Gender(ed) landscapes

9 et 10 octobre 2025

Reframing identity across art, science, and society

9 et 10 octobre 2025

Faculté des sciences humaines et sociales, université de Split, Croatie

Appel à communications

Date limite : 15 avril 2025

The conference focuses on gender as a crucial phenomenon in contemporary society, examining how identities are shaped, challenged, and reinterpreted across various disciplines and social practices. The conference aims to shed light on the multifaceted nature of gender as a social, cultural, biological, and symbolic construct, exploring its role in everyday life, history, science, art, and media.

Understanding gender is essential for unpacking the social constructs of power, identity, and norms. It allows us to differentiate between biological sex and the socially and culturally defined roles, behaviors, and expectations associated with it. Gender is conceptualized as a social construct (Ann Oakley), whose origins and implications intersect with broader societal systems. The concept of the gender system highlights how institutions perpetuate gender and sexual inequalities (Gayle Rubin), while the use of gender as a historical category provides a deeper understanding of social power structures (Joan Scott).

Further exploration reveals the challenges of defining and understanding gender as a stable category—a notion captured in the concept of gender aporia. These challenges become even more pronounced when gender intersects with other aspects of identity and social dynamics. The evolution of gender theories has called into question its fixed nature, emphasizing instead the fluidity
of gender identities, particularly through the lens of performativity, which views gender as something continually enacted and reinforced through individual actions (Judith Butler, Jack Halberstam). Historical perspectives underscore that gender norms are not inherent but are shaped by cultural and historical contexts, making them open to critique and transformation in the pursuit of a more equitable society.

The conference intends to place interest on the rise of technical and biological perspectives on gender, transhumanism, and transgender issues, thereby creating space for presentations and discussions on these topics.

One of the conference goals is to create a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue and foster collaboration among scholars, artists, and practitioners. Together, we hope to explore, critique, and reflect on the complexities of gender in contemporary society, including perspectives on the relationship between nature, the environment, and gender.

The conference will explore gender as a dynamic concept, shaped by the interplay between social norms, individual experiences, and political processes. It will also delve into its representation in film and media (Teresa de Lauretis) and its legal and societal implications.

We welcome contributions from scientists and experts across a range of disciplines, including but not limited to:

  • Social sciences, humanities, philology, and linguistics,
  • Film, media and the performing arts,
  • Legal Science and Law,
  • Artistic practices and theories,
  • Natural and technical sciences,
  • Medical and health sciences,
  • Educational and social policy studies.

The conference’s thematic areas include, but are not limited to:

  • Gender and identity: theoretical and practical approaches,
  • Intersectionality and gender: intersections with class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability,
  • Gender in art and media: representation, critique, and subversion,
  • Gender policies and social change,
  • The history of gender and gender relations,
  • The biology of gender and medical perspectives,
  • Gender equality in education and the workplace,
  • Activism and feminist practices,
  • Ecofeminism and the relationship between nature, the environment, and gender perspectives,
  • LGBTQ+ and transgender perspectives: social, cultural, and health challenges,
  • Language and gender: linguistic and philological analyses,
  • Discursive constructions of gender and sexuality,
  • Translation studies and gender,
  • Gender in literature, literary criticism, and theory.

We invite you to submit your abstracts (up to 300 words) along with a short biography (up to 150 words) no later than April 15, 2025, to the email address genderlandscapes@gmail.com. Notifications of abstract acceptance will be sent by May 15, 2025. The working language of the conference is English.

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