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New project: a year of dangerous women

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A year of dangerous women, international women's day 2016And what does it mean to be a ‘dangerous woman’?

The idea that women are dangerous individually or collectively permeates many historical periods, cultures and areas of contemporary life – despite, and in some instances in response to, explicitly feminist movements.

We may take lightly the label attached by mainstream media outlets to women such as Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty or Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as being ‘the most dangerous woman in the UK’ but behind this label lies a serious set of questions about the dynamics, conflicts, identities and power relations with which women live today.

The Dangerous Women Project will be publishing 365 responses to those questions on a specially designed website linking International Women’s Day 2016 with International Women’s Day 2017.

Each daily Dangerous Women Project post will explore, examine or critique the ‘Dangerous Women’ theme by inviting reflections from women of diverse backgrounds and identities, including poets, playwrights and other creative writers, academics, journalists, commentators, artists, performers and opinion formers, and indeed anyone with an angle on the theme.

The project is being developed at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH).

The IASH supports open dialogue between the Fellows who visit the university as part of its various programmes, colleagues in academic schools and departments in Edinburgh and elsewhere, and wider civil society, and provides an international, interdisciplinary and autonomous space for discussion and debate.

You can add your voice to the Dangerous Women Project.

The project is looking for high quality reflections and creative responses to the question ‘What does it mean to be a dangerous woman?’

Write about historical figures famous or forgotten, a biography or memoir, shine a spotlight on a contemporary issue or event, spin a fiction that is uncomfortably close to the truth, or cut to the chase with research or analysis as sharp as a scalpel.

The project is particularly interested in posts with the potential for provoking discussion, and we highly encourage submissions from under-represented, marginalised or otherwise silenced voices.

All submissions to the Dangerous Women Project (DWP) will be assessed for suitability and relevance by the IASH’s director and staff, with guidance from a wider Consultation Group from academic staff from The University of Edinburgh.

The Consultation Group membership comprises: Mary Bownes, Professor Emerita of Development Biology and Vice-Principal Community Development; Penny Fielding, Grierson Chair of English Literature; Suzanne Ewing, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design and Theory; Lesley McAra, Chair of Penology and Assistant Principal Community Relations; Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics and Dean & Head of School of Social and Political Sciences; and Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Inter-Religious Studies and Assistant Principal Religion and Society.

Please read the submissions page for information on how to submit your contribution.

The material will be curated carefully, respectful of the different voices raised and positions articulated.

The Dangerous Women Project aims to raise some challenging questions about the nature of our societies in the past and in the future, provoke controversy and raise new questions.

You can follow the project on Twitter @DangerousWomen.

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