PROJECTS
"Maternal Bodies Symposium" (2023)
Maternal Bodies: Individual, Collective, Other - An interdisciplinary one-day symposium exploring historical and contemporary debates about maternal bodies, devised and curated by myself and the other members of the small Maternal Bodies Network. A magnificent day showing traditional papers, lightning talks, works in progress, creative presentations, posters, workshops and artwork display.
This interdisciplinary one-day symposium, held at the University of Birmingham, explored how historical and contemporary debates on Maternal bodies intersect with wider cultures around (m)otherhood. It considered how tropes of maternal corporeality, representations of (in)fertility, and practices of ‘othermothering,’ continue to enrich and disrupt.
The event explored the Maternal Body within a broader context of the social, cultural and political realities of (m)otherhood. Throughout history, motherhood has been a repository for wide-ranging societal hopes and fears, and maternal bodies—the subjective experience thereof, their presence, their capacity to enrich and disrupt—have particular significance. This forum seeks to question embedded attitudes and understandings that have resounded through history and continue to demonstrate relevance today. Indeed, studies in the maternal have witnessed a significant resurgence recently alongside current climates of gender pay gap disputes, queer kinship and other mothering, and more recent terrifying debates over who controls the reproductive body.
We intentionally define the word ‘maternal’ in an expansive and inclusive fashion: following Sara Ruddick’s philosophy of ‘maternal thinking,’. This will conceptualise mothering as a conscious practice and a way of being, rather than an inherently gendered and/or sexed identity.
The event drew a large international audience, including creative practitioners and conventional academics, from PhD researchers to world Professors. We made every efforts to accommodate the needs of our audience and participants and alleviate the obstacles that can be encountered by (m)others within institutionalised space. The event was made as inclusive as possible, providing contributions to childcare costs, making the whole event hybrid, offering the chance to pre-record items and recording all presentations to be watched at a later date.
The day was built around three different formats running concurrently: a schedule of presentations and talks; a series of workshops; and a gallery/installation space for visual arts. These spaces incorporated a range of disciplines from linguistics to performance art, from history to medicine. Within these were a multitude of ‘textures’: personal memoir, art writing, posters, film, traditional PowerPoint presentations and short lightning talks. The overall effect was an enriching, multi-sensory experience. The viscerality inherent in the Maternal Bodies theme really spoke through each item, with sounds, smells and touch as tangible as visual displays. For example in 'Feed', spoken descriptions of cultural attitudes to infant feeding were interspersed with a performance featuring the emptying-out of a watermelon which was then drunk. The schedule also featured more familiar conference formats including a brilliant keynote from Dr Sarah Fox from the University of Birmingham on the history of midwifery and maternal bodies.
Keynote: Maternal Bodies in History: Why do they matter? Dr Sarah Fox, University of Birmingham
Panels: Carnal Mothers, Maternal Languages, (M)othering in Public, Labouring Mothers, Maternal, (Un)natural, Embodying Maternal Ideals, (Un)deserving Motherhood, Regulating the Maternal Body
Speakers include: Laura Bissell, Lucy-brier Goodson, Gretchen Geraets, Elaine Speight & Krissi Musiol FEED, Prof Emily Underwood-Lee and Dr Lena Simic, Dr Joanna Wolfarth, Nikki Davidson-Bowman, Libby Cufley, Holly Slingsby, Nora Heidorn, Anna Nelson, Jodie Hawke & Pete Phillips (Search Party).
Workshops: Maternal Journal (Jennifer Milarski-Stermsek) & Mother as Monolith: Emerging from Dark Waters, Stitching as Record and Reflection of Embodied Maternal Experience (Helen Sargeant)
Visual Exhibits: Estelle Phillips, Ruth Batham, Lou Blakeway, Dion Ellis-Taylor
Posters: Zdenka Eliskova, Annick van Brouwershaven, Eline Dalmijn
We created a caring and supportive atmosphere, building in breaks to nourish attendees and special efforts to include 'Zoomies' with a balance of IRL and online questions. It felt like an extraordinarily positive experience with a feeling presenters were often sharing more than their work by speaking to their personal lived experience. The effect was powerful and moving. Reactions include "delightful", "accessible", "moving", "fascinating" and "enriching".
