Nicolas, Dr. Katya Vrtis and Kairos Looney continue their discussion on what disability history can teach us about the contemporary wave of anti-trans politics. Bringing together performance studies with queer-/crip and critical race theories, the conversation serves as a space to theorize collaboratively, to process, to strategize modes of resistance.
This conversation was presented under the title “We Are/Not Monsters: Queer/-Crip Theorizing in Process” at the 2023 Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. It was co-sponsored by the LGBTQ+ and Disability, Theatre, and Performance (DTAP) Focus Groups.
KEY QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean to be a monster?
2. Where can we see remnants of the era of the freak show in the present day medical model of disability?
3. How is the history of the medicalization of same-sex attraction and gender nonconformity still informing political arguments around trans identity and healthcare?
4. How do logics of "cure" frame non-normative, queer, disabled, racialized bodies as either excessive or insufficient, in need of fixing? How are those narratives weaponized to police non-normative bodyminds?
5. How do white supremacist, patriarchal social structures demand queer, trans, disabled people perform in order to "prove" our own humanity on stage, in the doctor's office, in the classroom, in the legislature?
6. What are the radical possibilities of refusing to provide such proof, of embracing monstrosity? What are the consequences of refusing to engage in such performances?
7. Who are some of the key scholars, thinkers, writers, activists, artists informing your thinking on this topic? Who do you want to bring into this conversation? (Search “monsters” in our shared library to learn more! Zotero Library: for theatre scholars | Zotero)

Pedagogy in Process—a podcast by and for educators working at the intersections of social justice, the arts, and the humanities. Hosted, edited, and produced by Nicolas Shannon Savard.
Links:
Transcript Ep. 6 Making Monsters History.docx
Zotero Library: for theatre scholars who’ve been cut from the syllabus to make room for Shakespeare
for theatre scholars | Zotero
Pedagogy in Process Blog on DRNSSAVARD.COM