Boston University to host ‘Pre and Early Modern Trans Studies Symposium’
‘This conference brings together scholars working at the intersections between the fields of trans studies, medieval studies, and early modern literary studies,’ the description says.
The conference will include discussions on ‘Toryism & Transvestigation in The Convent of Pleasure’ and ‘medieval botany and agender withdrawal.’
Boston University’s Global Medieval Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies programs are hosting a “Pre and Early Modern Trans Studies Symposium: EmoTrans 3” conference.
The conference, which will run from Sunday to Tuesday, will explore the supposed overlap between medieval studies and trans studies.
“This conference brings together scholars working at the intersections between the fields of trans studies, medieval studies, and early modern literary studies,” the symposium description states.
The conference seeks to answer questions such as “what, if anything, makes the ancient, medieval, and early modern period rich for trans studies” and “[w]hat does trans studies bring to the medieval/early modern and what, in return, can medieval/early modern studies bring to trans theory and analysis?”
Micah Goodrich, an assistant professor working for Boston University who goes by the pronouns “he/they,” is organizing the event. His research interests include “tran studies,” “queer theory,” and “medieval and early modern literature.”
A presentation schedule for the conference appears on Goodrich’s website.
Discussions include “Who’s Afraid of Eunuchs?: Trans/crip Epistemologies of Chaucer’s Pardoner,” “‘No Occasion for Men:’ Toryism & Transvestigation in The Convent of Pleasure,” “Exploring Gender Variance in the Early Modern Mughal Manuscript of the Hamzanama,” and “‘There is no sex in plants’: medieval botany and agender withdrawal.’”
In addition to organizing the symposium, Goodrich is also teaching a course this semester on “Medieval Trans Studies,” in which students can expect “to read about alchemical hermaphrodites, genderfluid angels, Ethiopian eunuchs, trans saints, sex workers, and genderqueer monks” as related to trans studies.
The course, along with the EmoTrans 3 conference, seem to represent a trend in some circles of higher education to read medieval history and literature through the lens of modern “LGBTQ+” politics.
Harvard University, for example, is offering a “Queer/Medieval” class in which students consider “what can queer theory offer readers of medieval literature in its explorations of gender, sexuality, race, power, narrative, trauma, and time?”
Another Harvard University course taught in the fall considered “Gender in Byzantium,” examining the history of the Byzantine Empire through themes related to “queer theory.” The class, for example, saw students reading about “trans monks,” eunuchs, and “genderless angels.”
Campus Reform contacted Boston University and Micah Goodrich for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
