Saturday, April 10, 2010

QueerFest Workshops

All Workshops will be held at the Women's and Gender Studies Office, 7 College Way on the College of Charleston Campus (right next to Physician's Auditorium)


Wednesday
6 pm Art as Activism
7 pm Why Queer
8 pm Gender Theory

Thursday
7 pm LGBTQ Health Issues
8 pm The Tree of Inequality: Intersectionality and GLBTQQI Youth Organizing

Saturday
1 pm Queer Consent
2 pm Feminism, Creativity, and Queerness
3 pm Queering Society Through Language



Liz Vaughan

Title: Art as Activism. Time: Wednesday 6 pm
Summary: An informational workshop about how art can act as a tool of activism. The workshop leader hopes to inspire some dialogue about how art and activism intersect. She will also highlight what is happening in Charleston and in the outside world.


Caitlin

Title: Why Queer? Time: Wednesday 7 pm.
Summary: This workshop will delve into an analysis of both sexuality and gender, discussing the ways in which they are inextricably conjoined and how these aspects of the human experience are shaped by cultural attitudes. The workshop leader will discuss the construction of sexuality and gender, and methods of deconstruction from individual experiences. In a discussion format, the group will analyze the false limitations placed on gender and sexuality.


Carter Girlardo and Tara Dunn

Title: Gender Theory Time: Wednesday. 8 pm
Summary: The motivation of this workshop is to tackle the concept of gendered roles in society, specifically within relationships. The discussion material will include the concept of gender identity (especially when contrasted with another person), gender identifications from the outside in (how the view of others affects one's own identity) and sexual roles in and out of relationships. The goal is to move from a subjective and introspective understanding of gender (how one views oneself), to an objective and extrospective view (the gaze of others) and finally to a reflective and more comparative conception of gender as a role-playing, relating and co-operating being. In other words, I'm queer, what queer means, and queer sex/relationships.


This workshop will be lead by a group of MUSC students, facilitated by Courtney Abrams.

Time: Thursday 8 pm.
Title: LGBTQ Health Issues Time: Thursday 7 pm
Summary: All too often, GLBTQ consumers fall through the cracks of the health care system, in large part due to a lack of understanding by both doctor and patient. In this workshop, medical students from the MUSC Gay-Straight Alliance discuss key health issues specific to the GLBTQ population, and how to address potential misunderstandings in the doctor-patient relationship.


Mellissa Moore

Title: The Tree of Inequality: Intersectionality and GLBTQQI Youth Organizing
Time: Thursday 8 pm.
Summary: This is an interactive workshop, which teaches intersectionality as a best tool for organizing. Queer organizing provides unique opportunities to span the lines of race, class, gender, and all other categories that tend to divide communities, as queer people come in all shapes, sizes, and variations. The first half of the training will incorporate music and diagrams together to form an audio-visual representation of intersectionality. The second half will include an interactive strategic planning session.


Micah Blaise

Title: Queer Consent Time: Saturday 1 pm
Summary: In this discussion-based workshop, participants will explore the nature of consent in all relationships, both sexual and non-sexual, and how the issue of consent relates to queer identity. Participants are encouraged to bring their experiences, ideas, and questions.


Caroline Marcantoni

Title: Feminism, Creativity, and Queerness Time: Saturday 2pm
Summary: This workshop will be focused on using feminist theory to explore the value of creativity and the extent to which creativity can be implicated into our lives (queerness). It will explore the ability of feminism to open avenues for creativity in topics such as gender roles, sexuality, and relationships. In essence; explicating how creativity and queerness are synonymous in that they both imply breaking boundaries constructed by a patriarchal society. Being queer is living creatively is being a feminist.


Melanie Keller

Title: Queering Society Through Language Time: Saturday 3 pm
Summary: Spanish is a highly gendered language with two options: masculine or feminine. But the LGBTQQ Community in Latin America, particularly Chile, is breaking these gender binaries via language usage and purposely not distinguishing between masculine and feminine subjects, adjectives, etc. What does this mean for Chilean society? Could the social effects of this queer linguistic activism end sexism, conservatism and sexual discrimination? With regards to the transsexual/transgender community who identify themselves as men trapped inside womens bodies and vice versa, will this gender neutral usage help or hinder their cause? We will discuss the possibilities of this language change and queer activism in general in an international setting.

No comments: