Schedule of Events for NY6

Please note that the schedule is in draft form, and may change closer to the date of the conference.

NY6 Spectrum Conference for LGBTQIA Students 

Tentative Agenda

Saturday, February 27, 2016 

10:30-11:30am: Registration 

11:30am: Welcome, Review the day, and Icebreaker

12:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm-4:45pm: Workshop

Workshop I: Queer Zine Explosion!
In this hands-on workshops, participants will create their own minizine. A minizine is a zine (pronounced zeen) or homemade magazine created from a single sheet of paper. Chernoff will provide an overview of American and international zine his/her/theirstory, including roots in science fiction fandom, punk rock, feminist activism, and political pamphleteering. Chernoff’s mobile zine library will be available for participants to browse. The workshop emphasizes the direct democratic aspect of the zine, from authorship and production to consumption and circulation.
Presenter: Carolyn (CC) Chernoff, University of Pennsylvania

1:00pm-2:45pm: Concurrent Workshops II & II

Workshop II: What is Queer about Religion and Spirituality?
What is queer about religion and spirituality? The session will come at this question from two perspectives: 1) a broad overview of current realities experienced by LGBTQIA-identified people in religious communities and spiritual practices: both the positive and the negative; 2) An exploration of the gifts that queer sensibility and struggle can bring to spirituality and practice.
Presenter: Parker Diggory, Skidmore College

Workshop III: Gender non-conformity and the media: Effects of Commoditization of Transness
Gender non-conformity and the media: Effects of Commoditization of Transness is a space to discuss and uplift the experiences of those of us that do not fit the traditional gender binary, or the now much more widely know transe binary. We are here to discuss those of us who do not pass. Those of us who never will.  Join us to share your own stories, discuss ways to combat the harm of media, and uplift those around us!
Presenter: Marjoram, Skidmore College

3:00pm-4:45pm: Concurrent Workshops IV & V

Workshop IV: Campus Climate & You!
Come explore and demystify campus climate by breaking down the political, social and personal dimensions that constitute the campus environment and influence the way climate is conceptualized by researchers, evaluated by practitioners, and experienced on the individuals. Attendees will emerge with a framework through they can examine campus climate and a plan on how they can use their campus position or role to make the most impact.
Presenter: Khristian Kemp-DeLisser, Colgate University

Workshop V: Falling Into Queer Rights
What does it mean to "fall into activism," and how can you be an effective and empathetic leader for the queer community on your campus?
Presenter: Kylie Gorski, Union College

5:00-6:30pm: Keynote Speaker

Alicia Garza, #BlackLivesMatter
Outraged by the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Alicia Garza took to social media to express her anguish and love for the black community. It was then that Garza—together with Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors—turned the powerful words “Black Lives Matter” into a social media phenomenon and an organizing network that now boasts more than 26 chapters internationally. #BlackLivesMatter has evolved into the banner under which this generation’s human rights movement marches.
An established organizer committed to social transformation, Garza challenges society to recognize and celebrate the contributions of all black lives, so that we can truly be a world where all people are valued, respected and can live with dignity. Garza’s work is rooted in organizational strategies that connect social movements and has earned her various honors, including a spot on The Root’s 2015 List of African American achievers and influencers, and the 2015 Politico50 Guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics. Her writing has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, The Nation, The Feminist Wire and more.
Currently the Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Garza previously served as Executive Director of People Organized to Win Employment Rights, where she led the charge on significant initiatives, including organizing against the chronic police violence in black neighborhoods.
Empowering and enlightening, Garza serves as a beacon for individuals and organizations across the country fighting anti-black racism and state sanctioned violence, galvanizing everyday people to organize and stand together to transform society into a world where Black Lives Matter, once and for all.

For more information:
https://twitter.com/aliciagarza
https://www.facebook.com/the.one.and.only.aliciagarza

7:00pm-8:30pm: Dinner

10:00pm-2am: Dance 

Sunday, February 28, 2016

8:00am-9:00am: Breakfast

9:00am-10:00am: All group tabletop exercise

10:00am-11:30am: Concurrent Workshops VI, VII & VIII

Workshop VI: What Every Person Ought to Know About Dealing with Anxiety
I have been fortunate enough to have access to incredible therapists who have taught me so many vital skills to problem solve and work through anxiety. I really want to share my knowledge with my peers because most people have no ability to deal with anxiety.
This workshop will be helpful for anyone, because anxiety coping techniques are useful even for the minor issues that most people will run into at some point. Queer people have a variety of specific anxiety issues such as fears of social, communal, or family rejection and anxiety around passing, to name a few. I hope that this workshop will help people talk about their anxieties in public and become less self-conscious as they learn how many people struggle with similar thoughts.
Presenter: Lauren Berry-Kagan, Skidmore College

Workshop VII: #BlackLivesMatter - LGBTQ Communities x the Prison Industrial Complex
LGBTQ communities are disproportionately harmed by the structures of the prison industrial complex, yet they are expected to be complicit in this system and uphold its ideals. Also, anti-blackness within these communities make it easier to be complicit and/or ignore the issues. Do #BlackLivesMatter in mainstream LGBTQ communities?
In this workshop, we’ll explore:
- In what ways are LGBTQ communities encouraged to internalize and perpetuate the ideals of the prison industrial complex?
- How do we begin to resist and move away from our complicity in the prison industrial complex?
Presenter: DyAnna Washington & Silvena Chan, Skidmore College

Workshop VIII: Binding, packing, tucking, & more: how we alter our gender expression
Why and how do trans and gender-nonconforming people alter their bodies on a day to day basis? What are these non-surgical methods, how do we use them, and what do they mean for our health?
Presenter: Elijah McCormack, Skidmore College 

12:00pm-1:30pm: Lunch & Closing