at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (28 February—02 March 2019), and I wish them every success. Second, IGSA is about to become formalized as an academic association linked to this journal, to a regular conference, and to other networking opportunities. This is an occasion to celebrate work with, for, and by girls and young women. We also celebrate the recent announcement, on 05 October 2018, of the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to the Congolese gynaecologist, Denis Mukwege, who has treated thousands of rape victims, most of them girls and young women, and Nadia Murad, the young Iraqi Yazidi, who was sold into sex slavery by Isis and who has since committed herself to activism.
Girlhood Studies in (and with) a History
in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Claudia Mitchell
Claudia Mitchell
McGill University claudia.mitchell@mcgill.ca
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