Academic Conference - Friday, March 21, 2025

Public Facing American Girl Event at the Heinz History Center - Saturday, March 22, 2025 (transport provided from Pitt for interested parties!)

In-Person/Online (Hybrid)

Register for the in-person attendance to the conference here

Register for virtual attendance to the conference here

Hotel Block - Reserve your space here

The Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies Program and the Children's Literature Program at the University of Pittsburgh are pleased to announce our spring director's conference! The conference will recognize new pursuits within the fields of childhood, girlhood, boyhood, race, and gender studies in local, national, and global contexts.

This conference will coincide with local events on Saturday, March 22nd, focusing on childhood and play. 

This conference considers the kinds of things with which children play, and that the way with which they engage those things matter. Imaginative exploration of the world and the narratives created with and through cultures of childhood provide ways of knowing oneself in a specific place, time, and community. Memories of play and engagement with toys, books, games, media, and music remain tangible and affective long into adulthood, defining the individual in the past as well as the future. This decades-old insight remains relevant as we try to understand how childhood, reading, and play reflect and convey a range of messages about gender, race, sexuality, and possibility, both individually and collectively.  We are seeking to explore the many points of connection between interdisciplinary childhood studies and interdisciplinary gender, sexuality, and women’s studies.

This event is intended both as a way of sharing research, and as a method for building a supportive community of scholars and students via a series of events in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Library System, the Children’s Literature Program, and our community partners.

This conference will be held in a hybrid format to encourage diversity and accessibility.

More info: https://www.gsws.pitt.edu/events/oh-you-beautiful-doll-childhood-gender-play-and-culture