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PROGRAM

8:00 — Check-in and Breakfast 9:00 AM Kresge 1525

9:00 — Opening Remarks 9:15 AM Kresge 1515

Keynote by Kim L. Hunt 9:15 — Executive Director of Pride Action Tank 10:15 AM Kresge 1515

Panel 1A: Activism, Panel 1B: The Politics of 10:30 — Abolition, and Visions of Queer Health 2:00 PM Queer and Trans Justice Kresge 2339 Kresge 2343

12:00 — Lunch Break 1:00 PM Kresge 2415

Panel 2A: Politics, Panel 2B: Technologies 1:00 — Performance, and and Transformations of 2:30 PM Resistance in Queer Media Queer Spaces and Places Kresge 2339 Kresge 2343

2:30 — Coffee Break 3:00 PM Kresge 2415

Criminal Queers 3:00 — Screening and Panel Discussion 5:00 PM Kresge 1515

5:00 — Closing Remarks 5:10 PM Kresge 1515

Reception (Open to All) 5:10 PM Kresge 2415

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ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

BUILDING ACCESS

Is there a ramp, elevator, and/or wheelchair lift to get into the building?

Yes, an accessible entrance is available at the front of the building (Kresge Hall, 1880 Campus Drive). Please take the elevator down to Floor 1 for check-in.

Is accessible parking available?

Parking is not available directly next to the event space. The closest parking lot is the Locy Lot located at 1850 Campus Drive. The lot is a 2-minute walk to Kresge, and the parking lot has designated accessible spaces.

SEATING ACCESS

Once inside the building, how does one get to the event rooms?

All conference activities will occur on the first and second floors of Kresge Hall. All floors can be accessed by stairs or elevator to the left of the main building entrance. A single stall, all gender restroom is available on the first floor directly to the right of the elevator and stairs.

Is there accessible seating for people with wheelchairs, mobility devices, and/or service dogs?

Yes, accessible seating is available in all event spaces:

Kresge 1515: wheelchair accessible seating is available behind the back row and mobility device accessible seating on the left side of the back row.

Session Rooms: these rooms have portable desks with wheels, which will be configured in rows. 1-2 spaces will be available in the back and front rows of each room nearest to the room entrance to accomodate wheelchairs and mobility devices.

Kresge 2415: 1-2 tables with seating will be available. 1-2 spaces will be available at each table to accommodate wheelchairs and mobility devices.

All event spaces have entrances that can accommodate wheelchairs and mobility devices.

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ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

How many seats are allotted for people with mobility devices and/or service dogs in the event location?

There are between 2-4 seats allotted for people with wheelchairs, mobility devices, and/or service dogs in all rooms in which conference activities are taking place.

EVENT LENGTH

How long is the event?

The event is 11 hours from 8am-7pm. The first conference activity officially begins at 9am and ends at 5:10pm. There is a reception from 5:10-7pm.

Is it possible to leave the event early?

Yes. Attendance at each conference activity is optional, and registration will occur throughout the day. Attendees are welcome to come and go throughout the day.

EVENT CONTENT

Will any topics containing sensitive subject matter be discussed during the event?

We understand that subject sensitivity is highly individual, but we have provided a list of topics that may be referenced during the event: homophobia; transphobia; trans erasure; racism; ableism; topics related to mental health and the current administration.

Are flashing lights or loud sound effects used at the event?

No flashing lights or loud sound effects will be used at the event.

COMMUNICATION ACCESS

Will speakers have microphones?

Morning Keynote: Yes, the speaker will have a personal microphone.

Sessions: While microphones are available in the panel rooms for individual presentations, presenters will not have amplification for the discussion portion of each session.

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ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

Are there assistive listening devices available at the event?

No, assistive listening devices are not available at this event.

Will there be an ASL interpreter available at the event?

No, an ASL interpreter will not be available at this event.

FOOD

Is food being served?