This event was funded by M4C and Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures.
The event explored the Maternal Body within a broader context of the social, cultural and political realities of (m)otherhood. Throughout history, motherhood has been a repository for wide-ranging societal hopes and fears, and maternal bodies—the subjective experience thereof, their presence, their capacity to enrich and disrupt—have particular significance. This forum seeks to question embedded attitudes and understandings that have resounded through history and continue to demonstrate relevance today. Indeed, studies in the maternal have witnessed a significant resurgence recently alongside current climates of gender pay gap disputes, queer kinship and other mothering, and more recent terrifying debates over who controls the reproductive body.
We intentionally define the word ‘maternal’ in an expansive and inclusive fashion: following Sara Ruddick’s philosophy of ‘maternal thinking,’. This will conceptualise mothering as a conscious practice and a way of being, rather than an inherently gendered and/or sexed identity.
The event drew a large international audience, including creative practitioners and conventional academics, from PhD researchers to world Professors. We made every efforts to accommodate the needs of our audience and participants and alleviate the obstacles that can be encountered by (m)others within institutionalised space. The event was made as inclusive as possible, providing contributions to childcare costs, making the whole event hybrid, offering the chance to pre-record items and recording all presentations to be watched at a later date.
The day was built around three different formats running concurrently: a schedule of presentations and talks; a series of workshops; and a gallery/installation space for visual arts. These spaces incorporated a range of disciplines from linguistics to performance art, from history to medicine. Within these were a multitude of ‘textures’: personal memoir, art writing, posters, film, traditional PowerPoint presentations and short lightning talks. The overall effect was an enriching, multi-sensory experience. The viscerality inherent in the Maternal Bodies theme really spoke through each item, with sounds, smells and touch as tangible as visual displays. For example in 'Feed', spoken descriptions of cultural attitudes to infant feeding were interspersed with a performance featuring the emptying-out of a watermelon which was then drunk. The schedule also featured more familiar conference formats including a brilliant keynote from Dr Sarah Fox from the University of Birmingham on the history of midwifery and maternal bodies.
Keynote: Maternal Bodies in History: Why do they matter? Dr Sarah Fox, University of Birmingham
Panels: Carnal Mothers, Maternal Languages, (M)othering in Public, Labouring Mothers, Maternal, (Un)natural, Embodying Maternal Ideals, (Un)deserving Motherhood, Regulating the Maternal Body
Speakers include: Laura Bissell, Lucy-brier Goodson, Gretchen Geraets, Elaine Speight & Krissi Musiol FEED, Prof Emily Underwood-Lee and Dr Lena Simic, Dr Joanna Wolfarth, Nikki Davidson-Bowman, Libby Cufley, Holly Slingsby, Nora Heidorn, Anna Nelson, Jodie Hawke & Pete Phillips (Search Party).
Workshops: Maternal Journal (Jennifer Milarski-Stermsek) & Mother as Monolith: Emerging from Dark Waters, Stitching as Record and Reflection of Embodied Maternal Experience (Helen Sargeant)
Visual Exhibits: Estelle Phillips, Ruth Batham, Lou Blakeway, Dion Ellis-Taylor
Posters: Zdenka Eliskova, Annick van Brouwershaven, Eline Dalmijn
We created a caring and supportive atmosphere, building in breaks to nourish attendees and special efforts to include 'Zoomies' with a balance of IRL and online questions. It felt like an extraordinarily positive experience with a feeling presenters were often sharing more than their work by speaking to their personal lived experience. The effect was powerful and moving. Reactions include "delightful", "accessible", "moving", "fascinating" and "enriching".
This event was funded by M4C and Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures.
