Porn Studies at Concordia 2019-2020

The porn studies reading group is composed of a diverse group of researchers who meet in order to exchange their passion, research and knowledge on the field of porn studies. Inspired by the genre's visual histories, its perennial marginal status within academia, as well as its evident centrality in current political, technological and material discourses, the group aims to build upon the porn studies curriculum and community already in place in Montréal. So far, the questions that the group has examined through discussions and screenings have been directed at recent theoretical interest on pornographic affect, labor, spectatorship and representation, as well as the genre's relationship to the rhetoric of pathology and panic.

Fall 2019 Schedule

Week 1, October 3: Pornification

Arroyo, Brandon. “An Amplification of Being: Chris Crocker and the Becoming of a Transindividual Porn Star.” Porn Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 193–209.

Paasonen, Susanna, et al. “Pornification and the Education of Desire.” Pornification: Sex and Sexuality in Media Culture, edited by Susanna Paasonen et al., Bloomsbury, 2007, pp. 1–22.

Week 2, October 24: Contemporary Anti-Pornography Discourses

Week 3, November 14: The Nichification of Porn

Week 4, December 6: BDSM and Fetish

Porn scholars and aficionados are equally welcome to join us. The reading group will meet every three weeks in the GEM Lab from 6:00 to 8:00pm. Our primary means of communication is through BaseCamp, so do not hesitate to contact either Nikola (nikola.stepic@concordia.ca) or Becky (reba.s.holt@gmail.com) to be added to the platform, or if you have any questions. - Rebecca Holt and Nikola Stepić