Writing at the dawn of this century, Alistair Pennycook (2001) noted that one of the 'major silences' in English language teaching is sexual orientation. Despite several decades of progressive social reform with regard to LGBTQ protection in many countries around the world, demands that the ELT curriculum addresses this silence have fallen largely on deaf ears. ELT materials remain firmly focused on the representation of a heteronormative world in which non-normative ways of being are ruthlessly erased.

In this talk, Prof John Gray will explore the complex set of reasons as to why such erasure persists in ELT and educational settings more generally. In doing so, he will pay particular attention to the concepts of 'reproductive futurism' (Edelman, 2004), 'hyper-reactionary neoliberalism' (Fraser, 2017), 'postfascism' (Traverso, 2019) and the commercial logic of global edu-business (Gray, 2013). He will conclude by considering the possibilities open to language teachers who wish to address this issue in their teaching.

 

Please email Eloi Puig Mayenco to RSVP for this seminar and he will send you the Zoom link directly.