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(from the conference organizers)
Posted January 19, 2005

Go here for complete info on registration, scheduling, travel and accommodations.

EXPLOSION! Taking Back Our Voices


Explosion!, the 9th National Mixed Race Student Conference, will take place on April 22-24 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

For too long, mixed race bodies and images have been co-opted by both ends of the political spectrum for the purpose of diminishing the racism all people of color experience on a daily basis. Conservatives have argued that the blurring of racial lines eliminates the usefulness of race as a distinguishing social category, while liberals claim that the interracial relationships that produce mixed children are proof that people of color are well integrated into a multicultural society and racial tensions are minimal or nonexistent. Ignited by this gross misappropriation, Explosion! seeks to re-politicize mixed race (self) representations by contextualizing the existence of multiracial people within radical racial discourses.

Through a series of workshops, lectures, and discussions, Explosion! will reclaim mixed experiences as a political reality and problematize the use of our identities to further a global capitalist agenda. By reflecting on our own racial privilege and/or our positions in other progressive social movements, we hope to explode outdated modes of mixed race representation, allowing us to reclaim our voices and further decolonize our collective consciousness.

Registration
Due to Wesleyan's size, space is limited, and we will be forced to cut off registration at approximately one hundred people. It is extremely important to register early, as well as to let us know about cancellations as soon as possible. Please be respectful of our capacity and limit your school's registration to five people or less. Registration will be on a rolling basis until we have as many people as we can accommodate.

To register, email here with the following information:
- College or university
- Name of your organization
- Names of people attending
- Email address where we can contact you

The fee to register is $20. You may pay upon arrival in April, or mail a check, made out to the Wesleyan Student Assembly, to:
Wesleyan Station
222 Church St.
Box 4696
Middletown, CT 06459

In the interest of making the conference as accessible as possible, we will waive the registration fee in extreme circumstances. You must email here before arrival in
Middletown for this consideration.

If you'd like to apply to run a workshop, include in your email the information below.
- The deadline for workshop proposals is Friday, March 11th.
- A title and description (including the format)
- An explanation of how your workshop relates to Explosion!'s theme of radicalizing mixed race discourses
- The names of the people running the workshop
- Any special equipment or accommodations you'd need

Travel and Accommodations
The closest airport to Middletown is Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT. The nearest Amtrak train stations are New Haven and Meriden. It is less than a half hour drive from all three to Wesleyan. There is also a Peter Pan/Greyhound bus station just down the street from campus. There is one hotel within walking distance of Wesleyan and several just a short drive away. For those who don't wish to or cannot stay in hotels, we will provide modest on-campus accommodations (as in, be sure to bring a sleeping bag. No, seriously). Each person must cover transportation costs on their own. We will provide one meal over the course of the weekend, but other costs must be covered by each individual/student group.

Please feel free to email us with any other questions, comments, concerns, etc.





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