[csaa-forum] After 'Homosexual' Second Keynote and Deadline reminder

[Mark Pendleton]

The After Homosexual organising committee are delighted to announce our second international keynote speaker - Alice Echols, Barbra Streisand Chair of Contemporary Gender Studies and Professor of English, Gender Studies and History at the University of Southern California. A prominent cultural critic and historian, Professor Echols wrote a major social and intellectual history of radical feminism in the United States and its intersections with other social movements, including Black Power and the New Left - 1989's 'Daring to be bad: Radical Feminism in America'. She has also published in cultural history, authoring major works on Janis Joplin and, most recently, 'Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture' (2010).

Professor Echols will join our other keynote speaker, Professor Jeffrey Weeks, and a growing number of scholars and activists from several continents in exploring the impact of Dennis Altman’s Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation and the legacies of gay liberation.

Further details on the conference are below. Paper and panel proposals will be accepted until August 5.

Mark Pendleton
Secretary, Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives
For the After Homosexual organising committee
(Dr Carolyn D’Cruz, Dr Graham Willett, Dr Michael Connors, Mark Pendleton)


After Homosexual: The Legacy of Gay Liberation
An International Conference
2-4 February 2012
Melbourne, Australia

Hosted by the Gender, Sexuality and Diversity Program at La Trobe University
In conjunction with the Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, Victoria University and Midsumma

Keynote Speakers:
Professor Jeffrey Weeks, London Southbank University
Professor Alice Echols, University of Southern California

Forty years ago, a young Australian expat living in the USA synthesised the politics of the emerging gay liberation movement in a provocative book called Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. Described by the New York Times then as ‘the one to read’ and consistently ranked as one of the most influential books about homosexuality in the English language, Homosexual marked a significant milestone in the development of gay and lesbian politics and served a key role in the personal development of many people. It has been reprinted multiple times and translated into several languages. The book’s author, Dennis Altman, went on to have a career as one of Australia’s leading public intellectuals, an important writer on US politics, Australia/US relations, the politics of HIV/AIDS, and studies of sexuality, particularly in Asia and the Pacific.

In recognition of the fortieth anniversary of the publication of Homosexual and to mark Professor Altman's retirement, this international conference will bring together leading and emerging scholars to reflect on the impact of Homosexual and the legacy of gay liberation. The conference organising committee is calling for paper and panel proposals on questions relating to:

- Homosexual's publication and reception
- the political philosophy of gay liberation
- the relationship between queer theory and gay and lesbian studies
- literature of oppression and liberation
- gender and sexual politics
- gay liberation's connections to other social movements (such as feminism, socialism, anti-racism and the counterculture)
- transgender movements and gay liberation
- the relationship between academia and activism
- the politics of identity, then and now
- contemporary gender and sexuality movements
- other topics related to Homosexual or the legacy of gay liberation

The conference organisers plan to publish selected conference papers in a special issue of a leading academic journal.

Abstracts of 200 words are due by 5 August 2011. All abstracts will be reviewed by the conference committee. Unfortunately at this time there are no funds to assist conference attendees with their expenses.

For further details or to submit abstracts, please contact Mark Pendleton at m.pendleton at latrobe.edu.au

After Homosexual Conference Committee
(Dr Carolyn D'Cruz, Dr Graham Willett, Mark Pendleton, Dr Michael Connors)