Schedule
Here is the complete schedule for Beyond Binary: Genders in the Past, Present, and Future. This page will be updated with the latest scheduling information! Zoom link for both days, here.
Organized by
Mark Canuel (UIC, Dept. of English) - he/him
JT Turner (UIC, Gender and Sexuality Center) - they/them
Nic Weststrate (UIC, Education) - he/him
DAY 1 / Thursday, October 7
9:00-9:30am Welcome
9:30-11am Community First: A Dialog
We begin this conference with a dialog centering the diverse voices and stories of trans non-binary community members. Join us in a grounding conversation with college students and recent graduates as we collectively reflect upon and imagine gender in the past, present, and future.
Introduced by Nic Weststrate (UIC, Education) - he/him, moderated by JT Turner (UIC, Gender and Sexuality Center) - they/them
11am-11:15am Break
11:15am-12:45pm Trans & Non-Binary Cultures and Histories
How do we situate non-binary identity historically? What is the relationship between non-binary identity and other histories of gender and sexuality? 15-minute presentations
Moderator: Jennifer Brier (UIC, History & Gender and Women’s Studies)
Erica Chu (Harry S. Truman College English) – they/them: “On Harry/Harriet becoming Harriet: Looking for Nonbinary Identity in Cliff’s No Telephone to Heaven”
Leah DeVun (Rutgers, History) – she/they: “Nonbinary Sex and Gender before Modernity”
Lucy Nicholas (Western Sydney University, Sociology) – they/them: ‘Not “new” genders: historical critiques of the gender binary’
Gayatri Reddy (UIC, Anthropology) – she/her: “All Thirdness is Not Alike: Hijras and Questions of Sexual and Gendered Difference in India”
12:45-2pm Lunch Break
2-3:30pm Interdisciplinary Research Conversation
What kind of academic research on non-binary identities and cultures is happening at this moment? How does work on non-binary identity impact academic disciplines? How do different disciplinary perspectives contribute to our conversations within and beyond academia? 15-minute presentations
Moderator: Natalie Bennett (UIC, Women’s Leadership and Resource Center) - She/they
Robin Dembroff (Yale, Philosophy) – they/them: "The Non-Binary Path to Anti-Essentialism"
Jules Gill-Peterson (University of Pittsburgh, English) - she/her: "Transsexual Theory Talks Nonbinary"
Z Nicolazzo (University of Arizona, Education) – she/her: “Nonbinary as Wedge Trans Politics”
Barbara Risman (UIC, Sociology) – she/her: “Category X: A three-city study of gender identities among people who reject the binary”
3:30-4pm Break
4--5:30pm Reading, Performing, Celebrating
Michael Oliveros (UIC, Gender and Women’s Studies & Global Asian Studies; Artist, Author) – they/them
Kay Ulanday Barrett (Artist, Author) - they/them
DAY 2 / Friday, October 8
10:30am 12pm Roundtable Discussion on Research, Activism, and Community
Where is research starting from, and where is it going? How does academic scholarship on non-binary gender engage with our communities? How are communities opening up new directions in research? 5-8-minute presentations and conversation
Moderator: TJ Billard (Northwestern University, School of Communication; Director, Center for Applied Transgender Studies) - they/them
Heath Fogg Davis (Political Science, Temple University) - he/him
Kim L. Hunt (Executive Director, Pride Action Tank) - she/her
Lore/tta LeMaster (Human Communication, Arizona State University) - she/they
Bunny McKensie Mack (Activist, Researcher, CEO, MMG) - they/them
Em Rabelais (UIC, Human Development Nursing Science) - fae/femme, they/themme
12:15-1pm Lunch
1pm-2pm "House Music: An Exploration of Queer Black Joy in Chicago"
Jae Rice, a.k.a. DJ Dapper (practitioner of freedom) - he/him
2-2:15pm Closing Remarks
2:15-3pm Virtual Coffee Time (link available at conference).
Join us for informal post-conference conversation!