[csaa-forum] (Re)Figuring Sex: Somatechnical (Re)Visions

[Samantha Murray]

The (Re)Figuring Sex: Somatechnical (Re)Visions Conference is taking place
at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts on the 20th-21st November 2009. We'd
like to invite all interested parties to come along!

Recent theory has thoroughly critiqued traditional ways of imag(in)ing
sex/gender and sexuality, challenging its tendency to render invisible those
ways of being in the world which undermine such normative structures. Such
critiques have developed sophisticated ways of understanding embodiment and
its representation, investigating perception/s, issues of visibility and
visuality, and the effects on the lived experiences of those both within and
without the norm: the effects of sexed imaginaries shape the experiences of
the unusual and anomalous, and the everyday and conventional. This
conference, the 5th international Somatechnics conference, takes as its
central concern, then, the interplay between visuality and embodiment, and
seeks papers engaged across a variety of areas extending from critical
engagements with representations of sex and/or bodies, through to analyses
of the shaping of perception/s as one facet of bodily being-in-the-world.

We are lucky that Ulrika Dahl and Gwen Haworth have agreed to be our keynote
speakers, and we have a great lineup of papers and films. For more details,
including how to register, please see www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/conf
<http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/conf> . Please note that registration by
emailing or mailing registration forms closes on the 13th November, though
you will be able to register on the day if necessary. Please just let our
Administrator know via somatechnicsadmin at gmail.com

About our Keynotes

Ulrika Dahl
Ulrika Dahl is assistant professor in gender studies with a concentration in
anthropology. Trained in cultural anthropology and gender studies at US
institutions (BA, Lawrence University, 1994; Ph.D. University of California,
Santa Cruz 2004), Dahl has worked at Södertörn since 2005. Before that she
taught in the Swedish Program at Stockholm University (2002-2004) and in the
departments of Anthropology and American Studies at UC Santa Cruz
(2001-2002). 

Currently she is a chair of gender studies which means that she is working
primarily with departmental development and less with teaching. When she do
teach, she does so on all levels, primarily on feminist and queer theory,
postcolonial, critical race-, and women of color feminism, kinship and
family, sexuality, the body and aesthetics, feminist methods and movements
and on cultural theory.

She is an activist as much as a researcher and lectures and teaches
extensively outside of the academy and write for so called 'non-academic'
audiences. In 2009 Atlas Förlag is publishing a collection of those essays.
Since 2002 she has above all been interested in feminist sexual politics and
intersectional perspectives on queer femininities. In 2008 she got funding
from the Bank of Sweden's Tercentenary Fund for the project Femme as
Figuration: Rethinking (Queer) femininities where she studies how various
strands of feminist theory have discussed femininities. Along with
photographer Del LaGrace Volcano she recently published the book "Femmes of
Power: Exploring Queer Femininites" (Serpent's Tail Press, 2008) [link to
http://www.serpentstail.com/book?id=10909]. Based in collaboration, Femmes
of Power features more than 60 queerly feminine heroines from 12 cities in 7
countries. The book has had many very positive responses, including the
following:

'Femmes of Power weaves interviews, analysis and testimony around a
selection of stunning LaGrace portraits. This book glows, sparkles and
leaves the reader seduced, tempted and in awe' Jack Halberstam

ŒIntimate, audacious, and exploding with interpretative trajectories, these
images reach beyond their edges to re-envision projects of queer visual
testimony¹ Juana Maria Rodriguez

ŒAn innovative and much-needed literary and visual re-articulation of queer
testimonies and an exciting book to anyone thinking creatively about
femme-inist community-based activism internationally¹ Tiina Rosenberg

Gwen Haworth

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Gwen Haworth is a transgender
filmmaker, editor, and instructor. After graduating with a degree in
psychology in 1995, Gwen went on to complete undergraduate and graduate
degrees in Film Production at the University of British Columbia. She has
trained as a director's intern with the Academy of Canadian Cinema and
Television and served as a programmer and board member for Out On Screen,
which holds Vancouver's Queer Film & Video Festival.

Critical of the construct of objective filmmaking, Haworth's films embrace a
point of view approach that strive for empathy and collective storytelling.
Her first short film Not Kokura re-examines the WWII bombing of Nagasaki,
Japan, questioning the use of weapons of mass destruction on primarily
civilian targets. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film
Festival, and received recognition at a number of North American festivals.

Between 2000 and 2004, Gwen came out as transsexual to her friends and
family and transitioned genders from male to female. During this process,
she became painfully aware of the media's marginalized depictions of trans
individuals, often as victims of discrimination & violence or objects of
fetish. In She's A Boy I Knew, Haworth turns the camera on her own family,
capturing an intimate, complex, and emotionally ground-breaking account of
their journeys through this experience.

When not making films, Gwen divides her time teaching film production at
post-secondary institutions, working at an emergency homeless shelter, and
DJing for fundraisers and non-profit events in Vancouver's Eastside.
> 
> 
Dr Samantha Murray
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Somatechnics Research Centre
Department of Media, Music & Cultural Studies
Faculty of Arts
Macquarie University
Email:  smurray78 at gmail.com
        samantha.murray at mq.edu.au



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