Trauma, memory, reparation: the lessons of Black feminism
Mackda Ghebremariam Tesfaù, Marie Moïse and Lorenzo Bernini A common thread connects coloniality, slavery and racism in a suspended time…
Seminars and conferences
A critical anthropology of family differences: looking from the margins
Taking inspiration from two recent ethnographic works, by Corinna Sabrina Guerzoni (University of Bologna) and Alice Sophie Sarcinelli (Université de…
Making Possible Bonds. The Role of Higher Education.
The event is based on the presentation of research data regarding the training needs of socio-educational and health professionals for…
Sex as a Political Category to Be Destroyed: On the Lesbian Writing and Thought of Monique Wittig
In occasion of the publication of Corpo a corpo con il linguaggio. Il pensiero e l’opera letteraria di Monique Wittig by Eva Feole…
Cursed blessings. Sexual Pleasure and Radical Dissent in Western Christianity
This cycle of seminars aims to investigate the relationships between sexual transgressions and religious radical dissent in the early modern…
The Neocatholic Hypothesis: A Politology of Anti-Gender Movements
As part of the cycle of seminars organized by the Standing Group “Gender and Politics” of the Italian Society of…
Online Seminars
The research center PoliTeSse is pleased to invite you to a series of online meetings to be held in the second…
When post is not after but affect. A Spinozian postcritique
Mariano Croce Postcritique is often portrayed as a rupture with critical methods studying power relations and domination mechanisms, as well…
Including Diversity in Research – 2nd edition
After the success of the first edition of the series of seminars “Including Diversity in Research”, the PhD Course in…
From the International Day against Homo-Lesbo-Bi-Transphobia to the World Refugee Day
The event Diffusioni of the University of Verona welcome two events promoted by the CUG (University of Verona), in partenrship with Political…
Making LGBTQI+ books, creating spaces: Antigone, Asterisco, Libre! and other resistances
Lia Arrigoni, Mauro Muscio, Laura ‘Saura’ Fontanella, Marta ‘Martu’ Palvarini, Marta Cotta Irene Villa, Elisa Virgili An online discussion about…
The Fall from Grace: Religious Skepticism and Sexuality in the Early Modern Mediterranean World
Umberto Grassi Discussants: Lucio Biasiori, University of Padua & Philip Soergel, UMD The seminar is organised by Nathan & Jeanette Miller…
Book Presentation: Intersex. A Multidisciplinary Anthology
Presentation of the book: Intersex. Antologia Multidisciplinare (Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2019). With the editor Michela Balocchi (PoliTeSse), and Stefano Osella (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology…
Possible Ties: Researches and Instruments for Social Services Working with LGB Families
The lesson will present the research process and main results of Family Lives, a multiple method research in collaboration with…
Futures, Technologies and Bodies from Donna Haraway to Xenofeminism
The relation between bodies and new technologies opens up unforeseen political horizons. PoliTeSse presents a seminar to explore how feminist…
Unlikely Families. The Inclusion of LGBT Families in Social Services Between Theories and Practices
How do LGBT+ families challenge routine professional practice with couples and families? How to build LGBT-inclusive environments for children and…
The Question of Intersectionality
PoliTeSse will welcome Professor Sabrina Marchetti for the seminar “The Question of Intersectionality”. In this seminar the debate around the notion…
Introduction to Postcolonial Studies
PoliTeSse will welcome Professor Sandra Ponzanesi (Utrecht University) for the seminar “Introduction to Postcolonial Studies”. In this seminar we will make an…
Port* Apert* – Open Doors – Talks, conferences and seminars
The PolitTeSse Research Centre presents Port* Apert* (“Open Doors”), a series of seminars, talks and conferences spread over the course of…
The Unforeseen Emergence. The Mouvement of Lesbians in Italy in the 70s and in the 80s
Lesbians do not exist in history, each one must impose its own existence, overcome the frontier of compulsory heterosexuality, overcome…
The Name of the Crisis. Anthropology and Politics
