Roles: A Gender and Sexuality Forum

Roles: A Gender and Sexuality Forum

Third Annual Gender and Sexuality Conference
University of Birmingham,
10th May 2013

Key Note Speaker: Dr. Nadine Muller

This one-day interdisciplinary conference offers postgraduates the opportunity to present their research in a friendly and supportive environment. We invite applications for twenty-minute papers from researchers working within the fields of gender and sexuality studies.

Suggestions for presentations may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

- social policy, government legislation, and matters of the law
- cultural products: film / music / art / TV / literature
- media, representation, and social images
- sexuality, otherness, erotic practice
- the body: subject, object, identity
- theory, methodology, practice
- feminism and postfeminism: representation and invisibility
- queer and trans*: changing images of femininity and masculinity

Please send an abstract, including a short bio, of no more than 300 words to g.roles@hotmail.com by 10th March 2013.

Roles is an interdisciplinary research forum hosted by researchers at the University of Birmingham for the purpose of fostering discussion and debate. We hold regular seminars as well as our annual conference, and can be followed online: T: @groles, F:
/roles-a-gender-and-sexuality-forum, W: groles.wordpress.com, E:
g.roles@hotmail.com.

Nude Norms: The Curious Case of the Castro

One aspect to my role at the University is to lead research for the law team.  It's often the case that beyond teaching, students rarely see what we do.  I've been keen to change that by introducing student research internships, in which students apply to work with academics on small discrete research activities, and in the course of which students get to see how we spend their not insignificant fees.

Anyway, I worked on a little project with a student intern last year, kicking around some ideas for a potential project, which ultimately led to this little piece which appeared on the Freedom in a Puritan Age webzine earlier this week.

It examines the controversial nudity ban in San Francisco.  Take a look at what I hope will be the first of many publications for my wonderful student intern, Sara Mohammadzadeh.

Gender, Sex and Power: Seminar Series

The wonderful Rob Clucas at the University of Hull has organised what looks like a really interesting seminar series.  it's called Gender, Sex and Power and the details can be seen below:

MAP - Male Action Project: Initial Results

The Cyrenians - a Newcastle based homelessness charity (with from what I can work out, Catholic roots) recently published some interesting research on male sex work.

 From May to November 2011 The Cyrenians carried out a scoping exercise and some exploratory work to consider the nature and extent of male sex work in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In April 2012 funds were secured to support a 12 month project 'MAP' (Male Action Project) to further develop the evidence-base regarding the needs of 'survival' male sex workers; and to undertake a programme of campaigning activities to stimulate and facilitate policy change at local, regional and national levels.

The initial needs analysis can be downloaded here.

A Career in Academia

Apologies for going a little off topic but I know a good number of you are either looking to explore academic careers, or are in the early stages of building such a career.  Tufts University in the United Stated has a rather wonderful Graduate School of Arts and Sciences which seems to be doing some excellent work in reaching out to the international academic community and providing useful advice and resources.  Check out one of their recent posts here.

Right, back to the law and sexuality malarky...

Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey

The wonderful Paul Johnson has produced a really interesting piece on Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey on the Jurist site.  Check it out here.

The Centre for Sex, Gender and Sexualities Speaker Series, Durham University

Readers may be interested in these forthcoming events:

Workshop: Problematising ‘Problematic’ Pregnancies Presenters: Dr Sally Brown, Dr Rachel Colls and Abi McNiven, Durham University Discussant: Professor Robyn Longhurst, University of Waikato 22/11/2012, 09:30 to 12:00, Room W215, Department of Geography

A Phenomenology of Cultural Racism: Veiling, Embodiment, and the Nature of Culture, Prof Alia Al-Saji, The Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University Wor 05/12/2012, 16:45 to 18:00, Shincliffe Room, St Aidan's

Feminist Punk Rock Academia? Punk praxis, grassroots activism and the future of feminisms, Dr Julia Downes, Durham University 12/12/2012, 16:45 to 18:00, Shincliffe Room, St Aidan's

Child Sexual Exploitation, Vulnerability and Justice, Prof Jo Phoenix, Durham University 24/01/2013, 16:45 to 18:00, Shincliffe Room, St Aidan’s

Seminar topic to be announced, Mr Neil Cobb, University of Manchester 20/02/2013, 16:45 to 18:00, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's

