Posts from June 2018
We are delighted to announce the publication of a new essay by IMCC member, Sara Dominici, ‘”Cyclo-Photographers”, Visual Modernity and the Development of Camera Technologies, 1880s-1890s’, in the journal History of Photography (42.1). For a few lucky people, you can download a copy for free via the following link (the first 50 on a first come first served basis):
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/w2ZiVhX3mTNjcAaV2EYy/full
Sara demonstrates in the essay how the intertwined development of popular photography and cycling in Britain was felt so close that, in the 1880s, contemporary commentators could write of ‘cyclo-photographers’. The camera apparatus available at this time, bulky and fragile, was largely impractical to carry on a ride, and thus cyclo-photographers joined outdoor photographers in asking manufacturers for simpler and easier to operate cameras. However, a close reading of primary sources reveals that such demands were also the result of a new engagement with the possibility of seeing enabled by cycling itself. What was the cyclo-photographers’ experience of visual modernity? The article explores whether, and in what ways, the parallel emergence of a desire for compact cameras was linked to the new, and interconnected, ways of moving and seeing that the engagement with these two modern cultural technologies had made possible.
Thursday 21st June 2018, 16.00 – 18.30
Room UG04, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW
Trans Representations on Latin American and Chinese Screens
Representations of trans characters have been at the centre of recent film and TV in two locations often perceived to be traditionally conservative: Latin America and China. This seminar brings together research from these geographies to create a dialogue around film and TV production, trans representation, the ethics of visual culture and the interplay between screen studies and local culture in this transnational context.
Speakers include:
Dr Gustavo Subero, ‘Carmín Tropical: Trans Identity and Mexican Neo-Noir Cinema’
Dr Hongwei Bao (University of Nottingham), ‘Shanghai is Burning: Extravaganza and the New Queer Chinese Cinema’
Dr Liz Harvey-Kattou (University of Westminster), ‘Breaking the Mould in Latin American Film: Trans Representation in A Fantastic Woman and Hold Me Like Before’
Dr Jamie Zhao (University of Warwick), ‘Queer, Yet Never Lesbian: Tomboyish Celebrities in the Chinese Singing Competition Show Super Girl‘
All welcome! Book a place here.
Thursday 21st – Friday 22nd June 2018
Marylebone Campus, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS
Queering Academia
A Two Day Gathering on Queer Education and Scholarship
Queering Academia examines the role of Queer education and scholarship against the backdrop of the changing landscape of Higher Education. This two-day gathering brings together students, academics, and activists to consider the significance of Queer lives (and lived experience) within both formal and informal institutions of learning, with papers, panels, performances, and presentations examining the significance of Queer ways of thinking, being, and acting in education and scholarship.
Programme Information:
https://queeringacademia.wordpress.com/event-programme/
Register online via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queering-academia-a-two-day-gathering-on-queer-education-and-scholarship-tickets-42675556739
Thursday 28th June 2018, 9.30-18.00
Room UG05, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW
Bridging Borders, Creating Spaces: Negotiating Multicultural Identities and Belongings among Migrant Communities in Global London
A HOMELandS Workshop
Organised by our colleagues in the HOMELandS research group at Westminster, this workshop focuses in particular on the role of ‘language’ in bridging borders and creating spaces for migrants in global cities. Language is defined here in a broad and metaphorical sense, referring to all sorts of material and immaterial practices that serve the purpose of having a voice, hearing and being heard, and communicating. London as a global city has been a ‘contact zone’ of multiple flows of people, cultures and ideas from around the world, and a ‘migration lab’ for academic research. While there are numerous studies of individual migration groups in London and the UK, surprisingly, so far very few have looked into the nexus between mobility and globality from a comparative and transcultural perspective. This workshop is aimed at filling this gap. By bringing together innovative research on a wide range of London-based migration communities, it seeks to stimulate intellectual dialogues between often segregated studies of migrants and between higher educational institutes and migrant communities, and to break new ground for interdisciplinary research on migration and diaspora.
The workshop will followed at 6pm by ‘Object-Stories’ of British Chinese Women Online Exhibition Launch and Reception in the Cayley Room.
Please book a place via Eventbrite here.
The Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture
University of Westminster Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies
32-38 Wells Street, London W1T 3UW. United Kingdom.