Yes, food is being served. Food will include a continental breakfast, lunch, and reception; an afternoon coffee and tea service; and snacks throughout the day.

Will nutrition information be available for the food at the event?

Detailed nutrition information will not be available on site, but foods that are gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan will be labeled at the event. Please contact an event volunteer or organizer in advance or at the conference if you would like further nutrition information.

Will there be gluten free, vegetarian, and/or vegan options?

Yes, gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options will be available each time food is served at the event. If you have other dietary needs, please see an event coordinator or volunteer on the day of the event.

Will foods containing nuts be served at this event?

Although foods explicitly containing nuts will not be served at the event, foods are processed in a facility where nuts are present. Please see an event coordinator or volunteer on the day of the event if you have further questions.

WEATHER

What is the weather supposed to be on the day and time of the event?

The weather for the event date is projected to be high-20s with a 10% change of precipitation.

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ABOUT NU QPGSA

Northwestern University’s Queer Pride Graduate Student Group is an award-winning social, advocacy, and academic group for the graduate student community at Northwestern. Founded in 2005, our member- ship now includes more than 400 graduate students. We are committed to develop an inclusive and affirming sense of community among the LGBTQ+ graduate students at Northwestern. We do this through activities that cover four major themes: Advocacy, Social, Service and Activism, and Academic and Professional Development.

In addition to various quarterly and monthly social events, we also work collaboratively with NU’s Rainbow Alliance, the LGBT Resource Center, Kellogg’s Gay and Lesbian Management Association, Northwestern Law’s OUTLaw group, the Women’s Center, and Northwestern Medical School’s Out Network. Further, we regularly collaborate with other TGS graduate associations, including the Black Graduate Student Association, Comunidad Latinx, and Graduate Women Across Northwestern. In the past, QPGSA has also teamed up with various Chicagoland LGBTQ+ organizations, such as Equality Illinois, Transformative Justice Law Project, and Howard Brown Health.

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ABOUT THE THEME

Entering its 13th year, Queertopia is an annual LGBTQ+ academic conference organized by Northwestern University’s Queer Pride Graduate Student Association. The conference features research across disciplines and fosters critical dialogue on topics related to gender and sexuality. Queertopia is an opportunity for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduates, activists, organizers, and community practitioners to build intellectual community. This year, we aim to explore queer politics, engaging questions around the limits and possibilities of the term 'queer' for political resistance and transformation with the theme: New Queer & Trans Poiltics? The word “new” in our theme is a common attribution to revitalized areas of study or culture (e.g., new media, new materialism, new queer cinema), so here, too, we attach “new” both to prompt inquiries in current LGBTQ+ politics and to irrigate future political forms and formations. We ask:

• What is the role of LGBTQ+ politics today? What would a “new” queer & trans politics look and feel like? What might a contemporary LGBTQ+ counterpublic look and feel like?

• What queer and trans feelings, affects, and embodiments does contemporary LBGTQ+ politics structure, disallow, or create? Do prior instantiations of LGBTQ+ politics offer viable ways to innervate current queer and trans political scenes and sites?

• How does and might emergent LGBTQ+ political formations counter or re-work the traditional dominances of visibility, representational, and rights-based politics in LGBTQ+ political activism?

• What roles do legislation, litigation, and policy-making play in the political participation and social support of LGBTQ+ communities?

• How can social justice organizing and political advocacy protect and support LGBTQ+ communities, especially with respect to healthcare, access to public services, and various civil rights?

• How does art, media, and technology affect political discussion and participation within LGBTQ+ communities?

