Every fiscal school year, The New School hosts a symposium to discuss gender and sexuality-based justice. But this year’s symposium is the first since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion access at the federal level.

On April 28 and 29, the 2023 Gender and Sexuality Studies program at The New School for Social Research will facilitate the Gender Matters Symposium. Through this event, NSSR aims to build bridges between New School students, faculty, and the external Gender and Sexualities Studies Institute community by promoting open dialogue and extensive studies of sexuality and gender. The two-day event is open to all New School students and will take place at the New School University Center’s room UL104 and will feature a vast list of nearly 50 keynote speakers from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

The lectures and discussions will be conducted by an array of featured keynote speakers specializing in studies of sexuality and gender identity, including Emily Apter, Emmanuel Auerbach, Sanjana Basker, Chiara Bottici, Austin Burke, Marina Calloni, and Ciela Chavez-Gilbride. 

The yearly symposium unites students, faculty, and staff to share their experiences and visions regarding gender and sexuality-based justice and this year will touch on the increasingly critical role of learning and discussing the politics of gender identity in a post-Roe v. Wade world.

Some topics presented by keynote speakers include “Queer Echoes: Challenges and Practices of Queer Memory,” “Postfeminism Goes Alt-Right: Trappings, Tropes and the Implications of the “Tradwife” Influencer Movement,” “Abortion Matters,” and “What would a non-hetronormitve city be like?” 

An extensive symposium program contains the full calendar of events listing all available lecture topics with their corresponding time and featured speakers.