UWE Bristol and Arnolfini are pleased to present visiting scholar Jack Halberstam, Professor of English & Gender Studies at Columbia University, New York.
Halberstam is best known for their classic contributions to gender studies, including Female Masculinity (1998), The Queer Art of Failure (2011) and Gaga Feminism (2012).
They are currently working on several new projects including a book titled Wild Thing: Queer Theory After Nature, on queer anarchy, performance and protest culture, the intersections between animality, the human and the environment.
Dr Finn Mackay, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at UWE Bristol will introduce and Chair the Lecture.
The evening will also include a new performance work, Deuce, devised by Rachael Miles and Tom Marshman. The explores the 30th anniversary of the introduction of Section 28, the infamous legislation that banned local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality and had a profoundly damaging effect on the ability to be visible as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) person without fear of, or actual, reprisal. Growing up in the grip of clause 28 Tom and Rachael took their role models where they could find them, from Martina Navratilova, The Fall Guy, Princess Leigh to Cindy and KD Lang. Deuce will explore female masculinities and male femininities using pop cultural references to unpick historical representations of gender non-conformity and reinsert/instate them (and their relevance) into contemporary ‘queer’ discourse.
The evening will conclude with Don’t Tell Your Mother DJing in the Cafe Bar. Expect pop bangers, sequins and all-around glamour.
Event running order
– 6.30-7.30 – Performance
– 7.30-9 – Talk
– 9-11 – Don’t Tell Your Mother DJ Afterparty
Biographies
Jack Halberstam is Professor of Gender Studies and English at Columbia University. Halberstam is the author of six books including: Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (Duke UP, 1995), Female Masculinity (Duke UP, 1998), In A Queer Time and Place (NYU Press, 2005), The Queer Art of Failure (Duke UP, 2011) and Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Beacon Press, 2012) and, most recently, a short book titled Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variance (University of California Press).
Rachael Miles is a Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at UWE Bristol. She has worked on a number of projects that address queer class issues, including ‘The Deprivation Indices – FTSE’.
Tom Marshman has a highly regarded professional performance practice with extensive experience of working with Queer Histories. Recent work includes Arts Council England and Lottery funded ‘Beacons, Icons and Dykons’.
If you cannot afford a ticket but would like to attend, please contact kieran.swann@arnolfini.org.uk
