Dr. Samuel Buelow is a recent graduate of Indiana University's Department of Anthropology with minors in Gender Studies and Central Eurasian and Uralic Studies. He began working in Central Asia 15 years ago on an archaeological dig in Kazakhstan, and has been studying LGBTIQ issues in Central Asia since 2007.
For this lecture, titled "LGBTIQ in Kyrgyzstan: Terminology and the Expansion of Queer Potentials," Dr. Buelow will discuss terminology in a variety of languages (specifically English, Russian, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek) that is utilized within activist spheres and LGBTIQ communities of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic located in Central Asia and home to just under 6 million people. While English language terms come to Kyrgyzstan through a number of venues, the terms take on new meanings that expand the potential of the way gender and sexuality are understood. Terms such as gay, queer, MSM, and transgender are adapted in ways that expand and subvert U.S- Centric understandings of queer subjectivities. Terms often lack absolute consensus, which can undermine the idea that they are "localized" to Kyrgyzstan, yet the multiplicity of meanings further contributes to the expansion of queer potentials.
There will be a small reception prior to the lecture starting at 4:30pm. The talk will begin at 5:15pm.
This event will be hosted by The Department of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Cultures, and co-sponsored by the Center for Slavic and East European Studies, the Middle Eastern Studies Center, and the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Comparative Studies, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
