2010 Queer Symposium Explores
Impact of Place on Movement Building

by Alisa Giardinelli
2/25/2010

A symposium, "Oh, the Places You'll Queer: The Impact of Place on Queer Movement Building," is taking place on campus Mar. 24-27. Speakers include the Women of Color Media Arts Project, Sins Invalid, anthropologist William Leap, and Paulina Hernandez, co-director of Southerners on New Ground, among others.

"In this year's symposium, we bring together people working towards an alternative politics that fights for liberation for queers in many places," according to the symposium's mission statement. "We hope to honor the work of queers who have fought for social justice through local organizing and building solidarity across communities."

For the last 20 years, Swarthmore has hosted a symposium on a current topic for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. Recent symposia have explored sexual politics, queer media, the intersections of race, religion, and gender, same-sex marriage and queer families, and transgender movements.

This year's symposium is completely organized by students, with the Sager Fund Committee (SFC) now recently restructured to allocate funds for a "Sager" speaker series on GLBTQ issues and interests. Endowed by Richard Sager '73, the committee consists of faculty, students, alumni, and staff.

"The College does such a great job from the academic side of things," Sager recently told the Daily Gazette. "Perhaps by providing something that serves a popular function, it's a better use of the fund."

Learn more about the evolution of the SFC in the Daily Gazette.