Image: Documentation from The Five Ages, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.
Imagine Queer:
Exploring the Radical Potential of Queerness Now
CONFERENCE
Newcastle University, UK
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OCTOBER 12-13, 2018
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Organiser: Aleksandra Gajowy, Newcastle University
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Keynote Speakers:
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Professor Ken Plummer is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex. Prof Plummer has written extensively in Sociology and LGBTQ Studies during his formal working years. He is the founder editor of the journal Sexualities (edited it from 1996 to 2012), and the author of several textbooks: “Sociology: The Basics and Sociology: A Global Introduction.” His notable works include “Sexual Stigma” (1975), “The Making of the Modern Homosexual” (1981), “Telling Sexual Stories” (1995), “Documents of Life” (2001), “Intimate Citizenship” (2003) and “Sociology: The Basics” (2010). In “Intimate Citizenships,” Prof Plummer explores some ongoing public debates around the personal life – from ‘test tube babies’ to ‘lesbian and gay families’ – whose essence may be captured by Plummer’s prominent concept of “Intimate Citizenship,” and which he will revisit in his keynote address. https://kenplummer.com/
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Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay is a Montreal-born artist and diarist based in Edinburgh. His artistic work mediates emotional encounters with musical, art historical and Queer cultural material, encouraging deep listening and empathic viewing. In his work you will find bells, bouquets, ceramic vases, enchanted forests, folding screens, gay elders, glitter, gold leaf, love letters, imaginary paintings, madrigals, megaphones, mirrors, naked men, sex-changing flowers, sign language, subtitles, and the voices of birds, boy sopranos, contraltos, countertenors, and sirens. Nemerofsky’s work has been exhibited internationally, and is part of the permanent collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the Polin Museum for the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Thielska Galleriet Stockholm and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. His current artistic research involves audio portraits of the private libraries and gardens of Queer scholars and community elders. www.nemerofsky.ca
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The organiser would like to thank The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Student Innovation Fund, Newcastle University, and Gender Research Group, for their generous support of this event.
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