Historicizing Sex

Registration is now open for “Historicizing Sex: A State of the Field
Conference in Early Modern Gender and Sexuality Studies.” The
conference will be held at the McNeill Center for Early American
Studies, University of Pennysylvania, from 9:00-6:00 on Friday, March
18, 2011.

Registration is free, we welcome all who are interested in attending
the conference. To register, please send your name, institutional
affiliation (if available), and email address to
historicizingsex@gmail.com by March 7.

"Historicizing Sex” will feature six eminent scholars who will discuss
the relationship between historical inquiry and contemporary theory.
How do we understand the relations between past and present cultures?
How do the debates about race, empire, sovereignty, religion, writing,
and nationalism that emerged in the early modern period intersect with
gendered and sexual ideals? How does attention to gender and sexuality
complicate or challenge traditional views of temporality and
periodization? How do feminist and queer theory intersect or diverge
in discussions of early modern representation of men, women, and their
erotic desires and practices.

Speakers:
Dympna Callaghan, Syracuse University, Professor of English
Richard Halpern, Johns Hopkins University, Professor of English
Coppélia Kahn, Brown University, Professor of English
Jeffrey Masten, Northwestern University, Professor of English and
Gender Studies
Patricia Parker, Stanford University, Professor of English and
Comparative Literature
Richard Rambuss, Emory University, Professor of English and
Comparative Literature

Detailed information (including map/directions and panel schedule)
will soon be available on the conference website:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/Conferences/HistoricizingSex. The website
is still under construction, but we will notify all registered
conference attendees once it is fully up and running. In the meantime,
if you have any questions please contact Melissa Sanchez
(sanchezm@english.upenn.edu).

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who you think might
be in the area and interested in attending. And we hope to see you all
there!

Sincerely,
Melissa Sanchez and Ania Loomba