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OPENING KEYNOTE

Keynote Kim L. Hunt Executive Director of Pride Action Tank

9:15-10:15 AM Kresge 1515

Kim L. Hunt is currently the executive director of the Pride Action Tank (PAT), a project incubator and think tank that is focused on action that leads to improved outcomes and opportunities for LGBTQ+ communities in the Chicago region, and as Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC). PAT is a project of AFC. While her early career focused on urban planning and public transportation, it has extended to advocacy, nonprofit management, and community development. She co-founded O-H Community Partners, a consulting firm that aims to strengthen and scale markets targeted at creating jobs, wealth, and economic opportunities in underserved communities. She served as Executive Director of Affinity Community Services, a social justice organization that works with and on behalf of Black LGBTQ communities, queer youth, and allies to identify emergent needs, create safe spaces, develop leaders, and bridge communities through collective analysis and action for social justice, freedom, and human rights. She was also a columnist at Fop Magazine, a Gay-Centric Men's Fashion and Lifestyle Magazine, and is a co-host of OUTSpoken!, a monthly LGBTQ storytelling event. Kim has received several awards through the course of her career, including the Cook County State’s Attorney Vernita Gray Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. Kim received her BA in journalism at Iowa State University, her Master’s in Urban Planning at University of Illinois at Chicago, and her Master’s in Public policy at the Harris School at University of Chicago.

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FILM SCREENING & PANELL DISCUSSION

3:00-5:00 PM Kresge 1515 Criminal Queers visualizes a radical trans/ queer struggle against the prison industrial complex and toward a world without walls. Remembering that prison breaks are both a theoretical and material practice of free- dom, this film imagines what spaces might be opened up if crowbars, wigs, and metal files become tools for trans- formation. Follow Yoshi, Joy, Susan and Lucy as they fiercely read every- thing from the Human Rights Campaign and hate crimes legislation to the non-profitization of social movements. Criminal Queers grows our collective liberation by working to abolish the multiple ways our hearts, genders, and desires are confined.

DIRECTORS

Chris E. Vargas is a video maker & interdisciplinary artist currently based in Bellingham, WA whose work deploys humor and performance in conjunction with mainstream idioms to explore the complex ways that queer and trans people negotiate spaces for themselves within historical & institutional memory and popular culture. He earned his MFA in the department of Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2011. From 2008- 2013, he made, in collaboration with Greg Youmans, the web-based trans/cisgender sitcom Falling In Love…with Chris and Greg. Episodes of the series have screened at numerous film festivals and art venues, including MIX NYC, SF Camerawork, and the Tate Modern. With Eric Stanley, Vargas co-directed the movie Homotopia (2006) and its feature -length sequel Criminal Queers (2016) which have been screened at Palais de Tokyo, LACE, Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow, and the New Museum among other venues. Vargas is also the Executive Director of MOTHA, the Museum of Transgender History & Art, an arts & history institution highlighting the contributions of trans art to the cultural and political landscape.

Eric A. Stanley works at the intersections of radical trans/queer aesthetics, theories of state violence, and anticolonial struggle. Eric is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Along with Chris Vargas, they directed the films Homotopia (2006) and Criminal Queers (2016). A coeditor of the anthology Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex (AK Press, 2011/2015), Eric’s other writing can be found in the journals Social Text, American Quarterly, Women and Performance, TSQ as well as in numerous collections. Eric continues to collectively organize with Gay Shame SF and TGIJP to abolition prisons and build worlds we all can inhabit.

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THE PANELISTS

LaSaia Wade is an open Afro-Puerto Rican indigenous Trans Woman, founder of TNTJ Tennessee Trans Journey Project, and member of Chicago Trans Gender Nonconforming Collective and the Trans Liberation Collective, and Director of Brave Space Alliance. Recently, she was honored at the Chicago LGBTQA Black History Recognitions ceremony and is the first Trans woman in Illinois History to be honored in Women's History month for the work she's doing not limited to community organizing. Her role in organizing ranges between and beyond as a central organizer for the Trans Liberation Protest Chicago, the largest march for trans rights in Midwestern history and being the Chicago chapter Mother for the House of Lauren. LaSaia graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Business Management from Murfreesboro Tennessee State University, has 10+ years of experience in organizing and advocacy work with black, indigenous, trans and gender nonconforming people around the world. She is the business owner of Mystical Bee Hive, and facilitates trainings across the U.S.