Taking into consideration the canonical theses of political thought regarding passions, relationships, activities and their forms, Federica Giardini‘s book – I nomi…
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. New Challenges for Social Work
Sexual orientation and gender identity are underexplored dimensions in the field of social work. Therefore, professionals are still lacking effective…
The Dawn of Bad Trans. Stories, Glances and Experiences of My Transgender Generation
Spanning over a period of approximately forty years and underscoring the profound changes happening throughout it, Porpora Marcasciano traces her own genealogy…
“Gender Ideology”, Women’s Reproductive Rights and New Families
The Research Center PoliTeSse introduces its members’ researches on some critical issues of the contemporary political debate, such as the…
Digital Stretch Marks
Smagliature Digitali (Digital Stretch Marks) is a book curated by Carlotta Cossutta, Valentina Greco, Arianna Mainardi and Stefania Voli, which has been…
Port* Apert*
The PolitTeSse Research Centre presents Port* Apert*, a series of seminars spread over the course of the 2018-2019 academic session…
Gender’s Claim
This seminar originates from the work of the interdisciplinary research centre Politesse. Starting from the studies on the notion of…
The Politics of Juridification: The Actor’s Revenge
Mariano Croce (University La Sapienza, Roma) Giulia Selmi (University of Verona) Massimo Prearo (University of Verona) What happens when sexual…
Antagonistic Subjectivations: Frantz Fanon and Postcolonial Critique
Sandro Luce (University of Salerno) Discussants: Daniele Bassi (University of Ferrara) Lorenzo Bernini (University of Verona) Fanon’s reflections concerning identity…
Postcritique: The Actor’s Revenge
Mariano Croce (Sapienza University, Rome) Natascia Tosel (University of Padova) Adriano Habed (University of Verona) The event will centre on…
Norm or Freedom? Images of Homosexuality in Eighteeen Century’s Venice
Tommaso Scaramella (University of Verona) Federico Barbierato (University of Verona) Defining sexual habits has always involved a wide range of…
On Polyamory as an Institution
Anna Lorenzetti (University of Bergamo) Luca Pes (University of Piemonte Orientale) Presentation of the book ‘Più cuori e una capanna.…
Port* Apert* – Open Doors
The PolitTeSse Research Centre presents Porte Aperte (“Open Doors”), a series of seminars spread over the course of the 2018-2019…
Asylum Seekers. Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
The conference will investigate the condition of LGBTI asylum seekers in Italy with the participation of researchers and activists. Participation…
Studying Gender and Sexuality in Italian University: Genealogies, Challenges, Perspectives
Studies on gender and sexuality have always been carried out not only inside, but also outside the university. Moreover, today’s…
‘Illegitimate Sexualities’ in Times of Homonormativity and Homonationalism
Panel at the annual conference of the Association for Social and Political Philosophy Following the Orlando shooting in June 2016,…
Masculine Shapes and Identities: History, Society and Law
In collaboration with: Dipartimenti di Scienze Politiche e di Giurisprudenza – Università di Perugia Dipartimento di Storia, Culture e Civiltà…
Goliarda Sapienza: Writing as an Art of Freedom
Alberica Bazzoni (University of Warwick) Carlotta Cossutta (Università del Piemonte orientale) From a position of marginality and eccentricity, Sapienza gives…
Thinking research between activism and academy / thinking academy between research and activism
Egon Botteghi (PoliTeSse) Massimo Prearo (PoliTeSse, Università di Verona) Internal workshop reserved to the PoliTeSse research Team with the participation…
Anarcha-feminism and the ontology of the transindividual
Chiara Bottici (New School for Social Research) In the last few years, it has become a commonplace to state that…
Gender, sexuality, chronicity: The experience of chronic illness in biographical narratives
Narrare il genere nel contesto della salute: la costruzione delle maschilità nelle esperienze di diabete, Valeria Quaglia, University of Milano…
Queer theories: An Introduction
What are queer theories? How do they conceive of sexuality? How many sexes do they theorize? What is their relation…
Intersex/dsd: from pathologization to human rights?
