Schedule

10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Watzek Library 245
Collage Workshop

Facilitated by Lee Hinkle, L&C ’24
Drop in to make a collage! Participants may be invited to have their work included in the symposium art exhibit.

11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m., Gregg Pavilion
Workshop: Hope as a Pathway Through the Complexities and Contradictions of the Modern Intimate Landscape

Facilitated by Isabella Grace Cohn, L&C ’25 
We regret that this workshop has been withdrawn.

1:15–2:45 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Surveillance, Misogyny and Misinformation

Moderator: JaDee Carathers, L&C visiting assistant professor of sociology
Sang-hyoun Pahk, assistant professor of sociology, Pacific University, “Surveillance and Criminalization in the Global Village”
Raymond Lindquist, doctoral student in American studies and culture, Washington State University, “Far-Right Femboys: Myths, Memes, and Misogyny”
Alex Neal, graduate student in critical studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art–Willamette University, “There Are No Girls on the Internet: How Womanhood is Defined and Patrolled Online”
Madeleine MacWilliamson, L&C ’24, “Transphobic Misinformation Trends on Twitter After Highland Park Shooting in 2022”

2–2:45 p.m., Fir Acres Black Box Theatre
A Ballad of Three Sons: A Devised Theatre Performance

Created and performed by L&C students Mack Mae ’25, Percival Walter ’25, and Ash Prodromou ’25
Ballad is a devised performance piece created by three transmasc artists about their collective experiences with the cultural understanding of masculinity. Using text from transcripted self-interviews, as well as relevant quotes pulled from classic literature and personal well-loved media, they tell the story of three bards facing off against a Mad Stampede of toxic gender expectations and the degeneration of the self within the social limitations of “being a man.”
We regret that this performance has been withdrawn.

3–4:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Queer Perceptions

Moderator: Andrea Hibbard, L&C assistant professor with term of English
Corey Near-Ansari, L&C ’26, “Trends in Queer TV Representation as a Product of Audience Age”
Ryan Hollister, doctoral student in history, Washington State University, “Identity Abuse Cycle: The History of Queerbaiting and Rise of Public Outing”
Grace Marchant, L&C ’25, “Queer Semiotics: How Online Identity and Aesthetics Influence Queer Fashion(ing) and Style”
Luciana Linares and Helena Guerrero Sullivan, Pacific University ’24, “‘I’m feeling a little delusional’: How the Intricacies of Taboos in Online K-Pop Communities Reveal the Social Power of Self-Awareness”

7 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Keynote Event

When It Was Ours: A Queer and Trans Counterhistory of the Internet
Avery Dame-Griff,  lecturer at Gonzaga University and author of The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet

Presentation description: In this talk, Dr. Dame-Griff explores three capsule histories of queer and trans services and communities from the early years of the nascent Internet. Each of these stories represents not only a path not taken but also an alternative model for our “digital world,” one where accessibility, community investment, and shared governance are prioritized over profit. Even with rising outside pressure, their creators and users resisted the capitalistic impulse to see the web as solely a transactional medium focused on usability and hyper-optimization. By the end, we’ll consider how these stories inspire us to rethink why we connect online.

Watch the recording of this keynote presentation!

• American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For additional information about accessibility, please consult the Event Details page.
• Book signing and reception to follow in the Council Chamber foyer. Dr. Dame-Griff’s book will be available for purchase.

9:45–11:15 a.m., Gregg Pavilion
Workshop: Gender Diversity: Discrimination Through Online Disinformation

Presented by Jenn Burleton, program director, L&C TransActive Gender Project
The expansion of access to information online fostered a spread of disinformation and misrepresentation about intersectional gender-expansive communities. This rhetoric has led to restrictions on access to gender-affirming healthcare and prosecution of those providing support to gender-expansive children and youth. This workshop will examine the contexts that motivate disinformation and the specific language and strategies used to intensify bias and discrimination.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Performance: “A Shark Ate My Penis: A History of Boys Like Me”

Laser Webber, L&C ’10
L&C alum Laser Webber, trans musician and actor known for his award-winning comedy music, presents a one-person musical about the history of trans men and his own transition. Meet Alan Hart, the first trans man to get gender-confirming surgery (and alum of Albany College); Samuel Bundy, whose legend includes a shark, an annoying landlady, and 12 girlfriends; and renowned children’s author JK Rowling. These characters will usher Laser through a life of weddings, divorces, lesbianism, and, finally, joy. “A Shark Ate My Penis” won Best World Premiere at Hollywood Fringe Festival, as well as the Sydney Fringe exchange award.

