Outlandish: Life, Love, and Sex in the U. S., from the Viewpoint of Queer Regionalism

Dear Queer Diaspora Followers! The Program in Sexuality and Gender Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus, announces a conference "Outlandish:  Life, Love, and Sex in the U. S., from the Viewpoint of Queer Regionalism," to take place on March 18 & 19, 2011. This sounds like a wonderfully related conference. Hope to see you there!

SCHEDULE

Eisenhower Chapel, 118 Pasquerilla Center; Palmer Museum of Art; 121 Sparks Building

Scholars studying sexuality have broadened the sexual horizon, geographically and methodologically. Queer regionalism has been a notable result. It opens scholarship about sexuality and gender to new paradigms and new cultural forms. Queer regionalism initiates discussions about how distance from urban life, especially from bi-coastal metropolitan centers, influences intergenerational, inter-class, and inter-racial eroticism; formation and transmission of sexual customs; intersections of commodified queer culture with regional practices; and sexual life in regard to identity and class categories.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, celebrates the initiation of the Sexuality and Gender Studies Minor at Penn State, University Park.

Friday, March 18

Session One. Queer Utah:  a Test Case for Queer Regionalist Studies. 10.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. Eisenhower Chapel, 118 Pasquerilla Center

 “Hot Times in Q-tah: Puritans, Caviar, and Self-Penetration,” Kathryn Bond Stockton, University of Utah

“Queer Pioneers: Beyond the Mormonormative in Salt Lake City,” Lisa Duggan, New York University

Respondent: Melissa Wright, Penn State, University Park

Session Two. Queer Country. 1.30-3.30 p.m. Eisenhower Chapel, 118 Pasquerilla Center

“Hixploitation; or the Cultural Emergence of Sarah Palin,” T. Scott Herring, University of Indiana-Bloomington.

“Sex and the Country,” Nadine Hubbs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Respondent: Nathaniel Belcher, Penn State, University Park

Session Three. Visualizing Queer Regionalism 4-5:30 p.m. Palmer Lipcon Auditorium, Palmer Museum of Art.

“Inroads and Outposts: Curating Queer Exhibitions in the Southwest,” Harmony Hammond, University of Tucson

Respondent: Christopher Reed, Penn State, University Park

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Session Four. Fun Home:  The Queer Alleghenies. 10.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. 121 Sparks Building

Panel discussion: Anthony D’Augelli, Deb Preston, Julia Kasdorf; Penn State, University Park

Respondent: Carolyn Sachs, Penn State, University Park

Session Five. Queer South, Queer West. 2-4 p.m. 121 Sparks Building

“The Erogenous Asylum,” Mab Segrest, Connecticut College.

“The Middle of Somewhere: Queer Traffic on Highway 99,” Richard T. Rodriguez, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Respondent:  Christopher Castiglia, Penn State, University Park

For additional information, please contact the Person in Charge of the Sexuality and Gender Studies Minor, Penn State, University Park, Robert L. Caserio, Professor of English (rlc25@psu.edu)