Please feel free to distribute widely. *Call for Proposals* *ICA Preconference/Unconference on* *Technologies of Sex and Gender: Queer Theories and Subjects* Sponsored by the Gay Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Studies Interest Group 9 am- 4 pm, May 22, 2014 University of Washington, Department of Communication Cost: Free This ICA preconference brings together scholars, activists, and artists working on gender, sexuality, communication, media, and technology to examine, debate, and plan new projects, including: · Investigating how the strategies activists and artists have developed in this field can transform academic research practice, as well as how academics can contribute to activist and artistic technology projects · Providing an interdisciplinary environment in which LGBT, queer, and gender-nonconforming technology scholars, activists, and artists can network with each other, learn about current work in these fields, forge partnerships, and develop new collaborative projects · Creating applications, games, and art that explore, celebrate, or undermine sexualized and gendered subjectivities. · Researching how LGBT, queer, and gender nonconforming populations employ technologies in specific historical and cultural contexts (particularly by looking at the intersections of gender, race, nationality, class, and sexuality in these contexts) · Discussing how queer, transgender, and feminist theories can be brought to bear on technology research, and how these fields can and must transform each other in the process · Exploring how queer, transgender, and feminist theories can be integrated into technology design practice · Ascertaining how scholars have used and can use technologies to study sexual- and gender-nonconforming communities, including their own The preconference’s goal is to provoke encounters that would set in motion future collaborations and networks among artists, activists, and scholars. It utilizes the “unconference” format<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference>, in which participants, rather than organizers, decide on the agenda from among their own submitted proposals. This allows for more intensive interaction, higher-level conversations, and a more engaged, productive experience than traditional academic conferences. *SCHEDULE AND FORMAT:* · *Today*: You read this CFP. · *By January 20*: You submit a Session Leader or Participation proposal to ica.glbt@gmail.com. See below for a description of the proposal format. · *February 1*: The organizers will send an acceptance letter to everyone who has submitted a proposal. All proposals will be posted on the Technologies of Sex and Gender website. · *February 1 – April 30*: All applicants comment online on the proposals, voting for the sessions they are likely to attend and offering suggestions for changes and additions. · *May 10*: The organizers create and post a working schedule for the preconference and notify session applicants of the likelihood of their session being included. *May 22: The unconference* · The first morning session will introduce the unconference format. Attendees will take part in an open vote on the schedule, making suggestions, changes, or additions. The schedule will be finalized in this first session, after which the other sessions will begin. Depending on level of interest and number of attendees, there may be simultaneous sessions. · Sessions will proceed throughout the morning following the proposals, but with an openness to exploring new directions that may organically arise (often new sessions are added throughout the day, sessions are combined, or break-out groups are formed over the course of unconferences). · During the lunch break, attendees will give a series of “Speed Presentations”: 1- to 2-minute, rapid-fire presentations about one of their current projects. These are intended as very brief introductions, not extended discussions. Attendees will have an opportunity to contact each other later should they want to learn more about or join a specific project. · Afternoon sessions will proceed, following the same structure as the morning sessions. · At the end of the day, we will lead a concluding session in which attendees can share and integrate the day’s explorations *SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL* If you wish to participate in the unconference, please submit either a Session Proposal or a Participation Proposal. * *Session Leaders* will submit a 300 word proposal of a conversation topic to explore, a research question to develop, a problem to grapple with, a skill to teach, a technology application to demonstrate, or an artwork to present. Each proposal should give enough information to help attendees decide which sessions to vote for and participate in. In particular, Session Leaders are encouraged to suggest how their proposal fits with the unconference theme and to explain their expertise and experience. Those who propose a session will be expected to arrive prepared to facilitate that session. * *Participants* will also submit 300 word proposal, including a biographical statement describing their interests in the preconference and an idea for a 2-minute rapid-fire research presentation. All proposals should address the conference themes described above. Sessions should be of interest to communication scholars, but we warmly encourage interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, multimodal, or media-based endeavors. Session Leader and Participation proposals should be submitted by *January 20, 2014* to: ica.glbt@gmail.com The unconference is co-sponsored by the Popular Communication, Feminist Scholarship, Ethnicity and Race in Communication, Global Communication and Social Change, Communication History, and Game Studies Divisions/Interest Groups. It is also supported by the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, the School of Media and Communication at Temple University, *The Stranger*, the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UW Bothell, and the Greater Seattle Business Association. The organizers are Adrienne Shaw (Temple University), D. Travers Scott (Clemson University), and David Phillips (University of Toronto). -- Adrienne Shaw Assistant Professor Temple University Department of Media Studies and Production 2020 N. 13th St. Annenberg Hall, room 203A Philadelphia, PA 19122 telephone: 215-204-6201 fax: 215-214-5402 email: adrienne.shaw@temple.edu smc.temple.edu/msp www.adrienneshaw.com