Press release

The 2013 UNC Asheville Queer Studies Conference will take place April 4-6 in various locations on campus. This biennial conference is a gathering of academics, artists and activists, including participants from around the country and abroad, addressing issues of gender, sexuality, diversity, human and civil rights.



This year’s conference is convened around the theme “Queering Spaces/Queering Borders.” Highlights will include

Amendment One: Where Do We Go From Here? – Panel discussion featuring Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality; Bishop Donagrant McCluney of United Progressive Pentecostal Church, and North Carolina field organizer for Southerners on New Ground; and Kaley Fry, UNC Asheville senior and “queer spawn” (child of LGBTQ parents) activist. 4:15 p.m. Thursday, April 4, Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum.

Maureen Seaton: “Poetic Collaboration in the Spirit of Queer: Couples, Triads and Orgies” – Talk by award-winning poet Maureen Seaton, associate professor of English at the University of Miami, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum.

José Muñoz: “Queerness and the Brown Commons: The Sense of Wildness” – Talk by José Muñoz, chair and professor of performance studies at New York University’s Tisch School. 7 p.m. Friday, April 4, Sherrill Center, Mountain View Room.

Rocco and Katz (F to eMbody) – Performance by multimedia, spoken word and hip hop artists Rocco “Katastrophe” Kayiatos and Harvey Katz (aka Athens Boys Choir). 9 p.m. Friday, April 5, Highsmith University Union, Alumni Hall.

Adela Licona: “Mi’ja, just say you’re a feminist like you used to… Pa/trolling & Performing Queer Rhetorics in the Everyday” – Talk by Adela Licuna, assistant professor of English at the University of Arizona. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 6, Sherrill Center, Mountain View Room.

Full conference registration has different price categories, with information online at http://wgss.unca.edu/queerconference.

One-day community passes for sessions and speakers will be available during the conference for $20; tickets for individual talks are $10. Admission for UNC Asheville faculty, staff and students is free.

The conference registration and information desk will be in the Karpen Hall first floor lobby from 2-6 p.m. Thursday, April 4, and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, April 5. On Saturday, April 6, the registration and information desk will be open from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Sherrill Center Scholarship Deck.