Bodies and Struggles in Syria: an Anthropological Approach, Dr Maria Kastrinou, Durham University 06/03/2013, 16:45 to 18:00, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's

Seminar topic to be announced, Prof Elizabeth Bernstein, Barnard College, Columbia University 02/04/2013, 16:45 to 18:00, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan’s

Edith Thompson and Traumatic Collective Memories of Capital Punishment, Dr Lizzie Seal, University of Sussex 07/05/2013, 18:00 to 19:15, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's

Seminar topic to be announced, Prof Wendy Chapkis, University of Southern Maine w/b 03/06/2013, 16:45 to 18:00, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's

Gender, Heterosexuality and Youth Violence, Prof James Messerschmidt, University of Southern Maine 05/06/2013, 18:00 to 19:15, Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's

More information can be viewed here.

Queer Homes, Queer Families: a history and policy debate at the British Library Conference Centre

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event:

With Peter Tatchell; Professor Jeffrey Weeks, OBE; Dr Kath Holden; Professor Sasha Roseneil; Professor Alison Oram; and Dr Matt Cook.

Monday 17th December 2012, 6.30 – 8.00pm

Places still available but numbers are limited so book soon!

The last decade has seen incredible changes in attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and their relationship to home and family. From legislation on adoption, civil partnerships and access to fertility treatments to representations on sitcoms like ‘Modern Family’ and home make-over shows, there has been a marked domestication of queer men and women. If Clause 28 famously saw all this as a pretence, these home lives are now, arguably, being taken seriously. In this panel discussion we ask what precedents there are for apparently unconventional home and family formations; how far recent shifts reflect broader changes in expectations and experiences of home and family; what they might portend in terms of assimilation, radicalism and difference; and why history might matter in all this. 

Please come and join the discussion. The debate is free and open to all, but booking is essential. To reserve your place please contact Katy Pettit k.pettit@uel.ac.uk The event is convened by the Raphael Samuel History Centre, hosted by the British Library and supported by the AHRC.

Centre for Gender Studies Seminar Series 2012-13: Gender, Sex and Power

Readers may be interested in this series of forthcoming seminars, organised by Rob Clucas (r.j.clucas@hull.ac.uk)

Dr Meg Barker, Open University 

‘Critically informed kink? Comparing understandings of sex, gender and power in 50 Shades and the BDSM blogosphere’

Keynote speaker Gender, Sex & Power: interdisciplinary dialogues
University of Hull Postgraduate Conference
Wednesday 21st November 2012, 4.30 pm,
Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery & Emancipation (WISE)

Christina Richards, West London Mental Health NHS Trust (Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic) 

'Trans and sexuality - theory and pragmatics'

Wednesday 6th February 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

 Grant Denkinson, polyamory community activist volunteer 

‘Polyamory Activism’

Wednesday 6th March 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

Professor Lisa Downing, University of Birmingham 

‘Re-assessing Agency and Consent in Queer and Feminist Theory’

 Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

Vicki Kirby, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales 

‘Can anthropocentrism be redeemed?’

 Wednesday, 8 May 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

Event: Queer and/ in Translation

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event.

Critical Sexology is an interdisciplinary seminar series for psychologists, sociologists, psychoanalysts, medical doctors, literary and cultural studies scholars, philosophers, artists, lawyers, and historians with a critical interest in the construction and management of gender and sexuality in the medical, discursive and cultural spheres.

Established in 2002 by Iain Morland and Lih-Mei Liao, Critical Sexology has since held three seminars per year. All meetings took place in London until 2011, when "Critical Sexology up North" was launched. One in three yearly sessions is now held at a university in a northern location, with plans to introduce an annual Midlands session from 2014. The seminar series is currently co-organised by Lisa Downing (University of Birmingham), Meg Barker (Open University), and Robert Gillett (Queen Mary, University of London).

2-6pm, 7th December 2012
"Queer and/ in Translation"
 Venue: Arts Two, Room 316, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS 

Organised by Dr BJ Epstein (University of East Anglia) and Dr Robert Gillett (QMUL).

