Please see below for details of a forthcoming interdisciplinary ESRC seminar.

ESRC Seminar Series: Fat Studies and Health At Every Size: Bigness
Beyond Obesity

Seminar 1: Abject embodiment: Uneven targets of fat discrimination

14th-15th January 2010, Durham University.

This is the first in a series of four seminars taking place over the
course of 2010-2012, funded by the ESRC.

In recent years there has been significant concern about the impact of
fatness on the UK's health. Numerous policy interventions have
attempted to tackle the so-called 'obesity epidemic' in ways which
treat or prevent the incidence of such fat bodies. However, within the
inter-disciplinary field of Fat Studies and the Health at Every Size
(HAES) movement, researchers, practitioners and activists are
challenging the limited and problematic ways in which dominant obesity
knowledges produce and problematise the fat body.

Within Geography, research concerned with fatness/obesity has made
important contributions to this interdisciplinary research/activism
through questioning the ways in which bodies and spaces have been
simultaneously produced as fat and therefore abject (e.g. see
Symposium on Critical Geographies of Fat/Bigness/Corpulence in
Antipode, 41:5). This work has drawn on a range of critical
theoretical approaches including feminist, Marxist, poststructural and
queer theory in order to illustrate that geographies of ‘obesity’ and
associated understandings of the fat body cannot be divorced from the
gendered, aged, raced and classed contexts from which they emerge.

This seminar series is grounded in the ethos and politics of size
acceptance. Each of the seminars will critically question the ways in
which fatness is constructed and experienced as a ‘problem’ whilst
also exploring alternative understandings, theorisations and
experiences of fatness. The series aims to provide a supportive space
for interdisciplinary researchers, activists, practitioners and
interested others to question the politics surrounding fatness and
health, away from the limitations of the medical model.

Further details on the seminar series aims and background to the
series is available here:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/research/researchprojects/fat_studies_and_health_at_every_size/

The seminar will combine formal presentations with informal discussion groups.

 Keynote: Charlotte Cooper, University of Limerick: ‘Rad Fatties and
'The Obese': Activism, Fat Studies and Paradigm Shifts in the UK’

Confirmed speakers:

- Emma Rich and John Evans, Loughborough University: Young people,
class, schooling cultures and anti-obesity education

- Corinna Tomrley, University of York: 'Feelings of envy mixed with
disgust'; 'I respect her confidence but I wouldn't be the same' -
Abject bodies, ambivalence and aspiration

- Lee Monaghan, University of Limerick: Targeting White Coats in the
War on Obesity: A Qualitative Analysis of an Online Debate About
Clinicians' Weight

- Jo Pike, University of Hull: ‘Junk Food Mums: Class, Gender and the
Battle of Rawmarsh’

- Emma Rawlins, Medical Research Council: Family ties: understanding
the intergenerational nature of eating and physical activity practices

- Peter Hopkins, Newcastle University: Socio-spatial inequalities and
emotional landscapes of body size

- Kirsty Fife, University of Leeds: The Invisibility of the Fat
Subject in Contemporary Visual Culture

The seminar will run from 1pm on Thursday 14th January until 2.30pm on
Friday 15th January 2010 in the Earth Sciences Building at Durham
University,* number 43 on this map: http://www.dur.ac.uk/map/durham

The seminar is free to attend (including refreshments and lunch on the
15th January) but participants must meet their own
travel/accommodation costs.** There will be an optional seminar dinner
(cost not covered) on the evening of Thursday 14th January

 If you are interested in attending, please send an email to both
Rachel Colls ([log in to unmask]) and Bethan Evans
([log in to unmask]) to register. If you have any dietary
requirements please let us know and we will do our best to cater for
you. Please also indicate whether you are interested in attending the
seminar dinner.

 *Information on getting to Durham University is available here:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/travel/todurham

 **There are a limited number of bursaries available to contribute to
travel/accommodation costs for students/unwaged participants. To
request a bursary, please contact Rachel Colls
([log in to unmask]) and Bethan Evans ([log in to unmask])
and briefly explain why you need a bursary (i.e. unwaged/student etc).

Some college accommodation may be available – this is searchable via
the University accommodation site:
http://bookings.travelstay.com/DurhamUniversityBooking.htm

Alternatively there are numerous hotels and B&Bs available in Durham
(the Durham tourism website has a search facility here:
http://www.visitcountydurham.com/site/accommodation).