Professor Jonathan D. Katz will present: The Fright Wig and the Gray Flannel Suit: Envisioning a Communal Queer Ethos in Warhol

While Andy Warhol’s queer art and his queer identity have long been recognized as contiguous, sexuality remains largely incidental to Warhol’s achievement, and utterly marginal to the general perception of his amoral, even unethical character. Using the unknown–and very queer– unexpurgated text of a famous 1963 interview with Gene Swenson that was ruthlessly edited to remove all references to queerness, Katz will argue the opposite, that Warhol’s work is best understood as something then quite fragile and new—a species of queer standpoint epistemology, even a new queer ethos. In the process, Katz reframes some of Warhol’s most recognized work as structured by a coherent, ethical worldview.

Professor Madhu Purnima Kishwar will present a Gender War Rhetoric Versus Reality of Laws Enacted for Strengthening Women’s Rights in India

This presentation will provide in depth analysis of three major laws enacted in recent decades depth analysis of three major laws enacted in recent decades for the ostensible purpose of “empowering women”–namely the anti-dowry law, laws against domestic violence and the anti-rape law–as illustrative examples of the growing gap between the declared pious intent behind enacting pro-women laws and their actual performance when implemented on the ground.

How to Book: Please request a space on this workshop by emailing centreforteachinginnovation@westminster.ac.uk and putting Westminster Research Conference in the subject line.