Last week, Tagg Magazine got a chance to attend Queer Speculations: DC Queer Studies Symposium at the University of Maryland College Park. Though I will admit, it took a moment to shift my ears to academic papers from the normal LGBTQ news and studies I read on the day to day, it was a refreshing look at the new ventures our community is taking.
Papers included everything from “Is it a boy or a girl?” to “Maybe.” The Commercial Logic of Non-profit Organizations in a Digital Era to was one of my personal favorites. They Don’t Know About Us: The Queer Epistemology of One Direction or Let’s Talk About How Harry and Louis Cruise Each Other was also discussed during the symposium.
Whether it was examining videos and gifs for the subtle touches between One Direction members, or starting my day off by seeing Kamasutra-esque paintings of disrobed Bourbons, there were sessions for nearly every hungry and curious mind.
The symposium had speakers and presenters from universities all across the nation including a plenary session featuring University of Wisconsin’s Ramzi Fawaz discussing Stepford Wives and Female Men and St. John’s University’s Shante Paradigm Smalls discussing Superheroes, Queerness and Anti-Blackness. The day ended with a keynote address by U.C. Berkeley professor and author Juana Maria Rodriguez.
To get a better feel for the event, I would suggest checking out the Twitter hashtags #DCQS15 and #QueerSpec for live-tweeting from myself, event organizers and multiple attendees, including one person who liked to include pictures of his cats with each tweet.
Check out the website below for a list of this year’s list of presenters and topics. This is an annual event and is also free and open to the public, so make sure to bookmark the website so you can join in next year’s conversation.
Visit the DC Queer Studies Symposium page for more information.
