Dr Kate Aughterson and Dr Jess Moriarty are inviting academics, students, writers, artists and practitioners to the University of Brighton’s Centre for Arts and Wellbeing symposium looking at Maternity and Wellbeing on 13 November.
The event is a one-day interdisciplinary symposium hosted by consists of a series of presentations from a range of experts from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, including the arts, midwifery, education and practice-based research.
Keynote speakers are: writer Lucy Fry, who will read and discuss her memoir, Easier Ways to Say I Love You, which explores the complexities and joys of polyamory and (queer) family-making and her joy at having a son; and Sarah Lightman, artist and writer, who will offer an insight into her new work in response to mothering during the pandemic.
The presentations also feature: Valerie Walkerdine, who explores the role that artistic and performative research can have in engaging with relations across generations; Rachel Epp Buller, who considers stories of past and present with epistolary poems written as fictocritical conversations between the texts; and Ranjana Das, who proposes an agenda for stronger digitally-supported mental health during and beyond the pandemic.
The day seeks to engage mothers, artists, researchers and healthcare workers in a series of dialogues that seek to challenge negative and reductive discourse about motherhood and celebrate and value stories of maternity. These dialogues will feed into a collaborative and interdisciplinary funding bid and, on the day, there will be a group discussion to share ideas.
Themes:
– Practice, research and teaching that connects with notions of maternity and wellbeing.
– Community projects and work that are committed to diverse and inclusive practice and uncovering new stories.
– Critical and creative thinking about disseminating stories of maternity.
– Work seeking to challenge dominant and reductive narratives about mothers.
To attend this free event, please send your name and affiliation to the CentreforArtsandWellbeing@brighton.ac.uk.
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