Journeys to Understanding
Countering the Dominant Stories: Nomenclature Changes in the Intersex Movement View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Keiko Irie
This paper examines the history of and the feedback towards the nomenclature change around the “intersex”. Since the biggening, the term around intersex has never been steady. It can be said that this was the simple reflection of the confusion of medical society, where they kept failing to “treat” intersex body. Medicine even tries to classify intersex bodies and never succeeds. The name shows and defines how society perceives them. Therefore, it affects the named community and their identity. Intersex movement, such as ISNA, lead to the nomenclature change of intersex and then DSD. On the other hand, it never reflects the intersex community. Now, instead of DSD, and with the term intersex, VSD (Variation of Sex Characteristics) is now being used in the community. How does this happen and what does this mean? To clear this question, this paper traits the nomenclature changes and the history of intersex movements. As a result, it was found that there are various “new” names in the intersex community. These are stories of struggles and rebellion. Rebellion to the medical system and society, which had/has been labeling and marginalizing the intersex body. Naming was the strong statement movement of regaining power and empowerment of the community.
Featured Humanity vs Reality View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kealiʻi Rapozo
Literature in any form is an excellent representation of what we can't see physically but visualize within ourselves. However, when these themes are brought to life, countless factors and perspectives come into play. This study considers the fictional dystopian world written through The Hunger Games franchise that portrays these literary concepts through multiple aspects of perspective, media, and identity. "May the odds be ever in your favor" is the motto these games live by, but when analyzed thoroughly, were there ever odds, to begin with? These games are where the innocent are thrown in to fight to the death at the hands of a previous generation’s uprising against the capital. All while being enjoyed by the rich as they harness the pain of these districts for their entertainment. These events are paraded as entertainment, games that all can tune into, and they turn this into a spectacle. A spectacle is an exceedingly visually striking experience; "the world is watching," as the franchise describes it, proves that these games are not for honor, nothing near dignity, but pure entertainment. Each district has its area of specialization, up until the point of the actual games as they are stripped away from them. Today, it is essential to understand the rules and ideas we live by and the possible routes they can lead to creating our reality. We do not always have control over the decision process, but we have control over what we make of it.
Islamic Lessons for the Church: How an Old Rival Can Become a New Friend
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gabriel Reynolds
Christians have often looked at Islam as a threat, both theologically and culturally. Islam comes after Christianity, and many Christians have seen Islam as a heresy. Islam also has experienced growth in numbers and in various metrics of religious practice in recent years, while Christianity in certain countries has declined. How might Christians look to Islam not for ways in which it is in competition with Christianity, either theologically or culturally, but for ways in which it can teach them lessons about adaptability? I present elements of Islamic theology that animate the spiritual life of many Muslims: the mystery of God, the life of the believer as a “test,” and a positive view of religious law. Together these elements might serve Christians today to adapt to culturally specific contexts. Thereby, I propose, an old rival of the Church might become a new friend.
Hinduism Lives as a Local Knowledge View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session France Azema
In this paper, I examine the circulation and transformation of religious knowledge and practices in India. In doing so, I seek to clarify questions of knowledge and power in religious practices and to explain the contingencies of places, languages, cultural level and action. Human beings are active agents in the production of knowledge and they know how to transform their practices to adapt them to their situations. Religious knowledge must therefore become “local” in order to function and be recognized as knowledge. In Hinduism, only priests can read sacred texts written in Sanskrit. Thus, the transmission of religion to the most remote villages is essentially done orally. In this paper, I discuss the multiplicity and diversity of teachings and practices of Hinduism due to the mode of circulation of knowledge. My assertion is that as knowledge, interpretations and practices are propagated and migrate, they also change, and in turn modify the societies and devotees. To be viable, religious knowledge must become “local knowledge” and adapt to local needs. So, study the circulation of religious knowledge in India opens the way to understanding the cultural and religious diversities of Hinduism. The journey of knowledge of Hinduism in India most often results in a two-way exchange, thus leading not to homogeneity but to a the heterogeneity and hybridization of knowledge, interpretations and religious practices.
