Queering Performance and International Student Experiences with Fatemeh Gharibi and Helen Martin S3ep5

In today’s episode, Helen sits down to chat with Fatemeh Gharibi about their work on elevating queer voices through performance. They discussed Fati’s experience as an international student coming from Iran and joining York’s MA and now PhD program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies where they currently research queer international students of colour in Canada. Fatemeh discusses the evolution of women’s rights in Iran and how this influences their academic and activist work here. They conclude by giving advice to anyone considering pursuing a degree in sexuality studies and offer an encouraging message to their fellow international students.

You can find more of Fati’s work at:

Their Instagram: @f.ghariba

Some of their performance and research work:

Performed in Radical Housewives by the Toronto Workers' Theatre Group in May 2022. https://vimeo.com/761416608

PolyRupture with Alireza Gorgani, a Video Performance production, exhibited in: Eco-Art and Media Festival, Environmental and Urban Change Faculty, York University, Mar 7, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB9lL0Cgels

Presented “Queer theorizing through theatre performance within the Iranian closet” at Graduate Conference 2020: Speaking to Power: Feminist Theories and Praxis. Women & Gender Studies Graduate Student Union at University of Toronto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJk_8EqBFC8

Sexuality Studies Spotlight is produced by Stephanie Jonsson, Hannah Maitland, Kathleen Cherrington, Keely O'Brien, Helen Martin, and Amanda Selvaggi. This podcast is made possible through support from the York University Sexuality Studies Program, Innovation York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit, The Academic Excellence Fund, and the Media Creation Lab at Scott Library. This podcast was produced on the traditional territory of many Indigenous Nations, and we invite our audience to visit native-land.ca to learn more about the land where they’re listening.

For a written transcript of this episode, please visit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1V3BrcFkvrpG7Lr5Mk90JykCCsw1Mc8yD?usp=share_link

Content Note: This podcast features discussions of sex and sexuality that may include references to sexual and gender-based discrimination/violence/assault/abuse or other potentially triggering topics. Listener discretion is advised.

Resources:

York Resources: SASSL- https://sassl.info.yorku.ca/

Canada-Wide Resources: DAWN- https://www.dawncanada.net/issues/crisis-hotlines/

Crisis Text Line- https://www.crisistextline.org/topics/sexual-abuse/#understanding-sexual-abuse-1