On October 29th and 30th, 2019, the Trinity Long Room Hub hosted a two-day interdisciplinary conference called ‘The Freak and its Discontents’, organized by a postgraduate committee. This conference engaged in a cross-disciplinary exploration of what society finds shocking in order to illuminate the cultural norms that the hegemony considers its constituent pieces, and to raise a critical awareness of the processes that define ‘normalcy’. An interdisciplinary approach allowed for the vantage point of multiple academic perspectives into various understandings of what constitutes ‘freakishness’. Conference papers touched upon topics from psychology and clinical studies, to literature and film. Speakers traveled from across the globe to present at this conference; in addition to local participants from Ireland, speakers traveled from Germany, France, Hungary, the UK, and the United States of America to present. In this sense, the conference provided a unique opportunity for postgraduate researchers to network with fellow researchers in adjacent disciplines.
This project was awarded a prize through the Initiative Fund. More information on the deadline for applications can be found here.
Twitter: @Freakconference (pictures taken and published during both days)