WGST presents the New Feminist Research Lecture Series for 2018.

The New Feminist Lecture Series is an annual event presented by the Women’s and Gender Studies program (WGST). Since its launch in 2011 by assistant professor T.L. Cowan, the lecture series has become a celebration and means of sharing cutting-edge feminist and interdisciplinary research with students, colleagues and the community. The lecture series showcases the research of emerging and pre-tenure scholars in the field of feminist studies.

This year, WGST was thrilled to present the work of Dr. Praba Pilar. Pilar is a diasporic Columbian artist keen on disrupting the contemporary 'Cult of the Techno-Logic' through performances, digital and electronic installations, participatory workships, and experimental public talks. While on campus, Pilar presented a lecture and performance entitled, "Situated Embodied Resistance to 21st Century Necro-Techno-Colonialism" on March 7th at the Gordon Snelgrove gallery. The lecture addressed how contemporary technological corporations such as Facebook, Google and others form a global apparatus of surveillance capitalism that uses data brokering to convert biological life into a colony in service of exploitation, dominance and control. 

In addition to the lecture, Praba also spoke about and demonstrated her performance art, which draws on embodied resistance. Dressed in riot gear and using a roll of masking tape, Pilar engaged with the audience in ways that demonstrated power and control. She then stripped herself of the oppressor's garb and performed acts of reconciliation and resistance. Drawing from traditional Colombian culture, Pilar handed out cornhusks and used cornmeal as symbols of nature, tradition, connection, and resistance. 

Related Articles