About

Three days of conversation on trans thought and the negative. October 8-10 2026 at the University of California and The Lab, SF. Symposium on Trans Negativity Trans negativity names a negative relation to trans life, as it presents itself in the devaluation of trans people across contemporary discourses, the withholding of rights and care, and the mobilization of suffering in public policy and anti-gender movements. At the same time, trans negativity also names an exciting turn within trans thought that, drawing on debates that have shaped queer theory for over two decades, refuses to be edifying and instead embraces the bleak, dissociative, and antagonistic. This symposium seeks to engage various senses of the negative and to elaborate its implications for trans study. Gathering scholars and artists working across psychoanalysis, aesthetics, theory, and political history, our program takes on negativity as an occasion for collective thought and practice. Program: Thursday, October 8, 4 - 5:30 pm Maude Fife, 315 Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley. Grace Lavery presents her new book Personal Demons, in conversation with Jessy Nyiri and Ava Kim. Friday, October 9, 9.45 am - 6 pm Maude Fife, 315 Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley.. 9:45–10:00 — Arrival 10:00–10:15 — Introduction (Be Schierenberg and Simon(e) van Saarloos) 10:15–11:30 — Panel A: Cameron Awkward-Rich, Salar Mameni, Jack Halberstam; Zakiyyah Iman Jackson (discussant) 11:30–11:45 — Short break 11:45–1:15 — Panel B: Roshanak Kheshti, Joshua Falek, Eva Hayward, Jessy Nyiri; Abraham Weil (discussant) 1:15–2:45 — Break for Lunch (no catering provided) 2:45–4:15 — Panel C: Lieks Hettinga, Ava Kim, Willa Smart, Hil Malatino; Ianna Hawkins Owen (discussant) 4:15–4:30 — Short break 4:30–5:45 — Panel D: Julian Kevon Kamilah Glover, aeryka hollis-o'neil, Eric Stanley; Chris Lee (discussant) 5:45–6:00 — Closing Saturday, October 10, 1 - 3 pm The Lab, 2948 16th Street, San Francisco. Jack Halberstam and artist Leila Weefur in conversation, preceded by a reading by Cameron Awkward-Rich. All events are free and open to the public. Register now to receive program updates. *UPDATE* We are so excited about the high volume of registrations and therefore need a little bit more information about your attendance. Please have a look at the program and fill in this short attendance form to help us prepare for the symposium. If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact atorrez1000@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days before the event. The Trans Negativity symposium is organized by Be Schierenberg and Simon(e) van Saarloos and sponsored by the Center for the Study of Sexual Culture (CSSC), the Center for Race and Gender, the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry (CICI), the Arts Research Center, the Townsend Center for the Humanities, the Trans Student Wellness Initiative (TSWI), The Othering & Belonging Institute, The Big C, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Gender & Women's Studies, and the Departments of Rhetoric, Art History, German, and English at UC Berkeley.

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