Marquis Bey is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and English at Northwestern University writing, thinking, and agitating at the nexus of black feminism, transgender studies, critical theory, and African American literature. The author of two books, Them Goon Rules: Fugitive Essays on Radical Black Feminism and the forthcoming Anarcho-Blackness: Notes Toward a Black Anarchism, Marquis is underway on two additional books: a monograph theorizing what might be called black trans feminism and a collection of autotheory essays on the rela- tionship between blackness and the category of cisgender. Additionally, Marquis is co- editing a special of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies on queerness, carcerality, and gender abolition. As well, Marquis is a contributing writer for the award-winning blog Black Perspectives.

Ray San Diego is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Asian American Studies Program at Northwestern University. He received his doctorate from the University of California, Irvine, in the Culture & Theory Program with emphases in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Critical Theory, Asian American Studies, and Visual Studies. His work appears or is forthcoming in Amerasia Journal, Southeast Asian Diaspora in the United States: Memories & Visions, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Sex & Colonies, and Porn Studies. From 2014-2016, he was the Student Representative for the Association for Asian American Studies.

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PANEL SESSION 1A

ACTIVISM, ABOLITION, AND VISIONS OF QUEER AND TRANS JUSTICE

10:30 AM—12:00 PM Kresge 2339

“There’s a light…”: Ritual Performance, Queer Worldbuilding, and 45 Years of (Re)-Performing The Rocky Horror Picture Show Nathan Lamp (they/them) Northwestern University: Performance Studies, PhD

Queer as an Orientation to Power: A Queer Political Theology of Abolition Annabeth Roeschley (she/they) Chicago Theological Seminary: Master of Divinity

The Affective Dimensions of Cross-Racial Queer Solidarity Ivy Sokol (they/he) and Anne Fosburg (they/them) UC Santa Cruz: Sociology (PhD Student) and Feminist Studies (PhD Student)

Panel moderated by Dr. Scott De Orio, Postdoctoral Fellow, Sexualities Project at Northwestern (SPAN).

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MEET THE PANELISTS

Nathan Lamp (they/them) is a director, dramaturg, and writer from Toledo, OH, and is a first-year PhD student in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Nathan received their MA in Theatre & Performance Studies at Wash U in St. Louis and their BS in Communication at Northwestern University. Nathan's research interests include popular music studies, sound studies, ecofeminism, musical theatre, applied theatre practices, gender & sexuality studies, trans studies, and disability studies. Professionally, Nathan has worked with theatre and arts organizations in St. Louis (Union Avenue Opera, St. Louis Actors' Studio) Chicago (Steppenwolf, the MCA, Waltzing Mechanics), and South Bend, IN (the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center).

Annabeth Roeschley (she/they) does theology focused on queering the relationships, beliefs, and ideologies that undergird systems of domination and oppression. Grounded in a decade of community justice and queer activist work, Annabeth situates queer anti-colonial liberation theologies at intersections of sexual violence, carceral capitalism, spatial justice, harm reduction, and politicized healing. Annabeth is a Master of Divinity Candidate at Chicago Theological Seminary with a concentration in LGBTQ Religious Studies.

Ivy Sokol (they/he) and Anne Fosburg (they/them) are two PhD students at UC Santa Cruz pursuing degrees in Sociology and Feminist Studies, respectively. They first met as undergraduates at Brown University but have since rekindled a queer friendship on the west coast, galvanized by shared research interests in queer pedagogy and radical education and anticapitalist organizing around living and working conditions in Santa Cruz. Anne and Ivy can be found rock climbing, swimming, or baking small pies together.

