Dr Zoë Waxman will be in conversation with Professor Henrietta Harrison about her current research on sexual violence in the Holocaust. Once a taboo subject, almost wholly unstudied by scholars, this topic has become the focus of increasing interest in recent years. This conversation will explore the reasons for this recent emergence of interest in such studies and some of the attendant pitfalls, exploring both the broader question of how to uncover hidden stories in history and the particular problems which arise in studying sexual assault and sexuality in the context of genocide.
Dr Pamela Hunt will be in conversation with Professor Adriana X Jacobs to discuss her work on masculinity in post-1989 China. With economic reform and opening up, masculinity has become a major source of consternation and debate; explorations of how best to be a man have become a common theme in contemporary cultural production. This conversation will explore the ways in which male characters are depicted in contemporary Chinese literature and film, with a particular focus on the recurring figure of the maverick male traveller. Part Easy Rider, part traditional ‘Good Fellow’, this popular protagonist reveals the persistence of local models of masculinity alongside international constructions.