Speakers:

Dr BJ Epstein (Lecturer in Literature and Translation, University of East Anglia) "Neither Here Nor Queer: Translating Queer Literature for Children from English to Swedish"

Dr Heike Bauer (Senior Lecturer in English and Director of Birkbeck Interdiscplinary Gender and Sexuality Studies, Birkbeck, University of London) "Dead Wilde: Translation and the Emotional Undercurrents of Modern Queer Culture"

Clara Bradbury-Rance (PhD Candidate in Film, English and American Studies, University of Manchester) " 'This is So, So Real': Realising Lesbian Sex, Compromising Queer Space in Nathalie... and Chloe"

Respondent:

Dr. Emily Jeremiah (Director of German, Royal Holloway, University of London) *** (Abstracts and more detail can be found in the attached Word document.) (The seminar is open to all and entry is free. There is no need to register your intention to attend with the organisers.) 

http://www.criticalsexology.org.uk

Special Thematic issue of the Journal of Lesbian Studies on WHITE PRIVILEGE

Some readers may be interested in this call for papers:

The Journal of Lesbian Studies will be devoting a thematic journal issue to the topic of WHITE PRIVILEGE.

There is little scholarship that focuses specifically on whiteness and white privilege in lesbian studies. Possible topics to be considered include an examination of white privilege in:

• lesbian relationships
• lesbian communities
• intersections of white racial identities and lesbian identities
• representations of lesbians
• lesbian health
• feminist theory
• fiction
• poetry

Please send a one-page abstract of your proposed contribution to: adottolo@brandeis.edu by November 30, 2012. Proposals will be evaluated for originality and writing style, as well as how all the contributions fit together. Potential authors will be invited to write full articles in the range of 10-15 double-spaced pages.

Being Inappropriate: Teasing Out Some Issues

My post last week regarding online identities, specifically in relation to social media and Twitter seemed to resonate far more than I was expecting.  I thought aloud last week via Twitter that a conference of some sort might be an idea, but that was about it.  I tweeted earlier this evening - in response to a point by my excellent colleague, Chris Newman - that a 'conference' was a way of taking this forward but I had already planned on setting out some thoughts as a starting point for discussion.  So...here goes...

I've decided to knock together a small research bid to get some funding for some refreshments/pay for key speakers to travel etc.  Here's as far as my thoughts have taken me thus far with regard to the actual event:

• It should be a one day event, and should allow people sufficient time to travel the venue - and we can use my own Uni (make a change to have an event 'up North').
• The emphasis should be on discussion/exploring ideas rather than 'sit and listen'
• Nonetheless, there needs to be some sort of primer to discussion - how best is this achieved?  Some key speakers - HE leaders, academics, students?  Starting points for discussion?
• We should try and include students and those outside 'the Academy'
• Follow up discussion slot - possible at ALT and/or SLSA Annual Conferences in April next year?
• Tweeting would be encouraged?

What do you think?

Would you like to be involved in some way?

When's the best time to hold this?

Please add comments/tweet/email your thoughts!  

Journal Alert: feminists@law

A new issue of feminists@law has been published.  You can view the articles here, and a table of contents is below:

Editorial

Editorial: Why We Oppose Gold Open Access Rosemary Hunter, Donatella Alessandrini, Toni Williams

Articles

Persons, Property, and Community Margaret Davies

 Feminist Engagements with the Return to the Commons
Are Research Data a 'Common' Resource? Natasha Mauthner

ESRC Funded Seminar Series: Understanding the young sexual body

Readers may be interested in the following seminar series...

This ESRC seminar series will foreground the body whilst drawing up-on cutting edge research on: young people's sexual health, sexual relations and relationships, sexual subjectivities, and sexuality education. It will discuss the role of media, popular culture, commerce and technologies in the construction of different understandings of the young sexual body.

The seminars will draw together two distinct groups: firstly: leading academics, early career researchers and PhD students working in the fields including child-hood and youth studies, health and social policy, critical social psychology, psychoanalysis, medicine, education and media and communication studies; and secondly: practitioners and agencies dealing with young people's sexual health and education in the UK. A key aim is to foster partnerships, and creative dialogue, between leading academics and practitioners broadly concerned with young people's sexualities and sexual health and well-being. Further, it aims to include front-line practitioners' experiences and perspectives within this dialogue so it is a dynamic inter-active two way process. The overall aim is to facilitate the impact of applied social research in both policy and practice.

The series is a collaborative venture organised by the University of Greenwich, Anglia Ruskin University, Cardiff University, the Institute of Education (University of London) and Kings College London.

http://www.gre.ac.uk/esrcseminars

SOLIDARITY BUT NOT SIMILARITY?

