** PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY. APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS **<br>
<br>
"Fat Studies: A Critical Dialogue" conference<br>
10 - 11 September, 2010<br>
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia<br>
<br>
REMINDER: Pre-Registration for the upcoming Fat Studies: A Critical<br>
Dialogue conference is open until Friday 3 September. The registration<br>
form can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/events" target="_blank">http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/events</a> -<br>
just scroll down to the information about the Fat Studies conference -<br>
and emailed to Vanessa Fredericks at <a href="mailto:somatechnicsadmin@gmail.com">somatechnicsadmin@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
While pre-registration is preferable, a registration table will be set<br>
up on each morning of the two day conference, and will accept cash and<br>
credit card payments. The conference registration fee includes<br>
attendance; a conference pack including abstracts, pad, pen; catered<br>
lunch, morning and afternoon tea on each day of the conference. If you<br>
would like to attend the conference, but would prefer to register on<br>
the day, we would be grateful if you could let us know via email so we<br>
ensure we have adequate catering for delegates.<br>
<br>
We have an exciting two day conference planned, with a diverse range<br>
of speakers and topics. You can also download the updated conference<br>
program from <a href="http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/" target="_blank">http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au</a>.<br>
<br>
I am also very excited to confirm the 'Bodies Abound' reading evening<br>
and art exhibition, to be held on the evening of Friday 10 September.<br>
Dr Jenny Lee, Amy McMurtrie, Scarlett Burrows and other members of the<br>
Sydney Fat Femme Front have worked hard to organise this event - final<br>
details of the event will be available shortly.<br>
<br>
The 'Bodies Abound' reading evening/art exhibition will commence at<br>
8pm, and will be held at the Aurora Gallery in Newtown (Lvl 1, 43<br>
Bedford Street Newtown, 2042), and a map of the venue can be accessed<br>
at <a href="http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/venue/gallery/aurora-gallery.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/venue/gallery/aurora-gallery.aspx</a><br>
<br>
To assist conference delegates staying close to the conference venue,<br>
I am organising a shuttle bus service (in one direction only) from the<br>
Dunmore Lang conference centre venue to the Aurora Gallery in Newtown.<br>
<br>
Conference Information:<br>
<br>
While cultural anxieties about fatness and stigmatisation of fat<br>
bodies in Western cultures have been central to dominant discourses<br>
about bodily 'propriety' since the early twentieth century, the rise<br>
of the 'disease' category of obesity and the moral panic over an<br>
alleged global 'obesity epidemic' has lent a medical authority and<br>
legitimacy to what can be described as 'fat-phobia'. Against the<br>
backdrop of the ever-growing medicalisation and pathologisation of<br>
fatness, the field of Fat Studies has emerged in recent years to offer<br>
an interdisciplinary critical interrogation of the dominant medical<br>
models of health, to give voice to the lived experience of fat bodies,<br>
and to offer critical insights into, and investigations of, the<br>
ethico-political implications of the cultural meanings that have come<br>
to be attached to fat bodies.<br>
<br>
This two-day event will put Australasian Fat Studies into conversation<br>
with critical fat scholarship from around the globe by gathering<br>
together scholars from across a spectrum of disciplinary backgrounds,<br>
as well as activists, health care professionals, performers and<br>
artists. This conference seeks to open a dialogue between scholars,<br>
health care professionals and activists about the productive and<br>
enabling critical possibilities Fat Studies offers for rethinking<br>
dominant notions about health and pathology, gender and bodily<br>
aesthetics, political interventions, and beyond.<br>
<br>
Confirmed keynote speakers:<br>
* Charlotte Cooper<br>
(Department of Sociology, University of Limerick)<br>
* Karen Throsby<br>
(Department of Sociology, University of Warwick)<br>
<br>
Venue Information<br>
<br>
The conference will be held at Dunmore Lang College Conference Centre,<br>
which is situated on the main campus of Macquarie University. More<br>
information about getting to Macquarie University and various<br>
accommodation options can be found at<br>
<a href="http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/events" target="_blank">http://www.somatechnics.mq.edu.au/events</a><br>
<br>
Please contact me if you have any queries or would like further<br>
information about the conference. I hope to see you there!<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Dr Samantha Murray<br>
<br>
Lecturer in Critical & Cultural Studies<br>
Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies<br>
Faculty of Arts<br>
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109<br>
<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:samantha.murray@mq.edu.au">samantha.murray@mq.edu.au</a><br>
Phone: +61 (0)2 9850 2149<br>
Fax: +61 (0)2 9850 2101