FIRST INTERNATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY QUEER CONGRESS Thinking queerly from/in Latin America: Ecuadorian Chapter

DATES: LOCATIONS: SPEAKERS: October 25, 26, 27 (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) FLACSO/ECUADOR, USFQ Leticia Sabsay, Ph.D. Associate Researcher Social Sciences Program. The Open University, United Kingdom Mara Lugones, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Programs of Comparative Literature and Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture. Binghamton University, Nueva York. LANGUAGES: ORGANIZERS: ESPAOL, KICHWA, ENGLISH Mara Amelia Viteri, Ph.D. Professor/Researcher, Anthropology Program, FLACSO/Ecuador, <maviteri@flacso.org.ec> Santiago Castellanos, Ph.D. Professor, College of Communication and Contemporary Arts, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, <scastellanos@usfq.edu.ec> Diego Falcon, Ph.D. Professor, Facultad de Filosofa y Letras, Universidad Autnoma de Barcelona, <Diego.Falconi@uab.cat>

DESCRIPTION: This congress constitutes a space for the reflection and theoretical exchange of ideas about sexualities and gender in order to articulate academic, political, and artistic proposals from Ecuador and Latin America with an emphasis on feminist theories, gay and lesbian studies, theories of masculinities and queer theories.

Due to its location in Quito this congress puts a special emphasis on contemporary debates about the construction of citizenship in the public space by exploring how city planning is related to policies of social inclusion and how the city itself can be seen from a perspective of sexual diversity. We want to reflect on how the concept of space and the exercise of human rights can better enable contexts of mutual respect and civil coexistence. We aspire to open up spaces of dialogue among political actors about the design and implementation of public policies within the concept of the city. We also encourage the creation of research networks in these areas among local and international universities. The Colloquium calls for academics, activists, and artists to de-territorialize academic work and encourage dialogues with social movements in a more inclusive and far-reaching theorization and intervention. We extend this invitation to all areas of inquiry, including the social and natural sciences, as well as the humanities and the arts. Some (although not all) of the questions that guide this congress and frame the discussions we propose are: 1. How is xenophobia related to sexualities and desire? 2. How do sexualities and desire co-exist within a normative space not only as sexual difference but also as racial, class, or ethnic differences? 3. How are postneo-colonial histories embedded in the current normativities of gender, sexuality and desire? 4. How does migration underline the intrinsic relationships between sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, and citizenship? 5. How do feelings of belonging and membership reproduce or confront normative ideas about gender and sexuality? 6. How does public space, its access and use, relate to sexuality and gender, as well as its intersections with other axes of power? 7. Re-interpretations of religion, theology, and spirituality from queer perspectives.

CENTRAL THEMES: Art, popular culture, and visual culture. Bodily intertextualities and interseccionalities: those races, those classes, those sexes, those desires, those ages, those languages. Counter-ideological manifestos: the re-writing identities. The re-writing of the histories of sexualities. The relationships between the academia, activism, and its textualization. Exiles, migrations, and diasporas. Public space and sexual/gendered citizenship. Body/Text relationships and post-de-colonial perspectives. Bridges between feminism, gender studies, and queer theories. Political Economy and Queer Theory. PARALLEL ACTIVITIES:

Along with Arte Actual Gallery, an exhibit of contemporary queer art (please refer to the guidelines and description on our website). Latin American Queer Cinema Showcase with the collaboration of El Lugar sin Lmites LGBT Film Festival. Performances, photography exhibits, multimedia. COMIT ACADMICO - Xavier Andrade, Ph.D. Candidate, Coordinator and Professor, Anthropology Program, FLACSO/Ecuador. - Cristina Vega, Professor/Researcher, Studies of Gender and Culture Program, FLACSO/Ecuador. - Hugo Benavides, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Women and Gender Studies Program, Fordham University, Nueva York. - Carlos Decena, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director of the Latino, Hispanic and Caribbean Studies Center, Rutgers University, New Jersey. - Mara Amelia Viteri, Ph.D., Professor/Researcher, Anthropology Program, FLACSO/Ecuador, maviteri@flacso.org.ec - Santiago Castellanos, Ph.D., Professor, College of Communication and Contemporary Arts, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, scastellanos@usfq.edu.ec - Hugo Burgos, Dean and Professor, College of Communication and Contemporary Arts, Universidad San Francisco de Quito. - Diego Falcon, Ph.D., Professor, Facultad de Filosofa y Letras, Universidad Autnoma de Barcelona, Diego.Falconi@uab.cat - Meri Torras, Ph.D., Directora, Grupo Cuerpo y Textualidad, Universidad Autnoma de Barcelona. - Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, Associate Professor, Sociology Program, American University, Washington D.C., 2011; Fullbright Scholar, Instituto Pensar/Pensar (en) Gnero, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogot - Fernando Serrano, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Sidney, Australia - William L. Leap, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anthropology Program, American University, Washington D.C. - Mnica Maher, Professor/Researcher, Sociology Program, FLACSO/Ecuador - Amy Lind, Ph.D., Mary Ellen Heintz Associate Professor, Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Affiliate Professor, Sociology, Romance Languages & Literatures, School of Planning, University of Cincinnati. - Christine (Cricket) Keating, Ph.D., Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State University - Karina Felitti, Ph.D., Gender Studies Interdisciplinary Institute, University of Buenos Aires - Vctor Bretn Solo de Zaldvar, Professor, University of Lleida / Espaa; Researcher/Professor, FLACSO-Ecuador