Speakers: Michela Balocchi, Markus Bauer, Massimo Di Grazia, Stefano Osella, Daniela Truffer Chairs: Lorenzo Bernini, Michela Balocchi Intersex variations continue…
Transparent – the experience of transition in the viewpoint of sons
“When my dad told me the first time, he gave me a leaflet on transgender people. I never read it,…
QuIR (Queer Italia Rete): Queer(ing) Anglo/Italian Theories and Practices
This is the first of five workshops sponsored by the Queer Italia Network, led by Dr Charlotte Ross (University of…
“Heteromasculinities”. Sexual experiences and constructions of masculinity among young Moroccan men in Europe
with Vulca Fidolini, sociologist, University of Strasbourg This presentation will analyse hegemonic models of masculinity among a group of young…
Critical views on masculinities
Valeria Ribeiro Corossacz, anthropologist, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia Ethnography of a dominant subject. Massimo Modesti, intercultural pedagogist and…
Visual Politics: Toward an Anti-Racist Esthetics
Mackda Ghebremariam Tesfau’ The black body, especially the black female body, has been historically subject to a paradoxical process of…
The Concept of “Homonationalism”
Massimo Prearo “I note that some homosexual subjects are complicit with heterosexual nationalist formations rather than inherently or automatically excluded…
Thinking about gender in times of neoliberalism and neofundamentalism
Elisa A.G. Arfini, Carlotta Cossutta In times of neoliberalism and neofundamentalist crusades against “gender”, what does it mean to assert…
Held to ransom or liberated: female sexuality between Fertility Day and Gynepunk
Valeria Venditti, Carlotta Cossutta The laboratories Gynepunk are spaces of “open source” gynecology implemented by groups of women that make…
Everyday Utopias
Mariano Croce, Valeria Venditti Everyday utopias by Davina Cooper, Professor of Law & Political Theory at the University of Kent, is…
Desires of the Self: Frantz Fanon and Carla Lonzi
Vinzia Fiorino, Silvia Chiletti, Lorenzo Bernini Presentation of the Italian translation of the book ‘Black Skin, White Masques’ by Frantz…
Fighting against homo-bi-transphobia within the military and police forces. Tensions, interventions and good practices
The seminar will interrogate the good practices in the fight against homo-bi-transphobia within Italian military and police institutions, such as…
Lee Edelman, The Theft of Jouissance
The tension between psychoanalysis and philosophy centers on philosophy’s will to establish the realm of thought as distinct from, and…
Desiring the Family. Claims, Frames and Defences
International conference organized by: Mélanie Gourarier (Post-doc fellow, LISST-Cas) Massimo Prearo (PoliTeSse / Politics and Theories of Sexuality – University of…
Theories and Politics of Sexuality and the Body
Carlotta Cossutta, Barbara Verzini, Valeria Mercandino, Arianna Mainardi After the first meeting of the PhD seminar “Theories and Politics of…
Too Queer or Not Queer Enough. Surrogate Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Queer Spawn
«In considering the act of storytelling as an instrument for galvanizing community empowerment, I would like to publicly share my…
Alias. Transgender People’s Right to Name, Education and Work
In Italy, sex reassignment surgery is no longer compulsory in order for transgender people to change their name on their…
From Objects of Care to Subjects of Desire. Women and Men with Disabilities talk about Sex
Which bodies can be “sexual”? How much does sexuality matter to being “real men” and “real women”? The sexuality of…
(Un-)Doing Family. From Jesus’ Radical Project to the Early Christian Reception of Genesis 1-2
The seminar will be divided into two parts. In the first part, Mara Rescio will focus on the negative attitudes…
“Keep Your Hands off the Children”. The (Pseudo)scientific Arguments of No-gender Discourses
The debate on same-sex parenting, that the discussion about DDL Cirinnà has strongly intensified in the last year, highlighted the…
Surrogacy: Altruism, Self-determination or Exploitation?
Surrogacy is a practice of medically assisted procreation that allows one or two people to become parents thanks to the…
Jean-Pierre Boulé: Erotism, Desire and Sadism in Sartre
This seminar proposes a focus on eroticism and the sexual act in the work and biography of Sartre, and in…
Theories and Politics of Sexuality and the Body
Maria Livia Alga, Giulia Angonese, Dany Carnassale, Gianmaria Colpani, Tim Huzar The PhD seminar “Theories and Politics of Sexuality and…
Unexpected Parents: Trans* People Challenging Binarism in Kinship
Egon Botteghi and Laurella Arietti Trans* parents are subject to a heavy social stigma that relegates them to invisibility. Yet,…
Being Lesbian, Gay, Bisex, Trans* and Parents: Legal Protection and Prospects of Reform in Italy.
