Northwestern’s fifth annual queer and trans studies conference, Fucking the Law: Love as/at the Limit, will take place from May 25-27, 2012. With keynote speakers Andrea J. Ritchie and Theodore W. Jennings and with special guest Owen Daniel-McCarter from the Transformative Justice Law Project, this conference is shaping up to be the best Queertopia! yet! This year’s theme encourages invites scholars, artists and activists from all disciplines to fuck the law; that is, to explore the violent / erotic tension between sexuality and “law” in the broadest sense possible. Interpret “law” as juridical line, principle, system, boundary, limit, totality, rule, norm, more, threshold, the possible. Interpret “fuck” as to create, to make love (to), to caress, to make come, to scandalize, to say “yes” to, to say “no” to, to subvert, to protest, to transform; to prove, to imagine and to embody that things could be otherwise.

Audience registration is available by simply paying the registration fee here:
https://www.wepay.com/tickets/view/140950

All registrants receive the same perks as presenters: among other treats, free entry to opening and closing receptions, breakfast and lunch on 5/26 and 5/27, coffee/tea throughout panels and keynote talks, a queer ice cream sundae bar (on Sunday of course), a full conference packet, and the best conference give-away ever!

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Come get your sexy on with queer and trans NU students from all schools and campuses at minibar! $3 gets you two drinks including MARTINIS during minibar’s swanky new theme night, Filthy Famous Fridays. Dress it up for a posh two-hour bash. Friends, lovers and allies welcome (as always), but you need a Wildcard to get the drink deal (unless we have extra of course). Free coat-check for anyone in our party.

Mark your calendars, you lovely people! BE THERE.

RSVP Here: http://www.facebook.com/events/293137797414786/

FEBRUARY QUEER SALON — With special guest Dwight McBride, Dean of the Graduate School and editor of James Baldwin Now

James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room

Tuesday, February 28 from 6-8pm

General Salon Info: We typically meet once a month at the end of the month to chat about the selected book/s over a delicious catered dinner (from a rotating selection of local restaurants) with an overabundance of desserts to indulge in afterwards. All meetings take place in the Graduate Student Commons, Seabury Hall (600 Haven St, Evanston) unless otherwise noted. Intense literary theory is welcome but not at all expected–everyone is encouraged to hang out, even if you haven’t finished the book. A one-time, $5 fee covers six books for the school year as well as all of the edibles! If you’re not already on the listserv and want more details on getting books, email Rory (rory dot sykes at gmail).

Best of all, admission to this event is FREE for students associated with QPGSA and CGSA! BUT, spaces are limited! People on our listserv should have received a link to sign-up. Those not on our listserv, e-mail us and we’ll send you a link. Act quickly before tickets run out!

Do you have an inner figure skating diva waiting to be unleashed? Then come on out for

QUEER ICE SKATING!

Saturday, January 14th starting at 7PM in Grant Park. A social event for Northwestern and University of Chicago undergraduate and graduate students!

The Queer Salon is back up and running for the Winter Quarter with exciting classic reads to keep you occupied through these long, cold nights of January and February!

JANUARY

Jean Genet’s Our Lady of the Flowers and Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis

Tuesday, January 31 from 6-8pm

FEBRUARY — With special guest Dwight McBride, Dean of the Graduate School and editor of James Baldwin Now

James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room

Tuesday, February 28 from 6-8pm

General Salon Info: We typically meet once a month at the end of the month to chat about the selected book/s over a delicious catered dinner (from a rotating selection of local restaurants) with an overabundance of desserts to indulge in afterwards. All meetings take place in the Graduate Student Commons, Seabury Hall (600 Haven St, Evanston) unless otherwise noted. Intense literary theory is welcome but not at all expected–everyone is encouraged to hang out, even if you haven’t finished the book. A one-time, $5 fee covers six books for the school year as well as all of the edibles! If you’re not already on the listserv and want more details on getting books, email Rory (rory dot sykes at gmail).

Open Call for the 3rd Annual QUEERGASM!
An Interdisciplinary Performance Event

Download this information as a PDF here

WANTED butch daddies, flaming outlaws, subversive femmes, androgyne-savants, transgender warriors, radical crips, ex-patriot sissies, diesel dykes, intersex cyborgs, poly-love traffickers, gender-bent mindfuckers, divine bears, and sisters of perpetual indulgence WHO roam the alleyways, cross borders n railroad tracks, hide in plain sight and beam brilliantly in unlikely times or places to make performance art, manifestos, *installations, rhymes, dance and jest.

WHY? because we want to know what makes you queergasm! we want to hear and see something other than mass media-generated mythologies! we want to meet you, hang out with you, converse with you, intrigue and be intrigued by you during an evening of debaucherous and political, satirical and poetical performances.

HOW? by coming together to create an evening of interdisciplinary performance to close the 5th annual queertopia conference.

WHEN? saturday, may 26, 2012 @ 8pm

WHERE? defibrillator performance art gallery – 1136 north milwaukee avenue, chicago, il

WHAT we need from you:

• proposal (250 words max for a performance of no more than 15 min. or a durational performance installation),
• 2 page resume (include one for each participant) OR artist or group bio (250 words max),
• 6 jpegs of most recent performances OR a link to video of most recent performances (5 min. max).

the evening will consist of 6-8 performances and all artists will be compensated with a modest stipend for their participation.

*one artist (or group) will be selected to create a performance installation for defibrillator’s storefront windows. the installation will be showcased two weeks prior to and throughout the event.

a sound system and bare lights will be available at the space, so plan your tech needs accordingly (we will have tech rehearsal the week of the show–specific times tba).

please e-mail proposals and/or questions to nuqpgsa[at]gmail.com with ‘queergasm!’ as the subject heading.

application deadline: march 1, 2012
notifications: april 1, 2012

Greetings to all the incoming Northwestern graduate students! Come visit our booth and talk to us on Monday, September 12 from 12:45pm – 2:45pm at the Norris University Center. Learn about who we are, what we do, and how you can get involved. We’ll have some free goodies to pass out!

We’ve FINALLY posted up some pictures from this year. There is a glitch in the photo uploading system, so for the time being we’re just displaying various pictures from our 2010-2011 events. In the future, photos will be captioned and categorized by event for easier reference. Enjoy!

Registration is now open for Queertopia! 4.0. Electronic tickets are available on our WePay page. Upon purchase we will receive your name, so just show up on May 27 with some valid identification and have a fabulous time at our conference!

The schedule of events is now available on our Queertopia page. A printable copy of the schedule is also available in pdf or jpg formats.