University of Helsinki, Finland.
First Call for Papers
The intersections of language, gender and sexuality have become central topics of interest for researchers from many fields, but gender and sexuality categories are often handled in a simplistic manner, for example as fixed binary variables. However, these are both complex categories which require new theoretical understanding and methodological orientations. With the aim of bringing together both national and international scholars interested in language and gender and/or sexuality, we are organizing a two-day conference on October 12 and 13, 2023 at the University of Helsinki. All presentations will be given in person.
The call for papers for the conference is open to all scholars focusing on language. In particular, we hope to receive abstracts on studies utilizing queer theories or feminist approaches (e.g., intersectional feminism), but we welcome abstracts on any topics related to language and gender and/or sexuality. Both established and younger researchers are encouraged to participate. Possible topics include but are not limited to:
queer (linguistic) theory/methods
corpus linguistic approaches to studying language and gender/sexuality
ethnographic approaches to studying language and gender/sexuality
construction of gender and sexual identities in discourse
queer and trans sociophonetics
With these themes in mind, we have invited two plenary speakers, who will both also lead a methodological workshop:
Dr. Lucy Jones, University of Nottingham:
Plenary: Constructions of identity and embodiment in the discourse of trans youth
Workshop: Doing ethnography in queer and trans linguistics: Issues, concepts, and reflections
Dr. Frazer Heritage, Manchester Metropolitan University:
Plenary: Lavender corpus linguistics: taking stock and moving forward
Workshop: Corpus approaches to language and sexuality: tackling methodological challenges
Submission details:
Abstracts should be 250 words in length (excluding references), and they can be written in English or Finnish. Likewise, accepted papers can be presented either in English or Finnish.
All abstracts should be submitted via email langgegesex(@)helsinki.fi by May 11th. Instructions for the abstract layout are provided on the website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/language-gender-and-sexuality-theoretical-and-methodological-perspectives/call-papers
Notification of acceptance will be sent in early June.
The conference is funded by the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities. There is no registration fee for presenters.
Please contact langgesex(@)helsinki.fi if you have any questions.
Conference website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/language-gender-and-sexuality-theoretical-and-methodological-perspectives
Organizers:
Pekka Posio, Jarmo Jantunen, Laura Hekanaho, Meri Lindeman, Sanni Surkka and Annina Pura