Performing while Black: Disrupting Gender and Sexuality from Trinidad to Norway The Artivism of Thomas Prestø

In this interview, artistic director and choreographer Thomas Prestø speaks with cultural studies scholar Dr. Gladys M. Francis about his personal journey as a hyper visible black boy who grew up in a Norwegian region known as the hub for neo-Nazi groups that subjected him to various forms of torture. Prestø discusses how these experiences shaped his politics of arts when he founded the Tabanka Dance company to promote “a sustainable black identity” that converges both Caribbean and African movement aesthetics to tell the stories of blacks in Norway. Prestø presents how is body of work informs Black Diaspora studies in terms of art and culture through issues of minority identities, body-memory, body-politics, and political and cultural agency relating to black performances and cultures in Norway. He discusses principles on “Caribfuturism” and corporealities within what he calls “the uniqueness of the Afropean, the Afro-Scandinavian and the poly-Diasporan.” His insights on the prejudiced mechanisms of representation and segmentation of cultures visible in Norway also convey how his artistic productions offer challenging aesthetics and representations of gender and sexuality for performing brown and black artists. The following segments were gathered during his dance fellowship in Dakar Senegal in 2018, my scholar appointment in Norway in 2019, and follow up discussions in spring 2021

Creolization on the Move in Francophone Caribbean Literature

In this paper I explore the particular use of dance and music observed in the writings of Maryse Condé, Ina Césaire, and Gerty Dambury. I examine how their use of orality, oral literature, and the body in movement create complex levels of textuality, meaning, and reading. I consider this process to reflect properties of Creolization and argue that the body performing in these texts remains the representation of a Creole microcosm in which exoticism is deconstructed to reveal politics of chaotic states of being. The body in movement presented in these Francophone literary texts uses Creole rhythms to do violence to lost memories (effects of deportation), neocolonial sufferings (effects of colonization), and paralyzing states that prevent the access to authentic liberation. By focusing on dance, music, oralité, the esthetic of oraliture and the corps et graphie/choreo-graphy, I analyze these polyphonic texts to reveal how these bodies of cultural productions rewrite and create their own history and historicity through inner and inter-zones of violence

Quand l’invisible s’affiche Entretien avec Fabienne Kanor: Inscrire et réitérer des identités ouvertes, mouvantes et complexes

Cet article enclot un entretien entre la cinéaste martiniquaise Fabienne Kanor et Gladys M. Francis, chercheure en études francophones et culturelles. Il examine le septième art aux Antilles dans notre ère contemporaine, la politique artistique féministe de Kanor, ainsi que les enjeux qui prennent forme dans l’acte de filmer et genre et minorité sexuelle aux Antilles. Cette entrevue met également en lumière la manière dont ses productions visuelles dérogent (aux sociétés traditionnelles/phallocentriques/impérialistes) afin de provoquer une esthétique et des représentations du corps noir novatrices. Martinican film-maker Fabienne Kanor speaks with francophone and cultural studies scholar Dr Gladys M. Francis about her feminist politics of art, the meaning of filming gender and sexual minorities in the French Caribbean, and the position of art in the French Antilles today. The interview sheds light on the ways in which her visual productions disrupt (traditional/phallocentric/imperialist) society and offer challenging aesthetics and representations of the Black body

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology

Keeping the Faith: African American Faith Leaders’ Perspectives and Recommendations for Reducing Racial Disparities in HIV/AIDS Infection

In Philadelphia, 66% of new HIV infections are among African Americans and 2% of African Americans are living with HIV. The city of Philadelphia has among the largest numbers of faith institutions of any city in the country. Although faith-based institutions play an important role in the African American community, their response to the AIDS epidemic has historically been lacking. We convened 38 of Philadelphia’s most influential African American faith leaders for in-depth interviews and focus groups examining the role of faith-based institutions in HIV prevention. Participants were asked to comment on barriers to engaging faith-based leaders in HIV prevention and were asked to provide normative recommendations for how African American faith institutions can enhance HIV/AIDS prevention and reduce racial disparities in HIV infection. Many faith leaders cited lack of knowledge about Philadelphia’s racial disparities in HIV infection as a common reason for not previously engaging in HIV programs; others noted their congregations’ existing HIV prevention and outreach programs and shared lessons learned. Barriers to engaging the faith community in HIV prevention included: concerns about tacitly endorsing extramarital sex by promoting condom use, lack of educational information appropriate for a faith-based audience, and fear of losing congregants and revenue as a result of discussing human sexuality and HIV/AIDS from the pulpit. However, many leaders expressed a moral imperative to respond to the AIDS epidemic, and believed clergy should play a greater role in HIV prevention. Many participants noted that controversy surrounding homosexuality has historically divided the faith community and prohibited an appropriate response to the epidemic; many expressed interest in balancing traditional theology with practical public health approaches to HIV prevention. Leaders suggested the faith community should: promote HIV testing, including during or after worship services and in clinical settings; integrate HIV/AIDS topics into health messaging and sermons; couch HIV/AIDS in social justice, human rights and public health language rather than in sexual risk behavior terms; embrace diverse approaches to HIV prevention in their houses of worship; conduct community outreach and host educational sessions for youth; and collaborate on a citywide, interfaith HIV testing and prevention campaign to combat stigma and raise awareness about the African American epidemic. Many African American faith-based leaders are poised to address racial disparities in HIV infection. HIV prevention campaigns should integrate leaders’ recommendations for tailoring HIV prevention for a faith-based audience

To align or not to align? Research methods and its relationship with dissertation marks across sport undergraduate degree programmes within a UK-based HE institution

Much research has referred to the complexity of research methods modules within undergraduate degree programmes. Less attention has been paid to the objective understanding of alignment between research methods and final year dissertations. This study explored relationships across Sport and Exercise Science (SES) and Sports Therapy (ST) programmes within a UK-based Higher Education institution. Analysis revealed females (N=73) outperformed males (N=117) at Levels 4/5, and SES students outperformed ST at Level 6. The Level 5 statistics assessment explained the lowest variance in the dissertation, suggesting poor alignment in curriculum design. Future research should consider the efficacy of statistics-based modules