[Air-L] Fwd: ICA GLBT Seattle Preconference/Unconference CFP

Adrienne Shaw adrienneshaw13 at gmail.com
Thu Nov 7 14:08:37 PST 2013


Please feel free to distribute widely.

*Call for Proposals*

*ICA Preconference/Unconference on*

*Technologies of Sex and Gender: Queer Theories and Subjects*



Sponsored by the Gay Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Studies Interest Group

9 am- 4 pm, May 22, 2014

University of Washington, Department of Communication

Cost: Free



This ICA preconference brings together scholars, activists, and artists
working on gender, sexuality, communication, media, and technology to
examine, debate, and plan new projects, including:

·      Investigating how the strategies activists and artists have
developed in this field can transform academic research practice, as well
as how academics can contribute to activist and artistic technology projects

·      Providing an interdisciplinary environment in which LGBT, queer, and
gender-nonconforming technology scholars, activists, and artists can
network with each other, learn about current work in these fields, forge
partnerships, and develop new collaborative projects

·      Creating applications, games, and art that explore, celebrate, or
undermine sexualized and gendered subjectivities.

·      Researching how LGBT, queer, and gender nonconforming populations
employ technologies in specific historical and cultural contexts
(particularly by looking at the intersections of gender, race, nationality,
class, and sexuality in these contexts)

·      Discussing how queer, transgender, and feminist theories can be
brought to bear on technology research, and how these fields can and must
transform each other in the process

·      Exploring how queer, transgender, and feminist theories can be
integrated into technology design practice

·      Ascertaining how scholars have used and can use technologies to
study sexual- and gender-nonconforming communities, including their own



The preconference’s goal is to provoke encounters that would set in motion
future collaborations and networks among artists, activists, and scholars.
It utilizes the “unconference”
format<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference>,
in which participants, rather than organizers, decide on the agenda from
among their own submitted proposals. This allows for more intensive
interaction, higher-level conversations, and a more engaged, productive
experience than traditional academic conferences.



*SCHEDULE AND FORMAT:*

·      *Today*: You read this CFP.

·      *By January 20*: You submit a Session Leader or Participation
proposal to ica.glbt at gmail.com. See below for a description of the proposal
format.

·      *February 1*: The organizers will send an acceptance letter to
everyone who has submitted a proposal.  All proposals will be posted on the
Technologies of Sex and Gender website.

·      *February 1 – April 30*: All applicants comment online on the
proposals, voting for the sessions they are likely to attend and offering
suggestions for changes and additions.

·      *May 10*: The organizers create and post a working schedule for the
preconference and notify session applicants of the likelihood of their
session being included.



*May 22: The unconference*

·      The first morning session will introduce the unconference format.
Attendees will take part in an open vote on the schedule, making
suggestions, changes, or additions. The schedule will be finalized in this
first session, after which the other sessions will begin. Depending on
level of interest and number of attendees, there may be simultaneous
sessions.

·      Sessions will proceed throughout the morning following the
proposals, but with an openness to exploring new directions that may
organically arise (often new sessions are added throughout the day,
sessions are combined, or break-out groups are formed over the course of
unconferences).

·      During the lunch break, attendees will give a series of “Speed
Presentations”: 1- to 2-minute, rapid-fire presentations about one of their
current projects. These are intended as very brief introductions, not
extended discussions. Attendees will have an opportunity to contact each
other later should they want to learn more about or join a specific project.

·      Afternoon sessions will proceed, following the same structure as the
morning sessions.

·      At the end of the day, we will lead a concluding session in which
attendees can share and integrate the day’s explorations



*SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL*

If you wish to participate in the unconference, please submit either a
Session Proposal or a Participation Proposal.

* *Session Leaders* will submit a 300 word proposal of a conversation topic
to explore, a research question to develop, a problem to grapple with, a
skill to teach, a technology application to demonstrate, or an artwork to
present. Each proposal should give enough information to help attendees
decide which sessions to vote for and participate in. In particular,
Session Leaders are encouraged to suggest how their proposal fits with the
unconference theme and to explain their expertise and experience.  Those
who propose a session will be expected to arrive prepared to facilitate
that session.

* *Participants* will also submit 300 word proposal, including a
biographical statement describing their interests in the preconference and
an idea for a 2-minute rapid-fire research presentation.



All proposals should address the conference themes described above.
Sessions should be of interest to communication scholars, but we warmly
encourage interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, multimodal, or media-based
endeavors.



Session Leader and Participation proposals should be submitted by *January
20, 2014* to: ica.glbt at gmail.com



The unconference is co-sponsored by the Popular Communication, Feminist
Scholarship, Ethnicity and Race in Communication, Global Communication and
Social Change, Communication History, and Game Studies Divisions/Interest
Groups. It is also supported by the Department of Communication at the
University of Washington, the School of Media and Communication at Temple
University, *The Stranger*, the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
at UW Bothell, and the Greater Seattle Business Association.



The organizers are Adrienne Shaw (Temple University), D. Travers Scott
(Clemson University), and David Phillips (University of Toronto).


-- 
Adrienne Shaw
Assistant Professor
Temple University
Department of Media Studies and Production
2020 N. 13th St.
Annenberg Hall, room 203A
Philadelphia, PA 19122
telephone: 215-204-6201
fax: 215-214-5402
email: adrienne.shaw at temple.edu
smc.temple.edu/msp
www.adrienneshaw.com



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