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event...

SOLIDARITY BUT NOT SIMILARITY?
LGBT COMMUNITIES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Free one day conference, 9th November 2012, Sheffield

This conference will disseminate findings from the recent UK Arts and Humanities Research Council project on understandings and experiences of ‘LGBT communities’, and their implications for ‘wellbeing’. It will also feature additional contributions from experts in the field (see below).

 The event is aimed at a wide variety of people, including academics, policymakers and service commissioners, practitioners and service providers, project participants, postgraduate researchers/students, and anyone else who’s interested!

Confirmed contributions so far include: Professor Catherine Donovan, University of Sunderland Eleanor Formby, Sheffield Hallam University Lee Gale, TransBareAll Steve Slack, Centre for HIV and Sexual Health Youth group drama performance, Sheena Amos Youth Trust

To register for a place please complete the booking form and return to: e.formby@shu.ac.uk. There are a very small number of travel bursaries available for those on a low income. If you would like to apply for this please provide details on the booking form. www.lgbtcommunityresearch.co.uk

Vacancy: University of Iowa

The Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) and the Division of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures (DWLLC) at the University of Iowa invite applications for a tenure-track joint position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Transnational Sexuality Studies. Desired areas of additional expertise include gender studies, literary and cultural studies, and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of topics such as diaspora, translation, migration, and global flows. Candidates must have native or near-native fluency in one of the foreign languages taught in the DWLLC (for a complete listing of these languages see http://clas.uiowa.edu/dwllc) and be willing and able to deliver instruction at all levels of the graduate and undergraduate curriculum. Candidates should apply by submitting a curriculum vitae and cover letter clearly describing their research and teaching interests in Transnational Sexuality Studies.

 The Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, The Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and the University of Iowa are strongly committed to gender and ethnic diversity; the strategic plans of the University and College reflect this commitment. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Iowa is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. For more information, see: http://jobs.uiowa.edu/faculty/view/61381

Vacancy: Research Associate in Durham Law School, Durham University

Applications are invited for the position of Research Associate to work with Professor Clare McGlynn in undertaking research, publishing and disseminating research findings and preparing grant applications in the broad field of gender, law and crime. The position is full-time, for two years (grade 7) and the successful applicant will be part of an exciting inter-disciplinary network of scholars engaged in gender-related research within Durham University. You will actively participate in the activities of relevant research groups, including Gender and Law at Durham (GLAD), the Centre for Sex, Gender and Sexualities and the Crime, Violence and Abuse group based in the School of Applied Social Sciences. For further information, please contact Clare McGlynn on Clare.McGlynn@durham.ac.uk. Closing date: mid-Sept (check jobs.ac.uk)

Law, Culture and Queer Politics in Neoliberal Times

Jindal Global Law Review has published the first of a two volume special issue addressing 'Law, Culture and Queer Politics in Neoliberal Times'.  Check it out here.

I've not yet read the full issue, but heartily recommend an excellent article by Neil Cobb (latterly of Durham Law School, and now at Manchester University).  His article can be downloaded here.

Watch out for Part II of this special double issue due to be out in December 2012! It will, among others, address concerns around homonationalism, queer imperialism and pinkwashing with reflections on queer politics in Africa, Europe and North America. It will also address the politics around the representations and constructions of queer sexualities within familial contexts of intimacy. The issue will feature articles by Jasbir K. Puar, Neville Hoad, Jin Haritaworn, Dianne Otto, Fiona Campbell, Aeyal Gross, Marc Epprecht and many others.

Event: Gender, Sex & Power: interdisciplinary dialogues

Gender, Sex & Power: interdisciplinary dialogues 
University of Hull Postgraduate Conference

Wednesday 21st November 2012 9.00am-6.30pm
Wilberforce Institution for the Study of Slavery & Emancipation (WISE)
Oriel Chambers, 27 High Street, Hull, HU1 1NE

The Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Hull hosts a biennial interdisciplinary Gender Research Conference for all taught and research postgraduate scholars with an interest in gender. We also encourage early career or postdoctoral scholars to participate. Our theme for this year is Gender, Sex & Power. This one-day interdisciplinary conference, funded through the Department of Social Sciences and Gender Studies programme at the University of Hull, draws together postgraduate scholars from across disciplines to explore the intersections of gender, sex and power through their research. The conference provides an important opportunity to discuss your research and network with researchers interested in issues of gender, sex and power from disciplinary and cross-disciplinary standpoints. University of Hull students can be awarded 10 PGTS credits for presenting a paper. We encourage papers from any relevant field, for example, anthropology, biology, cultural and media studies, criminology, drama, education, history, law, literature, philosophy, policy, politics, psychology, slavery studies and of course within gender studies and the social sciences.

