Queer /kweer/v., n., & adj.
v. 1. to transgress boundaries. 2. to change lives. 3. to...
The UNC Asheville Queer Studies conference is dedicated to the investigation of genders and sexualities. All GLBTQ-related proposals will be considered. We welcome a range of approaches and participants, including faculty, graduate, community members and undergraduate students. All formats will be considered, including paper presentations (15 minutes), panels (60 to 75 minutes), workshops, exhibitions, readings, film screenings and performances. Paper presentations will be organized into groups of 3 to 4 papers.
Download Registration Form
Download Conference Schedule
Accommodations:
Participants in this year’s conference can find reduced accommodations at the FOUR POINTS SHERATON in Asheville: 22 Woodfin Street, Asheville NC 28801: 828-253-1851
Elaborations on the theme Queer as an Active Verb might include:
* queer bodies: living in, caring for marked bodies
* queer activism—means and/or outcomes
* investigations of shame, privilege, home, reclamation
* queer rights and voices in the classroom, health care and workplaces
* queer youth—lived experience and activism
* transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or intersexed action or voices
* legal, cultural, social barriers and opportunities
* queer representations, expressions and cultures in art, literature, craft, and performance
* gender roles and identity politics
* queer discussions of race, disability, and/or class
Panel proposals & paper abstracts as well as details on proposed art exhibitions, film screenings and performances due December 20, 2010.
Email individual abstracts (up to 500 words), panel proposals (up to 700 words) and other proposals (up to 1000 words when appropriate include images, samples, or clips) to:
Sophie Mills, Professor and Chair, Classics Department, UNC Asheville
smills@unca.edu
Keynote Presenters
Eli Clare
(writer, activist, teacher, poet)
Resisting Shame, Making Our Bodies Home
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Eli Clare Bio
White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare happily lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written a book of essays Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation (South End Press, 1999, 2009) and a collection of poetry The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion (Homofactus Press, 2007) and has been published in many periodicals and anthologies. Eli speaks, teaches, and facilitates all over the United States and Canada at conferences, community events, and colleges about disability, queer and trans identities, and social justice. Among other pursuits, he has walked across the United States for peace, coordinated a rape prevention program, and helped organize the first ever Queerness and Disability Conference. When he's not writing or on the road, you can find him reading, hiking, camping, riding his recumbent trike, or otherwise having fun adventures. For more info visit: www.eliclare.com
Shane Snowdon
(LGBTQ center director, editor, activist)
What's Health Got To Do With It:
The Health Inequities Faced by LGBT People—And What You Can Do About Them
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Queers face a multitude of health inequities, from unequal benefits and health disparities to institutional bias and provider discomfort. But queers can work with allies to make healthcare truly welcoming and accessible-—deepening LGBT awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity in the process.
Shane Snowdon Bio
Shane Snowdon is founding director of the LGBT Resource Center at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), the only LGBT resource in a health setting anywhere in the world. She has been a leading voice for LGBT visibility and equity in healthcare, higher education, and employment, and she has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, the UCSF Chancellor's Award for Exceptional University Service, and the Out & Equal Workplace Trailblazer Award.
Shane has successfully advocated for equal LGBT benefits at universities and corporations nationwide, and she has helped numerous health systems become more welcoming to LGBT patients and their families. She has taught and published widely on LGBT health and employment concerns, and she has convened and keynoted national and regional conferences on LGBT health and workplace equity. She has also served as a consultant and board member at diverse LGBT non-profit organizations, and her writing on LGBT topics has earned her the National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association Award for Cultural Reporting.
Prior to joining UCSF, Shane served as director of a university women's center, an urban domestic violence agency, a national women's health group, a multi-state environmental education center, and a citywide employment program for ex-inmates and youth at risk. Shane was also editor/publisher of the national feminist journal Sojourner.
Sassafras Lowrey
(activist, author/editor: Kicked Out):
Saturday, April 2 at 11:00 AM
Sassafras Lowrey Bio
Sassafras Lowrey is an internationally award-winning storyteller, author, artist, and educator. She believes that everyone has a story to tell and that the telling of stories is essential in the creation of social change. Sassafras is the editor of the Kicked Out anthology (www.KickedOutAnthology.com) which brought together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth. Her prose has been included in numerous anthologies and she is a monthly columnist for Curve magazine. Sassafras regularly teaches LGBTQ storytelling workshops at colleges and conferences across the country and lives in Brooklyn New York with her family. To learn more about Sassafras and her work, visit www.PoMoFreakshow.com
Jennie McNulty, Invited Performer
(comedienne, activist):
evening of Friday, April 1
Jennie McNulty Bio
Recently rated amongst the Top 10 Lesbian comics by Curve magazine and one of this year’s annual “100 Women We Love” in NYC’s “GO” magazine. She was touted as “One of the premiere comedians in the country” by the New England blade, and Jennie can currently be seen on MTV Network’s LOGO channel in two “One Night Stand Up” comedy specials. And, she was featured on the NBC show, “Starting Over.”
She can also be seen as the host of her bi-weekly walking talk show, "Jennie McNulty Presents: Walking Funny With…” on “AfterEllen.com” The show is the only “walking talk show” in which the interview takes place while Jennie is walking with the guest. And, the viewer is encouraged to walk along with them. (http://www.afterellen.com/taxonomy/term/3789 ).
She has traveled the world doing comedy – literally. In addition to headlining in comedy clubs all over the US and Canada, she has entertained the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bosnia, Serbia and many other bases worldwide. And, for some less dangerous excitement, she performs regularly at Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas.
Jennie spends her summer seasons performing nightly in Provincetown, MA and has performed at countless corporate events and parties; Olivia and Sweet Cruises and resorts; and Pride events coast to coast. Her comedic style, quick wit and improvisational skills make Jennie’s show a hilarious event everywhere she goes.
Jennie also produces the popular, “GOLD!” Comedy Night in West Hollywood and the “Rainbow Comedy Night” in Ventura, CA and also does comedy tours with her improv troupe.
In her spare time, Jennie plays women's tackle football for the California Quake in the Independent Women’s Football League.
>>>>
Please address questions to Amy Lanou alanou@unca.edu (828-250-2317)
or Cynn Chadwick cchadwic@unca.edu (828-251-6579)