Youth, Sexuality and Self- Expression in the Arab World (From Apr 6, 2011 to Apr 7, 2011) :: Beirut.com

A Conference And Call For Papers

Sexuality implies biology and the physiological bodies of men and women that are the same all over the world. Yet, sexuality is regulated and experienced in a very different manner from one culture to the next. These cultural coding of sexuality have deep repercussions on the way young people, or even children, are introduced to and experience sexuality in each culture, and how they make decisions about their own behavior.

This inter-disciplinary conference will explore some of the research conducted in this field, examine how culture, religion, social and political values, economics and science shape and define sexuality in each culture, with a particular focus on youth under the age of 30, and explore different manners in which young people in the Middle East or among migrant communities outside the region express sexual themes through cultural and artistic production.

These issues will be tackled by academic researchers, along with artists who have grappled with the subject matter in their work. We anticipate that issues discussed at the conference will contribute to shaping some youth-related research agendas in the Middle East in the years ahead. This conference is organized by the Goethe-Institute and the youth program of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at AUB. We invite abstracts related to the above topic from all relevant academic fields and from artists and others involved with youth in their communities. We anticipate that proposed papers would summarize the work and research that the authors are already engaged in.

Possible themes:
1. Gender, feminism(s) and the struggle for sexual equality
2. Health/medicine regulation of sexuality
3. Reproductive health and sexuality education
4. Sexualizing the bodies: Perceptions and expressions
5. Beyond heterosexuality: LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex) challenging and reproducing sexual hegemony
6. Sexuality construction and Orientalism (colonialism) perspective
7. Deconstructing sexualities: Religious and cultural perspectives
8. Sexuality and the state: Policies, laws, and permissible and forbidden subjects for public discussion
9. Pleasure, desire and sexuality
10. Sexuality and media: Cyberspace, the media and online social networks constructing and deconstructing sexual values, expectations, relations and practices.
11. How sexuality in advertising, cinema, television and other media influence youth’s attitudes and behavior
12. The arts performing, reproducing and questioning sexualities
13. The political economy of sexuality
14. Discourses on sex among youth in cyberspace and other arenas
15. The sexual behavior and experiences of youth
16. Other issues related to youth, sexuality and self-expression in the Arab World.

Please submit proposals to: Mail Symboldirector@beirut.goethe.org
Proposals should contain:
* Title
* Abstract - 200 words
* Biography - 100 words maximum
* Keywords - 5 maximum

AUB expects papers of between 2500-5000 words long. A total of 20 presentations will be made over the two days of the conference, and the authors of papers accepted will have their transport to Beirut and accommodations paid by the conference organizers.

Deadlines:
Abstracts to be submitted by February 6, 2011; decisions on papers to be presented will be made by February 18, 2011.