Calling All Queer Celts! "Queer Wales" Call for Papers International Conference on Welsh Studies at the University of Toronto, July 31-August 2, 2008

Huw Osborne of the Department of English at the Royal Military College of Canada is putting together a panels of speakers for the upcoming International Welsh Studies Conference in Toronto this summer 2008.

Fancy a Canadian holiday, with something scholarly and sexy thrown in for good measure? Maybe you should consider attending . . .

Better yet, perhaps you might consider presenting a paper on one of the diverse topics listed below.

A lot of excitement has been generated about GLBT activitism and cultural in the so-called 'Celtic Periphery' countries including Brittany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Galicia and among the Celtic diaspora in Australasia and North America.

John Sam Jones's book 'Welsh Boy, Too' won a prestigious American Librarian award a few years back and effectively located the lives of Welsh, Irish and Scottish gays on the international literary landscape.

British gays have been the subject of other more historic works by authors like E.M. Forster's Maurice, also the basis of a suceesful Merchant/Ivory-produced film, well-known to many American gays.

But many have not heard of the many important Celtic GLBT authors including Welsh writer Rhys Davies, who consorted with literary greats including D.H. Lawrence, and others in his time.

Do you want to learn more about Celtic Cubs and Lesbian Warrior Brides?

Subject: Papers are invited for a panel on "Queer Wales" for Toronto University

Papers are invited for a panel on "Queer Wales" at the International Conference on Welsh Studies at the University of Toronto, July 31-August 2, 2008.

Masculinity has long been integral to the national identity of “The Land of My Fathers.”



In particular, the recent industrial past has depended upon or upheld what gay author Rhys Davies described as an “oppressive masculinity.”



However, in recent years, we have become more aware of the complexity of Welsh identities (national, European, racial, colonial, economic, etc).



This panel of the International Conference on Welsh Studies examines the role of Queer identities in Welsh culture in the past present and future:

How have traditional definitions of “welshness” been revised and resisted; what is the current face of Queer Wales; what will the ongoing queering of Wales be like? This panel invites contributions from all areas of interest. Possible topics include:

The history of gay activism in Wales
Gay Wales and the law
Writing gay Wales
Queer working-class masculinities
Welsh queers on stage and screen



Please submit by email paper titles, 250-300 word abstracts (for 15-20 minute papers), and 150 word bio-sketches to Huw Osborne (osborne_at_rmc.ca) by APRIL 1, 2008.



Huw Osborne
Department of English
Royal Military College of Canada
PO Box 17000, Station Forces
Kingston, Ontario, CANADA
K7K 7B4
osborne_at_rmc.ca


North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History (NAASWCH)

International Conference on Welsh Studies

July 31-August 2, 2008 The Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto



The NAASWCH Program Committee seeks diverse perspectives on Wales and Welsh culture

-- as well as proposals focused on the Welsh in North America



-- from many disciplines including: history, literature, languages, art, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, philosophy, music, and religion.



NAASWCH invites participation from faculty, postgraduate/graduate students and independent scholars from North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Click here to go directly to Queer Cymru on Facebook

NAASWCH works to promote scholarship on all aspects of Welsh culture and history;

to develop connections between teachers and scholars in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who are committed to the study of Welsh culture, history, language, and literature;



to provide an intellectual forum in which scholars and teachers of Welsh culture may share their research and teaching experience, and to provide support for the study of Welsh-North American history and culture.



See the NAASWCH website for additional information:

NAASWCH

Those who are not submitting proposals but would like to receive conference information should contact: Dr. Melinda Gray, NAASWCH Secretary, 15 Woodbridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA; mgrayk@comcast.net.






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AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

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Visit the Queer Advantage Gay and Lesbian World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

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