9th Annual Weight Stigma Conference, Denver, CO, USA, 28-29 June, 2023 [Hybrid]
Register now to get early-bird rates on in-person and online-only tickets. See our website for details of ticket pricing and financial support options.
The Annual International 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.
This year’s theme is Unintended Harms, Insidious Impact: The Need for Multi-Level Change. Abstract submission for oral presentations and conference sessions are now closed, but we are continuing to accept submissions for poster presentations. Submit your abstract here.
Keynotes
Shilo George
Shilo George, MS (she/they) a Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Irish/Scottish international speaker and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting, which means “a great awakening of the heart and spirit” in the Chinuk Wawa trade language. Her consulting work covers trauma informed practices and how those practices align with and support anti-racist and anti-oppression work within organizations and communities.
Tigress Osborn
Tigress Osborn (she/her) is the Chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). Founded in 1969 in the US, NAAFA is the world’s oldest documented fat rights advocacy organization. Tigress has championed an intersectional approach to fighting anti-fatness through education, advocacy, and support, with work featured in USA Today, Huffington Post, and Newsweek, and heard on BBC AntiSocial and ABC News. They were pivotal in the Campaign for Size Freedom’s recent victory in helping NYC Council pass a new weight and height anti-discrimination bill last week!
Dr Joy Cox
Dr Joy Cox is an organizational communication scholar and social justice advocate. Her work has focused on matters of intersectionality addressing race, body size, accessibility, and “health” within the context of body acceptance and fat liberation. In 2020, Joy published her first memoir and love letter to the fat Black community entitled, “Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Own via North Atlantic Books. She also hosted the Fresh Out the Cocoon podcast which showcases the lived experiences of fat Black womxn and femmes and was co-founder of Jabbie, an identity-inclusive, body affirming app that encourages people to move their bodies in their own way.
For more on our keynotes, visit https://weightstigmaconference.com/keynotes-2023/
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 for both delegates and non-attendees who are in a position to contribute a little extra to help us provide financial assistance where needed. Donations can also be made through our Go Fund Me page – please share this page with your networks. Last year, individual donations allowed us to provide twelve full bursaries and we hope to at least match that again this year. Thank you so much for your generosity. If you are interested in formal sponsorship of the event, please email us: stigmaconf@gmail.com.
The 2023 WSC is delighted to follow the 2023 Annual Conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). SPSSI is an amazing organisation with a strong focus on social justice and creating change. If you’re not familiar with SPSSI, do check out their website. For more information: SPSSI conference webpage
