The image of the monster has been historically used to epitomise danger, abnormality, sin. Even before angels, monsters were portrayed as messengers who anticipated catastrophes, such as storms and other dramatic events which would be too strong to be explained. Only good behaviour, submission to rules or faith into another inexplicable bigger entity, such as magic, witchcraft or religion, could prevent societies to be touched by monsters.

The othering of monsters – or monsters as estranged from an imagined “us” – is part of the cultural narrative that dismisses the complexity of what we call humans, contributing to the binary division between good and bad, silencing all of which exists in-between. Indeed, monsters inhabit the spaces in-between narrow definitions and expose the failure of rigid divisions between “normal” and “abnormal”. Ultimately, the figure of monsters confronts us with the precariousness of by-default normativities, triggering the need to rethink what humanity is, and, ultimately, who counts as a human being.

The Monsters Summer School II embraces monstrosity in what it offers regarding the undoing of binaries and the celebration of embodied differences in times when the advancement of extreme-right and populism threatens our existence. We aim to explore who are the contemporary monsters, what are the dichotomies they challenge and how narratives on monsters contribute to definitions of human. We want to explore monsters as a possible theoretical figuration to escape mainstream celebrations of humanity and to embrace the vivid possibilities offered by interdisciplinary, boundary-crossing contributions from different fields of knowledge. We aim at creating spaces to discuss contributions and experiences that often fall out of the map even within critical studies. Also, we interrogate the possibilities of creating knowledge from places of estrangement regarding mainstream sources of knowledge production in the academic fields of LGBTQI+ and critical studies.

Drawing on timely, interdisciplinary theoretical contributions and intersectional empirical work on queers, crips and other misfits, the Monsters’ Summer School will consolidate academic knowledge in the fields of sexual and gender dissidence, disability and other forms of embodied misfit.

Meer informatie: https://www.ces.uc.pt/ces/cessummerschool/index.php?id=26890&id_lingua=2

Feminist scholarships have developed on the premise that producing knowledge on/by women is a necessary first step towards feminist emancipation. Even though Gender Studies have now spread within academia, there is still little to no translation of these scholarships to primary and secondary education. Based on this observation, a group of French historians produced a textbook whose purpose is to broadcast Women/Gender History as what they consider an act of academic activism.

The talk presents a study which traces the “social life” of this textbook. Through this ethnographic case study, the research explores the practice of academic activism, notably with regards to institutional contexts and material concerns.

Massilia Ourabah is a Doctoral Researcher and Teaching Assistant at Université Libre de Bruxelles. Her research focuses mainly on gender and mundane forms of activism, as well as social theory. She has written on gender and family norms in family migration policies in an upcoming edited book (Rutgers University Press) and will publish a book on academic activism in education, institutionalism and actor-network theory (Palgrave Macmillan).

Friday 6 December 2019, 14:00 – 15:30; Paddenhoek 1, 9000 Ghent

The Middle East and North Africa Research Group (MENARG) from the department of Conflict and Development Studies is hosting an event with Houria Bouteldja on the ‘struggle of decolonization in France’ in collaboration with TAPAS, the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, the Governance in Conflict network (GICn) and the Ghent Centre for Global Studies.

Houria Bouteldja is a French-Algerian political activist and writer. She will speak on anti-racism, anti-imperialism, islamophobia and decolonisation.

Friday 13 december 2019, 18:00 – 20:00 | Aula UGent, Volderstraat 9, 9000 Gent

On March 18th-20th 2020, UCSIA organizes an academic workshop on gender, conflict, citizenship and belonging at the University of Antwerp.

Gender and gender(ed) relations have long been the subject of political imagination and interpretation. This is particularly the case in times of crisis and perceived threats to the nation, when political actors seek to mobilise through a (renewed) emphasis on the importance of the nuclear family and traditional roles for both women and men.

This workshop seeks to better understand the current political climate in Europe, which includes the resurfacing debates on abortion, the spread of referenda on the family across Europe, the various discussions in European countries on the re-introduction of military service, as well as the activities of anti-gender movements that have attempted to curtail academic freedom in researching gender and sexuality. To do so, it examines the role of (ideological) constructions of ideal and normative masculinities/femininities and alternatives to them in times of crisis, which remain too often overlooked by researchers.

deadline for submission: 25 November 2019

More information: https://ucsia.org/home-en/themes/europe-solidarity/events/gender-conflict-citizenship-and-belonging/

In “Dames voor Darwin” maakt filosofe Griet Vandermassen brandhout van het klassiek feminisme. Sekseverschillen zijn vanuit de evolutiepsychologie te verklaren, vindt ze, daar is afdoend wetenschappelijk bewijs voor. Directeur Gily Coene van het VUB-expertisecentrum Rhea is het hoegenaamd niet eens met die kijk op genderverschillen en heeft daar ook argumenten voor.

Naar goede UPV-traditie mag het publiek vragen stellen en zo actief deelnemen. Een pracht van een opener voor onze filosofiereeks, zorg dat je dit boeiende debat niet mist!