Call for papers

The conference will offer a combination of thematic panels allowing participants to present formal papers of 15 minutes on a theme drawn from their research, and workshops allowing those who do not wish to present a paper to discuss and raise questions about aspects of their research in an informal discursive format.

Indicative Themes

Themes are mutable and papers will be located as deemed most appropriate. 1. Embodying Gender, Sex & Power Key words: representation; pornography; body modification; sexualised bodies; racialised bodies; abjected bodies; objectified bodies... 2. Gender, Sex & Power in Movement Key words: migration; diaspora; empire; global power structures; cosmopolitanism; postcoloniality, slavery, trafficking and sex tourism... 3. Gender, Sex & Power Through Time, Space & Relations Key words: narratives of lifecourse, families and intimate relations; emotions; memory; reproduction... 4. (De)Constructing Gender, Sex & Power through Science, Media & Technology Key words: knowledge production; technologies; science; new media; medicalised bodies... 5. Policing Sex & Gender Key words: structures of power, politics, policies, institutions, gender-based violence, conflict and crime, trafficking, prostitution... 6. Performing Gender, Sex & Power Key words: the power of performativity, narratives of representation, sex & gender as visual and representational power, performing masculinities, femininities, intersexualities...

Workshops

1. Do you work on gender outside of Gender Studies? How do we incorporate a gender analysis into our research and writing? What does gender analysis mean? 2. Crossing boundaries of gender and sexualities in research and writing: how does your personal standpoint impact on the research process? How do we research taboo?

Timetable:

Registration & Welcome: 9.00-9.30 Registration & tea/coffee 9.30-10.00 Welcome Address Morning Sessions: 10.00 - 12.00 Simultaneous Panels 10.00 - 11.00 Workshop 1 12.00 – 1.00 Lunch Afternoon Sessions: 1.00-3.00 Simultaneous Panels 1.30-2.30 Workshop 2 3.00 – 3.30 Afternoon Break (tea/coffee) 3.30-4.30 Plenary (performance event t.b.c.) Evening Session: 4.30-6.00 Key Note Speaker: Dr Meg Barker, Open University 6.00-6.30 Wine reception

Registration:

This event is heavily subsidised by the Department of Social Sciences & Gender Studies (GEMMA) programme at the University of Hull and places are limited. There is a £5 registration fee to secure attendance which is inclusive of refreshments, buffet lunch and wine reception. Send cash or cheques payable to The University of Hull with your registration form and abstract (if wishing to present) to: Dr Suzanne Clisby Director of Postgraduate Gender Studies University of Hull Hull, HU7 6RX s.m.clisby@hull.ac.uk Deadline for registration and submission of abstracts: Monday 1st October 2012

Event: KNOWING YOUNG PEOPLE: RESEARCH METHODS, YOUNG PEOPLE AND SEXUALITY

Knowing Young People 2: 19th September 2012. at Brunel University, Uxbridge.

KNOWING YOUNG PEOPLE: RESEARCH METHODS, YOUNG PEOPLE AND SEXUALITY:

The second of 2 day conferences on methods for researching youth sexualities - this time focussing on the politics of sexuality research with young people. Jointly hosted by the BERA Sexualities SIG, the Centre for Youth Work Studies and the Brunel Sexuality and Gender Research Centre.

The day features International Keynote Speaker: Dr Mary Lou Rasmussen, Monash University, Australia, whose paper will be entitled ‘Cool secularism? Reframing 'progressive' sexuality education’.

- For this second Knowing Young People event there is a chance to present your work in short papers of 15-20 minutes on themes of methodological, ethical, political or epistemological issues.

Please send an abstract of 150 words and a short bio to Pam Alldred in the first instance (Pam.Alldred@Brunel.ac.uk) for review by a small panel. Please send this by 13th August 2012.

 N.B: Successful abstracts will be notified by 31st August.