Transvision
2003 Panel
SATURDAY June 28, 2003
3:15-4:45pm
Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 62
High St., New Haven CT
The Future of
Sex and Gender
Moderator: Natasha Vita-More
Alice Dreger Ph.D.
Center
for Ethics & Humanities in the Life Sciences
Michigan State University
“The Once and Future Freak: What
the History of the Medical and Social Treatment of People with
Unusual Anatomies Might Tell Us about the Future of Transhumanism”
[LISTEN HERE]
To explore the history of the medical and social treatment of people with unusual (and typically threatening) anatomies with an eye towards predicting likely medical and “mainstream” popular responses to transhumanism.
Alice Dreger, Ph.D., is a historian of anatomy whose titles include Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Michigan State University and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Intersex Society of North America, an international non-profit advocacy group that seeks to build a world free of shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with atypical sex anatomies. Her books include Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex (Harvard, 1998) and One of Us: How Conjoined Twins Unite Us All (Harvard, forthcoming). Her essays on science, medicine, and life have appeared in the New York Times.
James
Hughes Ph.D.
Secretary,
World Transhumanist Association
"The
Future of Sex"
[LISTEN HERE]
Will
we still want to have sex when we have control of our brains and
bodies?
James
"Dr. J." Hughes teaches health policy at Trinity College in
Hartford Connecticut, and is the Secretary of the World Transhumanist
Association. He also produces Changesurfer Radio, a weekly left
transhumanist public affairs program.
Vanessa
Edwards Foster
Chair, National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC)"Trans-enstein
vs. Preacher Bob and the Village Mob": Progress and Pain on the
Road to Equality and How Society Confronts Changing Realities"
[LISTEN HERE]
To explore
the fears and reactions that surround changing genders, recounting past
and present milestones, and looking forward to future victories,
challenges and the societal catharsis facing the conglomerate community
Transgender.
Vanessa
Edwards Foster is a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, and one of
the co-founders and current chair of the National Transgender Advocacy
Coalition (NTAC), the oldest civil rights group devoted to the nation's
Transgender Community. As well as her duties with NTAC, she is also the
Executive Director of the Texas Gender Advocacy & Information
Network (TGAIN), Vice President of the Harris County Women's Political
Caucus, member of the Harris County Democratic Party's Executive
Committee, and member of two coalitions that brought the first explicit
gender identity non-discrimination protections to Texas (Houston) and
Florida (Key West) -- both Bush states! Foster was also recipient of the
Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award in 2000 by the Houston Gay &
Lesbian Political Caucus.
