42nd Annual Gender Studies Symposium

Bodies of Knowledge: Gender, Sex, Science, and Medicine
March 8–10, 2023

Thank you to everyone who participated in and attended this year’s Gender Studies Symposium.

Only the keynote presentation by Dr. Jules Gill-Peterson was recorded (link to video).

 

The 42nd Annual Gender Studies Symposium explores the ways that science and medicine intersect with gender and sexuality to create knowledge, establish authority, and shape policy. This symposium also examines how people experience their interactions with these institutions and ideas, a reality that is especially urgent today, as medical science related to gender, sex, and sexuality is routinely invoked and/or ignored for different political purposes.

We invite symposium participants to consider their beliefs and preconceptions. To that end, this symposium asks:

  • How have racialized concepts of gender and sexuality been produced through scientific research and medical practice?
  • How does scientific knowledge affirm or challenge understandings of gender and sexuality?
  • In what ways has science shaped our interpretations of different kinds of bodies?
  • How has medical racism affected ideas of gender and sexuality as well as systems of health care?
  • How have scientific definition and medical diagnosis functioned as tools of authority?
  • How have people resisted these systems to reshape practices and perceptions related to gender and sexuality in medical institutions and science?

With this symposium, we hope to inspire thought and conversation about these deeply entrenched institutions and ideas that are relevant to our everyday lives, and we invite participants to consider the paths ahead.

2022-23 student co-chairs:
Eli Bricknell ’23, Sofia Reeves ’23, and Julia Salomone ’23

  • I am currently the cochair of the Gender Studies Symposium. Chairing the symposium while simultaneously writing my thesis on reproductive health has empowered me to look beyond the classroom and explore my interests further.

    Julia Salomone BA ’23
    Environmental Studies | Gender Studies | Parkland, Florida
    More about Julia
  • I am a cochair for this year’s Gender Studies Symposium. I had only attended the events before, so this is my first year in a leadership role. I am really thankful we have so many amazing symposia at L&C!

    Eli Bricknell ’24
    Sociology and Anthropology | Gender Studies | Seattle, Washington; Kalamazoo, Michigan
    More about Eli
  • I think every student at Lewis & Clark can get something special from one of the student-led symposia, either by attending or being a part of organizing the event. There is knowledge to be gained for every person who attends the symposium.

    Sofia Reeves BA ’23
    Biology | Gender Studies | Sacramento, California
    More about Sofia