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PANEL SESSION 1B

THE POLITICS OF QUEER HEALTH

10:30 AM—12:00 PM Kresge 2343

Pharmaceutical Citizenship and Queer Citizens: Queer Sexual Revolution or Homonormative Domestication? Tankut Atuk (he/him) University of Minnesota: Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) & Medical Anthropology

Queering Reproductive Justice: How to Ensure LGBTQ Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health on the Federal Level Aliya Bean (she/her) University of Chicago: Master in Public Policy

(Counter?) Serv/eillance: Queer Clinics Navigate Coercive Community Policing Lydia Dana (she/they) University of Illinois, Chicago: PhD in Sociology

Prevalence Rates of Mental Health Disparities among Non- Heterosexual Men in Thailand, Where Inequity of LGBT-Rights and Laws Exists Priyoth Kittiteerasack (he/him) University of Illinois, Chicago: PhD Student

Panel moderated by Dr. Francesca Gaiba, Associate Director, Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing.

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MEET THE PANELISTS

Tankut Atuk (he/him) is a third-year PhD student in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies & Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He holds two master’s degrees in Gender Studies and Sociology/ Cultural Studies. His current project looks at the socio-political dimensions of the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic in Turkey. He specifically asks, “What does the refusal to recognize and prevent the national HIV epidemic reveal about the Turkish State's institutional approach towards sex, sexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?” He seeks to understand and redress the ways in which the Turkish State violates access to health(care) and fails in responding to the HIV epidemic.

Aliya Bean (she/her) is a Master in Public Policy candidate at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy focusing on health policy. Previously, Aliya served as the Interim Executive Director and Legislative Aide of the LGBT Equality Caucus in the House of Representatives. Prior to her time in Congress, she worked on reproductive health and health care policy at the National Partnership for Women & Families and hate crimes and civil rights issues at the Anti-Defamation League. Aliya graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University.

Lydia Dana (she/they) is working on a PhD in sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago. In addition to her work with the Policing in Chicago Research Group, she studies relationships between social services, surveillance, and state violence in a post-welfare context. Prior to her doctoral program she earned a master’s degree in Gender and Cultural Studies while conducting advocacy and grant writing in support of racial, economic, and gender justice, and the preservation of indigenous land and languages.

Priyoth Kittiteerasack (he/him) is an international student from Thailand who is completing his doctoral training at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing. His dissertation focuses on mental health disparities among Thai LGBTs. In addition, he has conducted social stigma research and has experience working with leading Thai LGBT organizations.

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PANEL SESSION 2A

POLITICS, PERFORMANCE, AND RESISTANCE IN QUEER MEDIA

1:00 PM—2:30 PM Kresge 2339

From Search Stories to Screenlife Cinema: The Politics of the Digital Body in Queer Times Basil Dababneh (he/him) The University of Chicago: Cinema and Media Studies

The Future of Drag Performance: Renewing Political Activism Anthony Guerrero (he/him) Northeastern Illinois University: Master in Communication, Media, and Theatre

Producing Lesbian Feminist TV: the Trials and Tribulations of Dyke TV Lauren Herold (she/her) Northwestern University: Radio/TV/Film

People’s Republic of Desire: China’s Queer Temporality and Politics of New Media You Wu (he/him) The University of Chicago: Master of Arts Program in the Humanities

Panel moderated by Dr. Joshua Chambers-Letson, Associate Professor, Performance Studies.

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MEET THE PANELISTS

Basil Dababneh (he/him) is a Neubauer Doctoral Fellow and PhD student in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. Basil’s research examines questions of queer aesthetics and politics, queer theories of time, affect, and negativity, theories of cinematic temporality, new media art and technology, and horror studies. Basil holds a BA in Cinema and Media Arts from Vanderbilt University, where he also minored in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Anthony Guerrero (he/him) has worked as an actor, director, writer and producer for over 30 years. Anthony was the Executive Director of Hubris Productions (2005-2010), Chicago Dancers United (2012-2016), and Red Tape Theatre (2016-2018). He holds a B.A. in Acting and Performance Studies from New York University and is currently working on his M.A. thesis at Northeastern Illinois University with the goal of pursuing a Ph.D. Research interests: queer studies, media/cultural studies, gender & sexuality, queer theory, identity, and performance.

