"If it spins on a reel, it's gotta be real
But 'real' in real life just remind us of film
And now you're saying something's like a movie when it's real
Like a film's much realer than anything you feel
In a Cinemetropolis (In a Cinemetropolis)"
As I previously mentioned, our first week in Utrecht was dedicated to attending and participating in NOI♀SE's summer school. Every year since NOI♀SE began as a grant program through the European Union, their summer school has been focused on a different theme surrounding European women's studies. This year's program, coincidentally occurring during NOI♀SE's 20th anniversary, was focused on the theme of feminist theory as exhibited through moving and still images. This year was actually the first time the program has operated without the EU grant. Due to this funding restriction, this year was also the first time the summer school was only a week long. To give you an idea of just how intensely this time constraint impacted our lives, let me take you through a typical day in the life of a NOI♀SE participant...
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In the midst of a NOI♀SE lecture. In case you're searching,
I'm hidden in the very back, as per usual. |
Each day started with two lectures, lasting from 9:30am to 12:30pm. The lectures varied in subject, ranging from the influence of affect on perceived bodily differences to the deconstruction of neocolonialist views exhibited in Avatar, and even covering the role of surveillance cameras in gendering the human body. To say the lectures were dense is an understatement. When we emerged - dazed and more than confused - from the lecture room, we were given a lunch break to begin to process the information.
Following our break, we were separated into discussion groups led by the program tutors. It was in these groups, lasting for two hours, that we were able to dissect the lectures and understand the wealth of knowledge that had been thrown at us. Following our discussions, each group returned to the lecture room to participate in a plenary session in which we challenged the professors from the morning to expand upon their lectures. By the time we finished plenary, it was around 5:30pm, but the day was always far from over. The first eight hours of each session only accounted for the academic portion of that day.
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One of our group's amazing tutors made us mind-maps everyday
to help conceptualize the lectures. It gives you an idea of how expansive they were. |
Following plenary, we were given a dinner break. Some nights we had social events at bars or bookstores, other nights we were free to process in whatever way we pleased. However, each night we reassembled for optional social discussions that covered topics such as feminist porn, conceptualizing space and time, and BDSM: kinky sexuality. Suffice it to say these sessions were not exactly the type of academic discussion I was used to having, even in the liberal haven of Pioneer Valley. The discussion groups always generated plenty of conversations, leaving the evening portion to end around 9:30pm or 10:00pm, making our NOI♀SE schedule a 12 hour affair.
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| The group, somehow still standing, after five days of feminist theory boot camp. |
In all, NOI♀SE was a five day affair, with each day consisting of 12+ hours of feminist-centered conversations. To which I say, "Hell. Yes." With such an intensive exploration into feminist theory, it's hard to properly explain all of the concepts we covered in just one week. I have about 20 pages of handwritten notes and would willingly talk with any one about any of the lectures (see below for the full list). However, to spare the sanity of those who don't see the awesomeness of 60 hours worth of feminist theory (how could you not?), take a look at this blog constructed by my discussion group. Or, if you're opposed to that whole 'reading' thing, look at this beautiful, beautiful movie created by another discussion group. It focuses mostly on a lecture we had surrounding the impact of surveillance in our (arguably) post-panoptic world, but it covers most of the other lectures as well. Plus, the work(wo)manship is absolutely stunning.
So that, in yet another endless rant, is week one for the WGSE crew. I know I promised my last post was my last logistic post, but hey, I'm the one that makes the rules here. Keep reading for next weeks updates: pictures of Utrecht, a group picture, a visit to the Hague, and reflections on a seminar by the legendary Rosi Braidotti....
List of Presenters at NOI♀SE:
Sights, Sounds and Movements: Questioning the Visual
Dr. Marta Zarzycka, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Moving Moving Monsters: Affective Encounters with Bodily Difference
Dr. Bettina Papenburg, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Neoliberalism and the Sensing Body
Dr. Kyla Schuller, Rutgers University, the United States
Rhythm, Stillness and Everything In-between: A Feminist Perspective on Time and Visuality in Documentary Film
Dr. Domitilla Olivieri, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Time and Space through the Listening Subject
Sharon Stewart, MA, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Street Views and Surveillance: Framing and Un-Framing the Gendered Body
Dr. Louise Wolthers, Hasselblad Foundation, Sweden
Ghosts and Selves: Stills, Loops and the Feminist Politics of Vulnerability
Prof. Anu Koivunen, Stockholm University, Sweden
Vitality and Inertness, the Living and the Dead: The Moving Image and Empathetic Alignment
Dr. Robin Curtis, New York University's Global Academic Center, Berlin
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