Talk at the International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC)

On 28 October 2021  Holly Patch will be presenting with Simone Pfleger (Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta) on “Beyond Queer Theory: Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Community Service Learning through Transatlantic Exchange” in a session of the third annual International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC). The online conference will take place from 26-29 October 2021 and is co-hosted by Drextel University and East Carolina University.

Their paper reports on the pedagogical considerations and teaching experiences that emerged from the co-taught remote course on Queer Theory between the Research and Teaching Area Sociology of Gender at the Bielefeld University and the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta. The virtual environment and need for connecting exclusively online brought about by COVID-19 facilitated a new and exciting transatlantic collaboration, which allowed for the creation of a course that pursued a twofold objective: foster cross-cultural dialogue and exchange among the students from the two partner universities as well as provide students with practical experiences through project-based work with Edmonton-based community partners that can be completed in an online setting. While the former enabled students to discuss theoretical readings so that they can develop an understanding of how normative ideas around identities and bodies have impacted the construction of social hierarchies and shaped an unequal distribution of power in different geographical, socio-cultural, and historical contexts, the latter encouraged students to translate theory to practice and apply queering as methodology in an investigative project with a community partner. This form of engagement and exchange was particularly valuable for all participants and instructors for the purpose of enhancing the project of internationalization at the respective home institutions and ensured that all participants are exposed to a variety of approaches and ideas that expanded their understanding of how to engage with academic scholarship and activism beyond their own academic training and framework.

The co-taught German-Canadian course took place within the context of the Alberta-OWL network project “We CAN virtuOWL” funded through the “International Virtual Academic Collaboration (IVAC)” program that was initiated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

For more information about the conference and the detailed schedule, see: https://iveconference.org/2021-conference/.