Feminist Symposium: “The F Word”

The F Word is an all-day symposium being held Friday, October 26 at the Alexander Library Teleconference Room. Registration is required, free and open to all disciplines.

Feminism in the visual arts remains as fiercely contested today as it was thirty-five years ago. Despite recent backlash against feminist concerns and even an atmosphere of anti-feminism among younger scholars, in terms of both artistic representation and criticism, feminism remains highly relevant. The legacy of 2nd generation feminism has been explored in several recent art historical conferences. This symposium seeks to extend this investigation by examining how feminism currently informs a broad range of discourse within the visual arts. We hope to create a view of feminism that acknowledges society’s systematic exclusion of minorities as well as women. This perspective will dispel stereotypical portrayals of feminists while also examining feminism’s relationship to institutional critique, queer theory, and issues of race, class, and gender. These issues are distilled in the subjects of body, space, and performance, which are the three panels that comprise our symposium. We aim both to reaffirm and re-appraise the state of feminism today and its direction for the future. Our title invokes the boat-rocking, bold attitudes of our 2nd generation feminist forbearers, whose spirit informs and inspires this process of new discovery.

<Schedule>

8:30 AM Registration and coffee
8:50 AM Opening Remarks Dr. Joan Marter, Rutgers University
9:00 AM Keynote Address: “Fillies and Nags: Feminism and Art Today”
Dr. Kristine Stiles, Duke University

10:00 AM Break

10:15 AM “A Woman’s Place: Female Territory and Feminine Status”
Panelists: Dr. Abby van Slyck, Connecticut College
Dr. Despina Stratigakos, State University of New York, Buffalo
Discussant: Andres Zervigon, Rutgers University

11:45 PM Break for lunch

1:00 PM “On Display: The Role of Performance”
Panelists: Coco Fusco, artist
Dr. Midori Yoshimoto, New Jersey City University
Discussant: Dr. Elin Diamond, Rutgers University

2:30 PM Break

2:45 PM “Body: Feminist Self and Non-Self”
Panelists: Dr. Anna Chave, City University of New York
Aviva Rahmani, artist
Discussant: Susan Sidlauskas, Rutgers University

4:15 PM Closing remarks: Joan Marter

4:45 PM Reception

<Registration>

Registration is required, free and open to all. Pre-registration by October 19 is required to join the speakers and organizers for a catered lunch held on-site, at a cost of $10

Te Register, please send the following information to rufeminist@gmail.com:

Name ________________

Would you like to register for lunch?
Yes __ No__

Payment for the lunch is by check only, which must be received by October 19, 2007. Please send checks to:

The F-Word Symposium
Department of Art History
Rutgers University
Voorhees Hall
71 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Attn: Olivia Gruber

 

Checks should be made out to Rutgers University, with “F-Word Lunch” written in the subject/memo line.