Inkomprijs: € 5 (€ 2 voor UPV- en VPK-leden, studenten)
Inschrijven op: http://upv.vub.ac.be/aanbod/debat-dames-voor-darwin-voor-zichzelf

Despite oft-expressed commitments to diversity, American institutions of higher learning remain centered on white men. If we agree that the academy would better serve its purpose with a more diverse faculty, how is such an aim achieved? In this talk I will consider how we talk about gender, diversity, and inclusion, and what these terms mean for different stages and dimensions of academic life. Through case studies of the disciplines of Religious Studies and Asian Studies, I will consider how the issues of gender and diversity vary in different fields of study—and what this might teach us about the challenges of transforming the academy into a more inclusive space.

Natasha Heller is a scholar of Chinese Religions, currently working on contemporary Buddhist children’s literature. At the University of Virginia, she chaired the Faculty Senate committee on Diversity and Inclusion this year. She is also a founder of the website Women in the Study of Asian Religions (wisar.info)

June 6, 2019; 19:00-21:00
Ghent University, Auditorium P (Zaal Jozef Plateau), Campus Boekentoren Map

Meer informatie: https://www.ugent.be/nl/agenda/1557907383837

Het Symposium ‘Race, Power and Culture’ maakt deel uit van het Creative Europe project Dis-Othering – beyond Afropolitan & Other labels, een gezamenlijk project dat de uitdaging aangaat praktijken van othering  te deconstrueren in culturele instellingen in Oostenrijk, België en Duitsland. Als één van de grootste culturele instellingen in België, streeft BOZAR ernaar via dit Symposium te leren van de ervaring en perspectieven van Belgische activisten, academici, kunstenaars en andere culturele instellingen van het land. Tegelijkertijd erkent het de complexiteiten en valkuilen van de raciale machtsdynamieken en diversiteitsinitiatieven. ‘Race, Power and Culture’ tracht daarom een evenement te worden waar dialogen tussen deze belanghebbenden nieuwe strategieën zouden moeten voortbrengen voor de noodzakelijke deconstructie van deze dynamieken in Europese culturele instellingen.​​​​​​​ Het Symposium bestaat uit 3 avonden van keynotes, panels, gesprekken en artistieke performances.

Meer infirmatie: https://www.bozar.be/nl/activities/149228-symposium-race-power-culture

Wat betekent seksuele bevrijding vandaag? vormt de rode draad doorheen deze studiedag. Seks komen we overal tegen: pornografische beelden verleiden ons tot consumeren, we gaan naarstig opzoek naar nieuwe bedpartners via sociale media, we vechten voor gelijke rechten aangaande seksualiteits- en intimiteitsbeleving enzoverder. De grote vraag is: Heet dat dan seksueel bevrijd zijn? In onze westerse samenleving claimen we graag van wel, maar de bittere nasmaak van heel het #metoo-gebeuren speelt nog heel wat mensen parten. We moeten samen op zoek gaan hoe we liefdevol en met respect met elkaar kunnen omgaan. En geen betere mogelijkheid bezitten we als mens dan dat te leren in ons meest intieme samenzijn met een ander. Deze studiedag schept de kans om samen na te denken over hoe we seksuele bevrijding vandaag kunnen begrijpen.

Meer informatie: https://demens.nu/event/van-consumeren-tot-beleven-over-seksuele-bevrijding-vandaag/ 

This summer, !DROPS collaborates with the University of Antwerp and Service Design Network Belgium to organise the Antwerp Summer University, a five-day practical, inspiring and engaging summer school about innovation in social design. Join us from July 1 until July 5, submerge yourself in the world of social design and create solutions to societal challenges.

Interested? All information can be found on http://idrops.org/project/summer-school-2019-innovation-in-social-design/

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/y6onj9hf

Op 20, 21 en 22 september organisereert de Vrouwenraad voor de tweede keer een Feminist Lab in Brussel. Thema is dit keer “jonge vrouwen en publieke ruimte”. Gedurende drie dagen nodigen ze jonge vrouwen* uit om te achterhalen WAT de obstakels zijn die zij tegenkomen in de publieke ruimte en HOE we er iets aan kunnen DOEN. Net zoals in een écht laboratorium, is er volop ruimte om te experimenteren met verschillende aanpakken. De Feminist Lab is een safe(r) space waar alle stemmen even belangrijk zijn. We tolereren er geen racisme, homofobie, transfobie of enige andere vorm van discriminatie.

*iedereen die zich als vrouw identificeert/geïdentificeerd wordt.

Deelname is gratis, maar er wordt wel verwacht wel dat je de drie dagen komt. Wellicht gaat het door in het Engels.

Om je kandidaat te stellen dien je dit formulier (https://forms.gle/VpFnVgzWTasupmHKA) in te vullen. Er is plaats voor 25 deelnemers, en eind mei wordt een selectie gemaakt op basis van de motivatie.

Meer informatie: https://www.facebook.com/events/2255917957762159/