SU Madrid hosts international conference on LGBT/Queer studies

LGBT/Queer studies scholars and activists from around the world gathered in Madrid July 3-5 for Toward Trans/national Scholarly and Activist Kinships, an international conference hosted by SU Madrid and the SU LGBT Studies Program.
Just as SU Madrid's summer session ended at the Instituto Internacional, SU hosted Toward Trans/national Scholarly and Activist Kinships, July 3-5. Speakers from more than 27 countries and five continents delivered papers over three days, on topics ranging from representations of LGBT in film and television to international law. Associate Professor Kathy Everly, coordinator of SU's Spanish program, chaired four panels, all offered in Spanish. "There were participants from the local Madrid universities as well as Argentina, Brazil, and elsewhere," Everly said. "It was really a bilingual multicultural conference."

Organized by the Syracuse University LGBT Studies Program, the conference was sponsored by the Chancellor's Leadership Project and the LGBT Studies program. This year's conference followed one held last fall on the SU campus, attended by Madrid local faculty.

Why Madrid? SU LGBT Studies Program co-founders and SU professors Andrew London and Margaret Himley have both taught summer courses in Madrid that explore gender identity in the Spanish cultural context. London is a professor of sociology; Himley is associate provost of international education and engagement and professor of writing and rhetoric. They have also worked with SU Madrid staff, faculty, community activists and organizations to create a popular LGBT semester program at the SU Madrid center. "Spain is changing," said SU Madrid Queer studies instructor Belen Molinuevo."A new generation of young people is okay with who they are. They are reclaiming neighborhoods and streets that were once dangerous, and the local residents appreciate their work."