This two-day symposium addresses the politics of borders as they intersect with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, and race. Featuring film screenings, poetry readings, performances, and panel discussions, it brought together artists, activists, and scholars to further examine the pressing issues of identities, borders, and boundaries.

Bodies at the Borders accompanied installations by artist Carlos Motta on view at UC Santa Cruz and at SFMOMA, the latter as part of the exhibition Soft Power curated by Eungie Joo.

Download program notes here

Participants:
ALOK, writer and performance artist
Anjali Arondekar, associate professor of feminist studies, UCSC
Demian Diné Yazhi’, Diné, artist
Che Gossett, writer, archivist, and Ph.D. candidate, trans/gender studies, Rutgers
Denise Ferreira da Silva, professor and director of the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia
Gabriel Arkles, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU
Gina Dent, associate professor of feminist studies, UCSC
Jackie Vimo, scholar, policy analyst for the National Immigration Law Center (NILG)
J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Kanaka Maoli, professor of American studies, Wesleyan University
Joseph M. Pierce, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, associate professor of Latin American studies, Stony Brook University
Julio Salgado, artist
Karma Chávez, scholar, activist, and associate professor of Mexican American and Latina/o studies, University of Texas, Austin
Karolina López, trans activist, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Mariposas Sin Fronteras
Maya Mikdashi, assistant professor of women and gender studies and Middle Eastern studies, Rutgers
Neferti Tadiar, professor of women’s studies, Barnard College, Columbia University
Pete Sigal, professor of history and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies, Duke University
Razan AlSalah, filmmaker, media artist
Sherene Razack, distinguished professor of women and gender studies, UCLA
Silky Shah, executive director, Detention Watch Network
Yosimar Reyes, poet and activist
Sima Shakhsari, assistant professor of gender, women, and sexuality studies, University of Minnesota

DAY 1: UCSC

DAY 2: SFMOMA