1:45–3:15 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Clean and Shiny: Neoliberal Consumerism

Moderator: Kimberly Brodkin, L&C associate professor with term of humanities and GSS faculty director
Bella Chamberland, Reed College ’25, “Clean Girl: Transformations of Feminine Subjectivities in the Neoliberal Digital Age”
Abigail Jobe, Portland State University ’24, “Sex Toys in the City: The Online Sex Toy Market, Profit, and Culture in Portland”
Claire Frances Spaulding, graduate student in critical studies and visual studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art–Willamette University, “All that Glitters: Affect and the Algorithm”

3:30–5 p.m., Gregg Pavilion
Reading: Poetry and Prose

Featuring L&C students Sage Braziel ’24, Alex Chew ’25, Corey Near-Ansari ’26, Dean Oken ’25, Sophia Stringer ’24, and Hazel Wilton-Green ’25.
Join us in celebrating the release of 2023-24 issue of Synergia: Journal of Gender Thought & Expression, edited by L&C students.

3:30–5 p.m., Fowler Student Center
Community Dialogue: Being Online

As you think about your experiences with social media and the internet, what do you gain and what do you lose? What hopes do you hold when you engage with social media? Are there consequences to your use of social media that leave you unsettled in some ways? Community Dialogues offer an opportunity for small, structured conversation as we explore our various approaches and values.

• Registration is required. Limited to L&C faculty, students, and staff. Meeting location and additional details will be shared with participants via registration confirmation email.

4–6 p.m., L&C Community Counseling Center (4445 SW Barbur—directions)
Art for Social Change Open Studio

The L&C open studio focuses on exploring social, racial, or political current events, with participants creating art and engaging in dialogue about their impact on our communities—and working together toward social change. This session will use art to explore gender identity, including discussion around gender in other cultures. In partnership with the L&C Art Therapy graduate program. Participation is open to anyone, but registration is required. 

7 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Keynote Event

What Are Gender and Sexuality in the World We Want?
Moya Bailey, associate professor at Northwestern University and author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance

Presentation description: This presentation takes the form of a short story that explores gender and sexuality at the end of the anthropocene. Gather round to hear a tale of hope, even as the world as we know it is at an end. Dr. Bailey will explore what kinds of digital worlds we are dreaming in the aftermath of apocalypse and how our attachment to “identities” might help or harm our process on this unfolding path.

Watch the recording of this keynote presentation!

• American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For additional information about accessibility, please consult the Event Details page.
• Book signing and reception to follow in the Council Chamber foyer. Dr. Bailey’s books will be available for purchase.

10:30 a.m.–12 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Subjectivity and the Body

Moderator: Magalí Rabasa, L&C associate professor of Hispanic studies and director of gender studies
Jeremy Kregar, L&C ’24, “Sexuality, STIs, and Scrolling: Queer Online Dating and the Navigation of Risk”
Jason N. Le, graduate student in critical studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art–Willamette University, “Digital Flesh: Politics of the Queer Televisual Body”
Zoë Smith, L&C ’25, “‘Hell is a Teenage Girl’: Feminist and Postfeminist Subjectivity through the Female Cannibal Figure”

12:30–1:45 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Roundtable Discussion: Digital Queer Liberation in the Global South and its Diaspora

Featuring Tanveer Anoy, Sajjad Kalanaky, and Shaina Khan, graduate students in women, gender, and sexuality studies, Oregon State University

2–3:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Connections Through Time and Space

Moderator: Sidra Kamran, L&C assistant professor of sociology
Reese Schaffer, Reed College ’24, “Queering the Archive: Queeringthemap.com as a Queer Digital Archive”
Fellow Moratti, L&C ’26, “Implications of Rabbinic Gender Classification for the Modern Queer Jew”
Lee Hinkle, L&C ’24,  and Aaron Beck, L&C James W. Rogers Professor of Music and director of musicology, “A History of Trans Musicians: Embodied Souls from the Medieval to Postmodern” We regret that this presentation has been withdrawn.
Araxi Grigorian-Best, graduate student in critical studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art–Willamette University, “Gaza to Artsakh: Forging Armenian-Palestinian Feminist Diasporic Solidarities Online”

3:30–5 p.m., Fowler Student Center
Community Dialogue: Being Online

As you think about your experiences with social media and the internet, what do you gain and what do you lose? What hopes do you hold when you engage with social media? Are there consequences to your use of social media that leave you unsettled in some ways? Community Dialogues offer an opportunity for small, structured conversation as we explore our various approaches and values.

• Registration is required. Limited to L&C faculty, students, and staff. Meeting location and additional details will be shared with participants via registration confirmation email.

3:45–5 p.m., Council Chamber, Fowler Student Center
Online Sex Work

Moderator: Jenna DePasquale, L&C adjunct instructor in gender studies
Featuring speakers affiliated with the Cupcake Girls and the Oregon Sex Workers Committee