Lauren Herold (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Screen Cultures program in the Radio/TV/Film department at Northwestern University. Her dissertation considers 1970s-1990s public access programming made by and for LGBTQ people as a televisual archive that offers insight into the structures of feelings circulating in queer communities of the era. She holds an MA in Screen Cultures from Northwestern University and a BA in Women’s and Gender studies from Columbia University.

You Wu (he/him) is currently a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Division of the Humanities. He received a master’s degree from New York University in Cinema Studies. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in Communication Arts and Computer Science. He is interested in New Media, Chinese Cinema, Queer Cinema, Queer Games, and any combination thereof.

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PANEL SESSION 2B

TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF QUEER SPACES AND PLACES

1:00 PM—2:30 PM Kresge 2343

Living for the future city: the transindividual in physical and digital space Annie Howard (they/she) University of Illinois at Chicago: College of Urban Planning and Policy

Queer technologies of online spaces and offline places: The also-here-ness of queer South Asian online zones Zoey Martin-Lockhart (she/her) University of Illinois at Chicago: Anthropology PhD student

Sandburg Village: Urban Renewal’s Impact on Queer Chicago Mare Ralph (they/them) University of Illinois at Chicago: Master’s candidate in Urban Planning and Policy

Uncertain Grammars, Ambiguous Desires: Towards a Sexual Politic of Indeterminacy in Sri Lanka Themal Ellawala (he/they) University of Illinois at Chicago: Department of Anthropology

Panel moderated by Dr. Jillana Enteen, Associate Professor, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Asian American Studies and Asian Studies Program.

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MEET THE PANELISTS

Annie Howard (they/she) is a master's student in urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They're also a writer, with articles in the Guardian, Citylab, Lapham's Quarterly, and elsewhere. Find their work on Twitter @t_annie_howard. They're currently pursuing research on the intersection of digital and physical space, the indeterminacy of urban and trans living, imagining future cities that are rooted in the legacy of queer urban history, and much more.

Zoey Martin-Lockhart (she/her) is an anthropology PhD student at UIC. Her research looks at encounters between medical professionals and LBwT (lesbian and bisexual women and trans people) in and around Bangalore, India. This focus grew out of research I did through a 2014-15 Fulbright-Nehru Student Research scholarship focusing on the interface of mental health care systems and queer/LGBTIA+ communities in urban India.

Mare Ralph (they/them) is a Master's candidate in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their research interests include housing policy, criminal justice reform, and gender-inclusive planning. They interned at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law over the summer. Mare sits on the Caucus Advisory Council for the international Girls Rock Camp Alliance and has organized space for queer, trans, and gender nonconforming youth with Girls Rock Louisville and Girls Rock Chicago.

Themal Ellawala (he/they) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he studies gender- sexual ontic and discursive formations in Sri Lanka through the optics of queer theory and postcolonial studies. He is specifically interested in explicating negative space (e.g. absence, silence, inaction, ambiguity) and exploring how the gender-sexual subaltern figure encounters the state and neoliberalism in myriad ways at such sites.

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Meet the Organizers

Addie Shrodes (she/her) is a third-year Learning Sciences PhD student at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy. Her research focuses on informal learning and identity development on social media, with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth who participate in digital cultures. Her research seeks to leverage understandings of everyday youth activities on social media to transform educational systems into more equitable and affirming places to learn and grow. She is the President of QPGSA.

Ado Rivera (he/him) is a third-year in the Health Sciences Integrated PhD Program—Health Services and Outcomes Research track in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. His research interests includes health systems strengthening in resource-limited settings, implementation science, and chronic disease in HIV. For his dissertation, he is studying the impact of early disease trajectories of people with HIV on their cardiovascular risk. He is the Academic and Professional Development Co-Chair of QPGSA.

