8th Annual International Weight Stigma Conference, 22–23 June, 2020

Auckland, New Zealand

REGISTER NOW: Get Early Bird Rates

We are delighted to announce that registration for the 8th Annual International Weight Stigma Conference is now open. The two-day interdisciplinary program will cover the entire weight stigma research spectrum—from basic, to applied, to clinical, to policy—and feature an outstanding roster of international speakers and local experts.

We are honoured to present our keynote speakers for this year’s Weight Stigma Conference:

• Dr Lindo Bacon is an internationally recognized authority on topics related to nutrition, weight and health. A professor and researcher, for almost two decades Dr. Bacon has taught courses in social justice, health, weight and nutrition. Dr. Bacon is author of the iconic and bestselling Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight and co-author, with Lucy Aphramor, of Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight. They are committed to centralizing the ways in which power, privilege and disadvantage complicate our experience of our bodies. lindobacon.com

• Dr Isaac Warbrick (Ngāti Te Ata, Te Arawa, Ngā Puhi) is an exercise physiologist, Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research at AUT University. Dr Warbrick’s research has focused on the impact of physical activity on the health and well-being of Māori with a particular focus on Māori men. Much of his research is conducted at the interface between biomedical, lab-based, and indigenous approaches to research. His most recent publications have questioned whether ‘weight’ and ‘weight loss’ are appropriate ‘health’ measures for Māori, suggesting that outcome measures should better reflect cultural values.

• Kimberly Dark is a writer, professor and storyteller, working to reveal the hidden architecture of everyday life so that we can reclaim our
  power as social creators. In her new essay collection, Fat, Pretty and Soon to be Old, Kimberly navigates her experience of being fat since childhood—as well as queer, white-privileged, a gender-conforming “girl with a pretty face,” active then disabled, and inevitably aging, blending storytelling and social analysis to create a deeper understanding of how appearance privilege and stigma function in everyday life and how the architecture of this social world constrains us, and how we can each build a more just social world, one interaction at a time. kimberlydark.com

The Weight Stigma Conference is an inter-disciplinary event that brings together scholars and practitioners from a range of backgrounds (e.g., public health, government and public policy, psychology, medicine, sociology, anthropology, allied health professions, education, sports and exercise science, social sciences, media studies, business, law, activism, and the lay public) to consider research, policy, rhetoric, and practice around the issue of weight stigma. For more information, visit: stigmaconference.com

Abstract submission

Abstract submission for oral presentations and conference sessions is now closed. We will continue to accept submissions for poster presentations until 31st May 2020, and will make acceptance decisions on a weekly rolling basis – so you will know within one week of submission if your abstract has been accepted. For more information, visit: https://stigmaconference.com/abstract-submission/

Bursary Fund – Supporting Accessibility

The Weight Stigma Conference is a not-for-profit event. Although we try and keep prices down, we realise that the conference will nevertheless be beyond some people’s means. Rather than raising the cost of tickets, we will make every effort to raise additional funding through donations and sponsorship to allow us to give bursaries to individuals who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.

A Donation option is available on the registration website for both delegates and non-attendees who are in a position to contribute a little extra to help us provide financial assistance where needed. Alternatively, donations can be made via our GoFundMe page. Thank you for your generosity.

If you are interested in formal sponsorship of the event, please contact us for more information.

Registration

The Weight Stigma Conference is a not-for-profit event. We have a single ticket price for all delegates that covers the two-day event and a reception on the first evening.

• Early bird registration (until 30th April 2020): NZD 225
• Standard registration (from 1 May 2020): NZD 300

A small number of bursaries may be available for individuals on low incomes. Please email us for more information. A Donation button is also available on the ticketing website if you would like to make a small (or large) contribution. Donations will be used to provide financial assistance for individuals who might otherwise be unable to attend. Thank you. You may also donate on our Go Fund Me page.

Please click on the ‘Register Now’ button below to be taken to the ticketing website.

Fat Studies Conference, 18–19 June, 2020, Auckland, NZ

We are delighted to co-locate our conference this year with the Fat Studies: Past, Present and Futures conference, being held in Auckland on the 18th and 19th June. The two-day conference will include keynote presentations from Professor Esther Rothblum and Sonya Renee Taylor,  founder of The Body is Not an Apology, as well as community events and a conference dinner. Online-only tickets are also available. For more information about FSNZ2020, please visit http://fsnz.org/. Note, early-bird registration for FSNZ2020 ends on 31st March.