Hosted by UW Oshkosh’s Women’s Center, co-sponsored with the Women’s Advocacy Council.

“Hearing voices from women in politics around the world was very powerful. To see actual examples of change being made in a variety of different ways was truly inspiring. Activism can take many forms and I am always looking for ways to learn about them. The Women’s Center does an excellent job of providing opportunities to do so.”

“This was by far the best experience I’ve had so far in college – educationally.”

Arpita Das is from India and currently works as Programme Officer for the Global South Program at the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She holds an MA in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, and an MA in Women’s & Gender Studies from the University of Lodz, Poland and Central European University, Hungary. Her professional experience includes working with the Special Cell for Women & Children in Mumbai, India on issues of gender-based violence from a feminist standpoint, and with the South & Southeast Asia Resource Centre on Sexuality hosted by TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues) in New Delhi, India on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has also worked as a consultant on issues of sex selection, sexuality education and reproductive technologies. She serves as co-chief editor of the Graduate Journal of Social Science, an open-access peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal. Her academic and research interests include gender, gender-based violence, sexuality, intersex issues, disability and sexuality, reproductive technologies and biopolitics.

Ashlinn Masland-Sarani is the Policy and Development Director at The Arc of Pennsylvania, a non-profit that advocates for the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has a Masters of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University and a Masters of Theological Study from Wesley Seminary. Ashlinn previously worked at Mennonite Central Committee in Washington, DC on international food justice issues and as the Assistant Program Director of Include Me, The Arc of Pennsylvania's statewide inclusive education program. As an undergraduate student at Hendrix College she studied abroad in Morocco and backpacked through Western Europe. Her research and academic interests include marginalized and vulnerable populations, food justice and agricultural sustainability, intercultural communication, preventing abuse of people with disabilities, international disability rights, and feminist critiques in biblical interpretation. Ashlinn loves eating locally and traveling as far as possible with her husband Joshua, six month old daughter Eleanor, and dog Obsidian. You can find her at @AshlinnArc and http://about.me/ashlinn.masland.

Deborah Russell is a lecturer in taxation in the School of Accountancy at Massey University, New Zealand. She initially trained as an accountant, and then changed track to study Philosophy. She holds a PhD in Philosophy, specializing in Political Philosophy, from the Australian National University. Deborah has written a feminist blog since 2007 – http://beefaerie.wordpress.com/ She has published feminist and left wing opinion pieces in New Zealand's main newspapers, and she appears regularly on Radio New Zealand as a feminist commentator. She covens the Economic Committee for the National Council of Women in New Zealand. Deborah is a member of the left wing Labour Party in New Zealand, and she chairs the party's Economic Policy Committee. In 2014, she ran as a candidate in the New Zealand general election, standing in the traditional conservative seat of Rangitikei. She was highly placed on the Labour Party's list at #33, but was not elected. She intends to stand for election again in the next general election in 2017. Her candidate blog can be found at: http://deborahfrussell.net/ and her candidate Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/deborahrussellforrangitikei