[Discussion] UPDATE: Gender and Violence (UK) (4/30/05; 9/9/05-9/11/05)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Plenary speakers announced:

**please forward to any interested parties**

The Feminist and Women's Studies Association (UK and Ireland) is pleased
to announce the following updated details concerning keynote speakers
and conference papers for its 18th annual conference "Gender and
Violence: An Interdisciplinary Exploration" to be held at the University
of Aberdeen (9-11 Sept 2005).

Conference Outline
News coverage of the role of women in recent events in Iraq has
confirmed that the relationship between gender and violence is still a
highly charged issue. On the one hand, media reports of the activities
of female soldiers and terrorists and, in other contexts, 'girl gangs'
suggest that women are just as capable of violence as men. On the other
hand, the horror expressed in these reports - perhaps mixed with a
certain salacious satisfaction - reinforces the traditional view that
violence is not 'natural' for women, and that violent women are
therefore monstrous anomalies. In a British context, responses to
Myra Hindley, even after her death, and to Maxine Carr show the same
ambivalence. And equally, is it fair to assume that violent men are not
monsters, but merely extreme versions of the norm? This conference aims
to explore male and female violence, and the complex relations between
reality and representation, in a variety of practices, fields and
discourses. It will provide an opportunity to investigate the many forms
in which 'violence' has been expressed historically and continues to be
expressed globally, and the role that gender plays in all those
manifestations. In addition to inviting papers from all disciplines, we
particularly welcome papers which are inter-disciplinary in approach.
Contributions from activists as well as academics are most welcome.


Conference Themes
Domestic Violence -- Sexual Violence -- Medical perspectives --
Pornography --
Cross-cultural practices -- Female Genital Mutilation -- Historical
Perspectives -- Gender and Terrorism -- Women and War--Violent Offenders --
Legal/political initiatives on sexual/domestic violence--Cultural/media
representations of violence -- Cosmetic surgery and body modification --
Literary/filmic accounts of violence


Confirmed Plenary Speakers
Vera Baird <http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Vera%2BBaird/>  QC, MP
for Redcar, Chair of the Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice
System, and currently Chair of the All-party Parliamentary Groups on
Domestic Violence and Survivors of Sexual Abuse.

Professor Haleh Afshar <http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/poli/staff/ha.htm> ,
Department of Politics, University of York, whose many publications
include: Women, Poverty and Ideology (ed);Women, Development and
Survival in the Third World (ed); Women and the Middle East (ed); The
Dynamics of Race and Gender (ed with M Maynard), Empowering Women for
Development; Islam and Feminisms (1998); Women Globalization and
Fragmentation in the Third World (ed with Stephanie Barrientos).

Sharon Olds <http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/olds.html> , Professor
in English and Permanent Member of the Creative Writing Programme at the
University of New York. From 1998-2000 she was the New York State Poet
Laureate, and her eight volumes of poetry have achieved critical acclaim
for their powerful exploration of both domestic and political violence.


Abstracts (250 words including title of paper) and short biographical
details should be submitted by 30 April 2005:
Dr. Jeannette King
School of Language and Literature
King's College
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen AB24 3FG
j.m.king@abdn.ac.uk

Bursaries: A small number of travel bursaries is available to speakers
on limited incomes, and with no access to institutional support. If you
wish to apply for a bursary, please attach to your abstract a statement
explaining your situation, providing written evidence where possible.

Further information can be obtained from the Conference Administrator,
Dr. Joyce Walker (j.a.walker@abdn.ac.uk)

Please see the conference website:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/womens/conference.htm



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