2025 Transformations student conference: Exploring thought and practice in intersectionality

Wayne State University’s Anthropology Graduate Student Organization will host its annual conference, bringing together students to present research and exchange ideas across the social sciences and humanities.

This year’s conference will focus on intersectionality, examining how overlapping social categories—such as race, gender, class and ability—shape power dynamics and inequality. Presentations will explore how intersectionality informs research, professional practice and relationships across diverse contexts.

More than 30 participants, including WSU anthropology students and peers from other departments and nearby universities, will present papers and posters. Topics will range from health and politics to economics, archaeology, art and technology, highlighting how intersectionality influences everyday life.

The free, day-long conference will be held in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center on March 22, 2025. This event will feature panel talks and poster presentations, as well as a keynote lecture from Dr. Maria Franklin, historical archaeologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Texas-Austin.

She'll reflect on her experiences in research, mentoring and teaching and how intersectionality and Black feminist scholarship have influenced her over the years with her talk “Convergences: Thoughts on Intersectionality in Research and Teaching.” Participants must register to attend.