The four-day conference features scholarly speakers, films, comedy shows and hip-hop performances
Wyatt Smith
Features Editor
The College is currently hosting the Global Queerness Conference, a four-day event exploring sexuality from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. The conference features scholarly presentations, film, personal narratives, comedy and performance art.
The conference’s keynote address will be given by Cherríe Moraga, an accomplished writer and a pioneer in sexuality studies, on Friday at 8 p.m. in Freedlander Theatre. The event also features two keynote performances. E. Patrick Johnson’s one-man show about Southern, black, gay men on Friday at 4 p.m. in Freedlander Theatre. Stand-up comedian Marga Gomez, the self-proclaimed “best queer comic in the world” will perform Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in Lowry Center Dining Hall.
The conference began last night with student panels, a transgender issue awareness presentation and a lecture by Kristin Russo and Dannielle Owens-Reid, the writers of “Everybody Is Gay,” a humorous blog that deals with issues of sexuality.
“This conference really puts Wooster on the map … [as a] college committed to addressing diversity and inclusivity” said Christa Craven, assistant professor of anthropology and chair of the women, gender and sexuality studies program.
The conference was conceptualized and organized by three Wooster faculty members; Assistant Professor of Theatre Jimmy Noriega, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Abigail Adams and Assistant Professor of Communication Ahmet Atay.
“We’ve been meeting regularly,” said Adams, “sometimes several times a week, especially with the conference looming large. Really this is a collective effort.”
Noriega, Adams and Atay first discussed the idea last February and received a college grant in April to fund the conference. The five months since have been filled with developing panels, lining up speakers and other logistics.
The scope of the Global Queerness Conference has grown beyond any of the organizers’ expectations. More than 100 people will present in one form or another, with some coming as far as Austria.
“The response has been tremendous,” said Noriega. “It’s encouraging, it’s motivating and it’s energizing to see that people want to speak about queer issues.”
On Saturday there will be a LGBTQ Athletic Forum. After interviewing many potential panelists, Noriega selected the forum’s four athletes based on their activism and relevancy to Wooster. That night, a dance party will be held in Lowry Center.
Six Wooster students are presenting papers at the conference; Kailey Schwallie ’13, Celeste Tannenbam ’13, Maria Janasz ’14, Janna Haywood ’14, John Wu ’15 and Christina Bowerman ’13. Wu, an international student from Singapore, spoke yesterday on discrimination against effeminate men in the Singaporean army, an organization he is familiar with due to his country’s mandatory two-year military service.
Wu first learned about the scope of alternative gender and sexual identities in college through conversations with professors and friends.
“It’s something that’s definitely out of my comfort zone,” Wu said, referring to his presentation. “Singapore still [has a] conservative culture. We still see things as a dichotomy; male and female.”
“[The conference] shows the willingness of The College of Wooster to seek diversity not just in students, but also in academia,” said Bowerman, whose presentation relates to her Senior I.S. about masculinity in the Ex-Gay movement.
The conference coincides with “Out in October,” an annual event held by Spectrum, Wooster’s LGBTQ student organization. Spectrum is hosting two events this weekend, “Everybody Is Gay” and a performance by the transgender hip-hop group “F to Embody,” which were included in the conference’s program.
The two main sponsors of the conference are the Office of the President and the Center for Diversity and Global Engagement. Nancy Grace, the director of the CDGE, praised the event for its “sophisticated and realistic presentation.”
The conference also has its own intern, Justin Kalinay ’13, who helps the faculty organizers any way he can. As a member of Spectrum, Kalinay reached out to LGBTQ organizations at local universities and convinced many of them to send attendees.
More information about the Global Queer Conference, including its schedule, can be found online at globalqueerness.voices.wooster.edu.