Dreaming Trans: Method, Sex, and the Unconscious – Seminar Series at McGill
This term I’m offering a three-part seminar series at McGill University, hosted by the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF) and the Sex in Theory Working Group. The series brings together psychoanalysis and Transgender Studies in a participatory format, combining discussion, film screening, and collective inquiry.
Series Description
Trans is a fever dream. Erupting at the edges of overheated fantasy, in contemporary scenes of moral panic the figure of the trans//sexual haunts the collective psyche, used as a political scapegoat or release valve for anxieties about sex, embodiment, and cohesion of the nation-state. What does it mean to think with trans livability amongst a social imaginary that insists, if not simply on trans destruction, then on their absorption of antagonisms and disavowed affects? Further, if we take seriously the psychoanalytic dream’s capacity to compromise, to wish, to overdetermine, and to leak jouissance, then what becomes possible for the trans dreamer within this field? Our conversations will unfold across three sites of inquiry, each holding the tension between trans-fantasy and the political fantasy of transness. By thinking trans together, this participatory series insists on opposing cisteria through the sustained practice of collective psychic movement and play.
Schedule
Session 1 – T4T Methodologies
Tuesday, March 10, 4:30–6:30
Session 2 – Transmasculine sexuality in film, the archive, and the bathhouse
Film Screening: Desire Lines (2024)
Tuesday, March 24, 5:30–8:00
Session 3 – Transphobic Countertransference
Tuesday, April 7, 4:30–6:30
Location: Provided upon registration (in person, McGill campus)
Who Should Attend
The series is open to all and particularly welcomes Two-Spirit, trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming participants; scholars and students in Transgender Studies; and those interested in psychoanalysis. Participants are asked to commit to attending all sessions and completing brief readings in advance.
Registration
Registration is required:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJcAHiHnpJWITvprEi4x9QCsqyGpihEg07wFnqJiO2t4ZyOA/viewform
See you there!