Anna Lorenzetti The seminar aims at offering an overview of some key legal issues surrounding LGBT parenthood in Italy, which…
Tribadi, Sodomiti, Invertite and Invertiti, Pederasti, Femminelle, Ermafroditi… A History of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Gender Transgressions in Italy
In the last decades, historical studies in Italy have been paying to sexual minorities an attention beyond comparison in Humanities,…
Pride Politics: Sexuality, Subjectivity and Social movements
One-day Conference presenting the collective book edited by Massimo Prearo, Politiche dell’orgoglio. Sessualità, soggettività e movimenti sociali (ETS, series àltera /…
Sexuality, Intimacy and Family Lives
Jacqui Gabb (The Open University) and Ana Cristina Santos (University of Coimbra) Critical reflections on sexuality and family lives over…
Intersex: International Developments
Morgan Carpenter (Organisation Intersex International – Australia) introduced by Michela Balocchi Dominated by North American activists, the first wave intersex…
Educating for Diversity at School: Social, Political and Institutional Conflicts in the Cultural and Pedagogic Field
Beatrice Gusmano and Anna Maria Piussi, introduced by Massimo Prearo In March 2014, the Italian Ministry of Education, University and…
State, Law, Sexuality: Mapping the Legal Recognition Strategies of LGBTQIA People
Mariano Croce Anna Lorenzetti, Matteo Nicolini In the sphere of affective and kinship relations, Western states’ regulatory and policy frameworks have…
Homosexuality Before Its Modern Invention, in Memory of John Boswell.
Tommaso Scaramella, Umberto Grassi, Vincenzo Lagioia Fernanda Alfieri, Lorenzo Bernini John Boswell (1947-1994), Professor at Yale University and author of…
Families and Educational Contexts: Doing Research in a Conflicting, Diverse Territory
Chiara Sità, Massimo Modesti Within a phase of deep social change and increase of differences, the relationship between families and…
A Ghost is Haunting Europe: On the Uses and Abuses of the Concept of Gender
Lorenzo Bernini In its most common understanding, the term “gender” primarily refers today to the complementarity of femininity and masculinity,…
LGBT Rights: The Expert, the Political and the Movements
Daniel Borrillo Introduced by Massimo Prearo The meeting will highlight the crucial stages of the mobilization that led to the…
Women’s Political Subjectivity and Democracy in Italy: Past, Present and Future Perspectives
Tristana Dini, Cristina Gramolini, Valeria Mercandino, Annalisa Marino, Serena Sapegno, Chiara Zamboni Orsetta Giolo, Lucia Re, Olivia Guaraldo A round…
Hurrah for the Double Academic ID for Trans* Students!
Marzio Barbagli, Anna Lorenzetti Laurella Arietti, Alessandra Cordiano On 23 September 2014 the Academic Senate of the University of Verona…
LGBT Movements: Models, Strategies and Ethics of the Research in an Activist Context
Massimo Prearo, Elisa A.G. Arfini How to do the political history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movements? Within…
“Modus Operandi”
The research situations conceived to observe and analyze the reality involve some epistemological and methodological problems that call into question…
Islam and Homosexuality
Sara Creta, Idriss Amid Lorenzo Bernini Chris Belloni’s documentary film ‘I am Gay and Muslim’ focuses on the subject of…
Lee Edelman, Queer Negativity
Lee Edelman is Professor in the English Department at Tufts University, and one of the most influential voices in American queer…
Enda McCaffrey, Call to LIfe
There is much debate today around a crisis in Queer Theory. It is a crisis defined by a perceived imbalance…
Intersex/DSD: medicalization and political subjectivation
Elisa A.G. Arfini, Alessandro Comeni The first part of the seminar was focused on a critique of the abuse of…
Intersex/DSD: Male or female? Is sexual binarism a legal must?
Anna Lorenzetti, Matteo Nicolini, Alessandra Cordiano The aim of this seminar was to analyse the norms that regulate the legal…
Intersex/DSD: biopolitics of gender, normalization and subjectivation
Beatrice Busi, Michela Balocchi The seminar’s core point was a historical and sociological analysis of people with DSD/intersex conditions. The…
Assisted reproduction and homo-parenthood: desire, bodies and markets
Beatrice Busi, Chiara Caravà, Federica De Cordova The first part of the seminar analyzed the new forms of parenthood, bearing…
What Freedom? What Feminism? Women’s Thought between Ontology, Ethics and Politics
Lorenzo Bernini, Olivia Guaraldo The seminar started from the need to identify in feminist theory, not only a political and…
Prostitut(t)e: A formative experience. Health and social workers confront sex work
Rosanna Cima, Maria Livia Alga, Sandra Faith Erabor Porpora Marcasciano, Pia Covre, Beatrice Busi This seminar concerning sex work rounded…
When Sex is Work
Lorenzo Bernini Are we really ready to consider prostitution as ordinary work, even as a tool for women’s emancipation? When…