Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. Transformismo masculino: Drag King Performance in Post-Socialist Cuba (November 4, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68091 68091-17009820@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 4, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Lane Hall
Organized By: Lesbian, Gay, Queer Research Initiative (LGQRI)

In this talk, I consider the work transformismo masculino (drag king performance) is doing during a time of social and economic transformation in post-socialist Cuba. Over the past ten years, Cuba has witnessed the growth of a private economic sector dependent on tourism and the unfolding of a so-called “sexual revolution” aimed at combating homophobia and transphobia. Both of these reform movements have been criticized, however, for the lack of material gains experienced by women and Afrodescendants on the island. In response, some independent projects have emerged that draw on histories of Afrofeminist and antiracist critique in Cuba to elaborate an Afroqueer social vision for the future. I examine the performances of Havana’s transformistas masculinas (drag kings) in this context to discuss how they critique normative masculinity, create space for Black lesbian women, and promote dignity for ordinary Cubans. This work, along with the broader Afroqueer movement of which it is a part, resonates with related artist-activism throughout the hemisphere that imagines social possibilities that go beyond the well-documented alliances between neoliberalism and LGBT rights.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:29:04 -0400 2019-11-04T16:00:00-05:00 2019-11-04T17:30:00-05:00 Lane Hall Lesbian, Gay, Queer Research Initiative (LGQRI) Lecture / Discussion photo of Matthew Leslie Santana
The Department of Afroamerican and African Studies Diasporic Dialogues with E. Patrick Johnson (Carlos Montezuma Professor of African American Studies and Performance Studies, Northwestern University) (January 15, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70998 70998-17766498@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Haven Hall
Organized By: Department of Afroamerican and African Studies

with reception and book signing by Literati
Cosponsored with the Women’s Studies Department and the Lesbian-Gay-Queer Research Initiative of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender
E. Patrick Johnson is Carlos Montezuma Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies and the Curator for Black Arts in the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for Performing Arts at Northwestern University. He has additional appointments in the Gender and Sexuality Studies and American Studies programs. A scholar/artist, Johnson performs nationally and internationally and has published widely in the areas of race, gender, sexuality and performance. Johnson is a prolific performer and scholar, and an inspiring teacher, whose research and artistry has greatly impacted African American studies, Performance studies, and Gender and Sexuality studies. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of several award-winning books, including his most recent two: Black. Queer. Southern. Women.—An Oral History (University of North Carolina Press, 2018) and, Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women (Duke UP, 2019).

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 08 Jan 2020 10:33:32 -0500 2020-01-15T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-15T19:00:00-05:00 Haven Hall Department of Afroamerican and African Studies Lecture / Discussion Haven Hall