Programme Schedule

16th December (Day 1)

Registration: 9:00 am onwards
Inaugural Function: 9.30-10:30 am
(Special Guest: Deepa Vasudevan, Founder Member, Sahayatrika)

Plenary Session 1 (10:30- 11:15 am): ‘The Quilt is not the Closet’: Risk, Pleasure and Writing in India. – Dr. Brinda Bose, Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU, New Delhi

Tea (11.15- 11.30 am)

Presentation Session 1: Questioning Queer Politics in India (11:30am-1:00pm) Chair- Dr. Brinda Bose

  1. Exploring the Subaltern Colours of the Queer Rainbow– Vaikhari Aryat, Ph.D. scholar, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad.
  2. Queer movement and pride march- Visibility for queer bodies: Yogesh S, Research scholar, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, Delhi.
  3. Mapping Sexuality and Caste in Papilio Buddha– Lars Olav Aaborg, Presented by-TBD.
  4. Queering Dalit in India– Dhrubo Jyoti (Hindustan Times, New Delhi and Dhiren Borisa, Research Fellow, JNU, New Delhi).
  5. Of being Queer- a background note on the history of queer politics in Kerala, Reshma Radhakrishnan, Ph.D. Scholar, School of Economics, Delhi University.

Lunch- 1:00- 2:00 pm

Panel Discussion 1: Queer and Beyond (2:00-3:00 pm) Dr. Muraleedharan Tharayil– Former Associate Professor, Dept. of English, St. Aloysius College, Thrissur (Moderator)

Panelists

  1. Dr Rekha Raj- Manager, Women’ Project, Amnesty International, Bangalore.
  2. Vasudhendra Shroff- Writer (Kannada Sahitya Adacemy Award Winner), Bangalore.
  3. Chinju Aswathi- Program Co-Ordinator, Sahayatrika for Human Rights, Thrissur
  4. Delfina– Nirangal, Chennai

Plenary Session 2 (3:00-3.45pm): ‘The Legal Construction of Queer Identity’ – Danish Sheikh, Legal Consultant, International Commission of Jurists, New Delhi.

Tea (3.45- 4:00 pm)

Presentation Session 2: Intersections of Identity (4:00-5.45 pm) Chair- Dr. Muraleedharan Tharayil

  1. Invited paper: ‘Christian Response to Sexual Minorities in India’– Rev Fr Philip Kuruvilla, General Coordinator, Ecumenical Solidarity for HIV/AIDS(ESHA), NCCI(National Council of Churches in India).
  2. Revisiting guilt- A qualitative study of gay men in Odisha: Jayaprakash Mishra, Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad.
  3. Reaching out to Queer Women-A study on ‘Sahayatritrika’ in Kerala: Agaja P, MPhil Sociology, University of Hyderabad
  4. The intersections of class and sexuality in social media space- A Case study from Thiruvananthapuram City, Abhishek Sekharan and Disha Saxena, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum.
  5. Body as a resistant political tool in Jayan Cherian’s Ka-Bodyscapes: Rahana Mansur, Research Scholar, MG University.
  6. Understanding Masculinity among the Female Bodied: Exploring Construction of Identities from Small Towns of West Bengal, Kolika Mitra, Ph.D. Scholar, Centre for Studies of Social Systems, JNU.

Cultural Evening (6.00-7.00 pm)

17th December (Day 2)

Plenary Session 3 (9:30- 10:15 am): ‘Mourning and Carnival: Cosmopolitics and Queer Politics’ – Dr. Reshma Bharadwaj, Assistant Prof, Dept of Social Work,  Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Tirur Regional Centre.

Presentation Session 3: Queer Portrayals on paper and visual frames (10:15-12:00 pm) Chair- Dr. Reshma Bharadwaj

  1. Kamala Das- a Pioneer of Queer Literature: Kishor Kumar, Vice President-Queerala
  2. Queer Ink and LGBTIQ subculture in India– Akshitha Javahar, MA English, Govt Arts College, Trivandrum.
  3. Contextualizing Queer question in contemporary Indian Theatre: Neethu Das, Research Scholar, Dept. of English and Comparative Literature, Central University of Kerala, Kasargod
  4. Revisioning Queer Identities in the performing arts of Kerala: Sephora Jose and Gowripriya Rajan, MA English, Sacred Heart College, Thevara
  5. Ambiguous Sexuality in ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ (1891): Dilip Kumar, Writer, Trivandrum
  6. Redefining Gender and Beauty Markers-Trans Beauty Pageants as Subversive Performances: Arya Mohan S, MA English, The English and Foreign language University, Secundarabad

Panel Discussion 2: Queer and Inclusiveness (12:00-1:00pm)
Dr. Tiju Thomas– Professor, Chennai IIT (Moderator)

Panelists

  1. Thaddeus Alfonso- LGBT Mental health expert and Clinical Social Worker, Chennai
  2. Madhumita Venkarataman-Workplace inclusion specialist, Bangalore
  3. Vihaan Peethambar- Event Management Professional, Kochi.
  4. Shana Susan– Teaching professional and Book Reviewer, Kochi.

Lunch- 1:00- 2:00 pm

Presentation Session 4: Queer Lives Matter (2:00- 3:45 pm)
(Chair- Danish Sheikh)

  1. Impact of Family Jurisprudence on Queer Lives-a Queer Critique:  Sourav Mandal, PhD Scholar, National Law School India University, Bangalore.
  2. LGBTQ+ Inclusion at Indian Workplaces: Ritesh Rajani, Employee Resource Group Leader, Bangalore.
  3. Disrupting the Hijra Stereotype: Negotiations of Femininity in Tirunangai Rites of Transition– Shilpa M and Liza Tom, Integrated M.A, Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Hyderabad.
  4. Do you want to be a dwarf, giant, mermaid or invisible? – An exploration using Ego states model in Transactional Analysis: Veena N S, Senior Talent Development Partner, Adobe, Bangalore.
  5. Isolation, Assimilation or Mobility- In Anticipation of Indian ‘Gaybourhoods’, Brinda S M.
  6. Ayurveda- The Non-Man and Embodiment– Malavika Binny, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU and Uthara G, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum.

Panel Discussion 4: Queer Kerala (4:30-5:30pm)
Santhosh Kumar-MAYA, Thrissur (Moderator)

Panelists

  1. Kaveesher Krishnan, Team Leader, Tech Support Unit, Kerala State AIDS Control Society(KSACS), Trivandrum
  2. Vaikhari Aryat– Research Scholar, University of Hyderabad.
  3. Sree S Sree– OASIS Cultural Society, Trivandrum.
  4. Dr Shalin Varghese– Faculty, University College, Trivandrum.

Closing Function (4:30-5:00)
Special Guest: Jayan K Cherian, Poet and Film Maker