Jeremiah Barker (he/they) is a second-year MA+MFA candidate in the English Department’s Litowitz Creative Writing Graduate Program. He is an essayist whose current writing and research interests are at the intersections of auto-fiction, queer theory, black studies, trauma, and addiction. He is currently putting together a collection of personal essays that address, among other topics, queer relationality and trauma, the whiteness of the U.S. opioid epidemic, and bisexual embodiment.

Erique Zhang (they/them) is a second year PhD student in the Media, Technology, and Society program at Northwestern University's School of Communication. Erique's research focuses on the beauty cultures and mediamaking practices of transgender people and queer and trans people of color. Using a combination of YouTube video data and interview data, their current project interrogates transfeminine people's beauty practices and transition narratives to understand passing as a form of aesthetic labor. Erique is the Advocacy Chair of QPGSA.

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Brian Andrus (he/him) is in his second year of the Learning Sciences PhD program. He’s Service and Activism Co-Chair of QPGSA. During his service on the board he is hoping to create more opportunities for queer students on campus to connect, be visible, and discuss important issues (from campus, to local, to national).

Nadina Zweifel (they/she) is a forth-year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering program at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. Nadina is the Web & Design Chair of QPGSA maintaining the organization and illustrating promotion material for events and gatherings. As a board member of QPGSA, Nadina hopes to increase visibility of queer folks and contribute to community building in STEM and across disciplines.

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Special Thanks

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to this year ’s conference presenters:

Nathan Lamp, Annabeth Roeschley, Ivy Sokol & Anne Fosborg, Aliya Bean, Priyoth Kittiteerasack, Atuk Tankut, Lydia Dana, Basil Dababneh, Lauren Herold, Anthony Guerrero, You Wu, Annie Howard, Zoey Martin-Lockhart, Mare Ralph, and Themal Ellawala.

The creative work of these emerging scholars and practitioners in the study of gender and sexuality makes this conference possible to host each year.

We are likewise grateful for this year’s esteemed keynote speaker Kim L. Hunt for joining Queertopia 2020.

We would also like to thank the writers and directors of Criminal Queers, Chris E. Vargas and Eric A. Stanley, for allowing us to screen this film at Queertopia. We are also truly grateful to our film panelists LaSaia Wade, Marquis Bey, and Raymond San Diego for facilitating the discussion around Criminal Queers.

We also extend a special thank you to this year’s panel moderators: Scott De Orio, Francesca Gaiba, Joshua Chambers -Letson, and Jillana Enteen. We deeply appreciate their support in nurturing the conversations our presenters foster around LGBTQ+ politics.

We want to thank the Northwestern Queer Pride Graduate Student Association 2019-20 board members Richard Saballos, G Yang, Bambang Trihadmojo and this year’s fantastic volunteers for their support of Queertopia.

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Special Thanks

Queertopia 2020 is made possible by our committed sponsors. We are so grateful for the continued support of our primary sponsors: Alice Kaplan Institute for Humanities, School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Multicultural Student Affairs, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Center for Health Equity Transformation, and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Thank you, too, to our fabulous other sponsors and contributors, whom we highlight on page 23 of the program.

With your help, we look forward to another successful Queertopia next year!

Sincerely,

The Queertopia Organizing Committee

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OUR SPONSORS

PRIMARY SPONSORS

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CO-SPONSORS

Department of English

Department of Art Theory and Practice

Department of Political Science

Gender & Sexuality Studies Program

SPAN: The Sexualities Project at Northwestern

The Graduate School

CONTRIBUTORS

African American Studies Program

Department of Anthropology

Department of History

Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing

Department of Philosophy

Department of Radio, Television and Film

Department of Rhetoric and Public Culture

School of Education and Social Policy

Department of Sociology

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Department of Theater

Women's Center

Thank you for attending Queertopia 2020!

Please share your feedback by filling out a brief evaluation form at bit.ly/qeval2020

Queertopia is organized by Northwestern University’s Queer Pride Graduate Student Association

Contact us at [email protected] Follow us on fb.com/qpgsa/#queertopia2020