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John F. Weatherly and Oxford Consortium for Human Rights Symposium

April 11th-12th, 2026

This event is organized by the Women, Religion and Human Rights Collective (hereafter WRHRC), comprised of scholars Dr. Antoinette DeNapoli (Texas Christian University), Dr. Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox (Quinnipiac University), Dr. Lisa Battaglia (Samford University), and Dr. Cindy Dawson (University of Houston).

The goal of the WRHRC is to foster compassionate and critical dialogue around religion, rights, and women’s and marginalized identities from interdisciplinary and community perspectives. As a collective, our mission is innovative because we are concerned not only with the nature and function of representations of women and other historically marginalized identities in academic, civil, legal, religious, and political discourse, particularly their ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how.’ We are also concerned with the critical role of religion and human rights in the production, use, and sanctioning of such representations to achieve specific outcomes.

Our inaugural symposium in April 2024 hosted twenty-seven speakers (and many other participants) and featured riveting panels and presentations on the theme of ‘Women, Religion, and Human Rights.’ As in 2024, this year’s collaborative effort between the WRHRC, TCU’s John F. Weatherly Professorship, and the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights (OCHR) seeks to bring together a cadre of outstanding community activists, religious and community leaders, graduate and undergraduate students, and teacher-scholars from Texas and elsewhere.

Call for Papers

• Presentation format: 15–20 minute papers.
• Panels: Traditional panels, roundtables, and other innovative formats are welcome (panel proposals should include a 150-word panel rationale plus individual abstracts).
• Accessibility & Inclusion: We encourage submissions from scholars of all backgrounds and will provide accessible session formats.
• Review criteria: clarity of thesis, originality, methodological rigor, and fit with the conference theme.

Who May Apply

• Scholars/faculty (all ranks)
• Graduate students
• Advanced undergraduate students

Submission Guidelines

• Abstract length: ~150 words
• Include: paper title and presenter email (you may also add name, affiliation, and 3–5 keywords)
• Format: single paragraph, clear statement of argument, methods, sources, and contribution
• Submission deadline: Friday, December 5th
• Email all materials to A.DENAPOLI@tcu.edu

Important Dates

• Submission deadline: Friday, December 5th
• Notification of acceptance: Monday, January 5th
• Conference dates: Saturday, April 11th & Sunday, April 12th, 2026

Registration Information

• Registration fee: $75
• The conference will take place at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas