Call for Applications – Internationale Summer School “Queer Masculinities”

Posted on by

Vom 25.-28. März 2024 findet die internationale Summer School “Queer Masculinities” in Chintsa/East London (Südafrika) statt, die von Prof. Dr. Henriette Gunkel (RUB) und Prof. Dr. Zintombizethu Matebeni (University of Fort Hare, South Africa) organisiert wird. Die Summer School richtet sich ausdrücklich auch an Masterstudierende der Medienwissenschaft und kann als Studienleistung angerechnet werden. Bewerbungen in englischer Sprache können bis zum 15. August 2023 eingereicht werden. Alle weiteren Informationen finden sich im Call for Applications.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION 

Queer Masculinities Summer School Where: Chintsa/East London, South Africa 

When: March 25-28, 2024
Conveners: Prof. Dr. Zintombizethu Matebeni (University of Fort Hare) and Prof. Dr. 

Henriette Gunkel (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) 

Faculty: Dr. Asanda-Jonas Benya (University of Cape Town), Prof. Dr. Kara Keeling (tbc) (University of Chicago), Prof. Dr. Osmundo Pinho (Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia) 

Masculinity is not what it used to be. Perhaps this is a memory of what never was. The binary logic, in its present and past form, has shaped the idea that bodies are tied to genders in a linear fashion. Men with male-assigned bodies ought to be or are masculine, and bodies that are deemed female are of women and feminine. This logic of duality presents a split, an image of two associated parts. It may appear as neat, a clear division or distinction from one part to the other. Yet, the world of beings and things is messy, blurry, with overlaps, transgressions, difficult histories, entanglements, and co-existence (Benya). And so it is with the intersectionality of gender/race/class/sexuality, which cannot be understood outside of the colonial system (Gunkel; Lugones; Pinho). 

The connection between queerness and masculinity is well-established, and rather than rehashing this we are interested in starting a different conversation. During this interdisciplinary summer school, we envision a new point of departure which already accepts the foundational texts that have shaped masculinity studies and queer studies in many parts of the world and in different disciplines (Connell; Halberstam; Johnson and Rivera-Servera; Keeling; Matebeni; Ratele). We ask: If queer and masculinity are both terms that travel over time and space, then what of queer masculinities? What possibilities and new opportunities does queer masculinities offer as a concept that considers both the intersections of gender/sexuality/race/class/geopolitical positionings, and the diverse theoretical shifts demanded by the decolonial turn? 

Given this, is it possible to disentangle gender from masculinity? What would masculinity look like without gender? 

The Queer Masculinities Summer School invites MA students in media studies and/or gender studies at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum who are interested in the fields of 

masculinities and queerness broadly, to re-imagine masculinities without gender. Specifically, we are interested in thinking through and imagining queer masculinities as not only attached to bodies; queer masculinities that offer other bodies (of knowledge, being, creating, existence or occupying); and queer masculinities that are nonbinary in form, structure, and shape. 

As accepted participants will be supported with international travel, accommodation and main meals during the time of the summer school, places are limited and subject to an application process. To apply, please submit a letter of motivation (max. 2 pages) and your CV in English no later than the 15th of August 2023 to Paulena Müller (queer-masculinities@ruhr-uni-bochum.de). The course will be accredited. 

References

  1. Connell, R. 1987. Gender and power: society, the person and sexual politics. Palo Alta, California: University of California Press. 
  1. Gunkel, H. 2010. The Cultural Politics of Female Sexuality in South Africa. New York/London: Routledge. 
  2. Halberstam, J. 2018. “Unbuilding Gender,” Places Journal, (Accessed 08 July 2023). https://doi.org/10.22269/181003 
  3. Johnson, E. Patrick and Rivera-Servera, R.H (eds). 2016. Blacktino Queer Performance. Duke University Press. 
  4. Keeling, K. 2019. Queer Times, Black Futures. NewYork: NYU Press. 
  5. Lugones, M. 2008. The Coloniality of Gender. World’s & Knowledges  Otherwise, 2 (Spring): 1-17. 
  6. Matebeni, Z.2021“Nongayindoda:movingbeyondgenderinaSouthAfrican context”, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, DOI:10.1080/02589001.2021.1914825 
  1. Pinho, O. 2017. “Brincadeira de Negão”: “Queering” Masculinidad y Negritud en La Cultura Popular Brasileña 
  1. Ratele, K. 2016. Liberating Masculinities. Cape Town: HSRC Press. 
IfM Mediathek