"Let’s Talk About Sex"
Histories of Sexuality in Australia and New Zealand

Macquarie University, 2 – 3 October 2008

This two-day conference, hosted by Macquarie University’s Centre for Cultural History, will explore histories of sex and sexuality in Australia and New Zealand.  The conference aims to provide a forum for discussion of the range of discourses which have shaped sexual identities and practices in Australia and New Zealand and the linguistic and cultural frameworks within which individuals have articulated their sexuality.  Recent histories of sexuality have increasingly considered the impact of space and the material environment on sexuality and the conference will reflect on the significance of this trend in the historiography of the region.  The conference will provide an exciting opportunity for colleagues to debate new developments in the field and it is hoped that selected conference papers will form the basis of an edited collection on current research in Australian and New Zealand histories of sexuality.

Proposals are invited for papers which might consider one or more of the following themes:

• Space and material culture
• Oral histories and personal narratives
• Heteronormativity
• Queer histories
• “Passing”
• Race and sexuality
• Comparative histories

Contributions will also be accepted for a strand on European, Asian and international histories.  Papers from postgraduates are particularly invited.  There will be a workshop for postgraduate and Early Career researchers on the afternoon of 1st October.

Send your name, the title of your paper, a brief biographical note and a 200-300 word abstract to both Lisa Featherstone (Lisa.Featherstone@humn.mq.edu.au) and Rebecca Jennings (Rebecca.Jennings@humn.mq.edu.au).

Abstracts due: 30 April 2008.