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Present Tense / Future Possibilities Conference
Present Tense / Future Possibilities: The 4th Annual WGSS Interdisciplinary Conference
The USF Department of Women鈥檚, Gender, and Sexuality Studies will host the Present Tense / Future Possibilities Conference on February 13, 2026, at the USF Tampa campus. 黑料爆料, staff, and faculty from the USF community, along with students, staff, and faculty in Florida-based WGSS programs and those doing related, relevant work in the State of Florida are invited to attend.
Registration for the conference is free. .
In a moment that feels as if it is defined by fear, vulnerability, and chaos, we celebrate
ways in which artists, academics, and community members work against these dark themes
to imagine, create, and live worlds that offer more.
Aimed at exploring, developing, and implementing feminist, queer, crip and other politics
of refusal, this conference explores what Lauren Berlant described as their commitment
鈥渢o the political project of imagining how to detach from lives that don鈥檛 work and
from worlds that negate the subjects that produce them鈥 and to create possibilities
鈥渢o live beyond survival, toward flourishing not later but in the ongoing now.鈥
This conference centers conversations that wrestle with the realities of the moment
while creating more livable presents and futures. We ask: What does it mean to live
in this present with a politics rooted in futurity? How do movements centered in the
intersections of antiracist, queer, and feminist politics imagine, build, and sustain
alternative worlds? This space engages with these questions and welcomes intellectual
explorations, artistic expressions, and embodied practices that challenge normative
temporalities and oppressive structures while acknowledging and celebrating the mess,
resistance, and labor of this politics of transformation.
The conference schedule is available online, and in Sched - the conference app.
This conference is funded by the USF Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, the USF College of Arts and Sciences, and USF ResearchOne. The conference is free to attend.
Conference Details
- Date: February 13, 2026
- The Schedule is available online as a PDF, and in the app, Sched. Room numbers can be found in Sched.
- All attendees, including presenters, must .
- We will be using , where you can view the schedule, chat with attendees, and view important conference information.
- Location: Marshall Student Center (MSC) 3rd Floor, located at 4103 Cedar Circle, Tampa, FL 33620
- Parking: Visit the USF Parking site
- Some local suggestions for out-of-town attendees - hotels, places to eat, and outdoor sites to visit
Conference Keynote Events
The conference will feature two keynote events. Details will be announced shortly.
Lunch Keynote: of St Pete Pride
Closing Keynote: of PEN America
Conference sponsors
