CALL FOR PAPERS: Queer(ing) Space(s) from Antiquity to the Present
Society of Antiquaries of London, 30 October 2024
In this conference, we are inviting contributors to help us capture capacious new research examining the residues of queer histories in spaces, buildings, landscapes and material cultures. As Marko Jobst has argued, “‘queer’ is already present both in architectural historiographies and historical architectures themselves” and what is required are “acts of bringing into visibility modes of queerness that are intrinsic to them yet remain suppressed” (“Queering Architectural History” in Queering Architecture, (eds. Jobst and Stead, 2023)). At the same time, queer theorists outside the disciplines that produce architectural history have long interrogated the architectural and spatial metaphors that bound queer experience. Accordingly, we seek to explore how queer experience has shaped buildings and places throughout history, to uncover queer readings and interpretations of both canonical architectures and the quotidian built and designed environment, and to make visible the queer narratives occluded by historiographical practices. Queer space, therefore, might also be considered in terms of the methodological, theoretical and historiographical “space” of queerness/queering.
Papers are encouraged with a transnational/transcultural and transtemporal outlook (participants are encouraged to draw on the longer history of architecture). The conference will be organised around themes depending on submissions, which might include (but are not limited to): queerness and coloniality; style and subversion; class and region; sexuality and (dis)ability; domesticities and kinship; heritage and planning. The hope is that contributions will be published in a special issue of an architectural journal after the conference.
Open to all – you do not need an affiliation with the Society of Antiquaries. Submissions from researchers at all stages, and from all backgrounds, are very welcome.
The conference will take place 9:30am-7pm, in person, at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London. Attendance is free for speakers whose travel expenses (<£100) within the UK will be reimbursed. The conference also includes a keynote lecture, and a complimentary lunch and drinks reception. The conference is organised by Dr Joshua Mardell (Royal College of Art) and Dr Ewan Harrison (University of Manchester).
Submissions:
To apply: please send a PDF file of 2 pages. The first page should include: a title, abstract (<300 words), and a short biography (<100 words), in Times New Roman 11 pt. The second page should include ONE captioned image. Please send submissions to [email protected] by midnight May 12 2024. We regret that submissions that do not follow these criteria, or honour the deadline, cannot be accepted.