Dear All,
we want to cordially invite you to the May Trans*Formations Event at the
Philosophy Institute.
For those who do not know the series: This talk and workshop series
organized by a bunch of people from the Philosophy Department (BA, MA
and PhD) provides insights into recent developments in trans*
philosophizing. Thanks to the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP)
[1] and queer@hochschulen [2] for their financial support!
In the next talk, Jane Russell KC (Lawyer from London) will discuss her
experiences with contemporary cases in UK law that deal with rights of
trans* people. She will give insight into her practice, and reflect on
anti-trans* presuppositions and British terfism that become evident in
these court cases.
The event will be in English!
When: 15.5.2026, 16:00-17:30
Where: HS 3A, NIG (Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien)
Trans* Exclusion in UK Courts
A Talk by Jane Russell KC
As a lawyer, Jane Russell KC has represented the interests of the
British trans* community in some of the most high profile cases of the
past decade: Bailey v Stonewall and Garden Court (2022), involving the
co-founder of the prominent anti-trans lobbying group LGB Alliance;
Forstater v CGD (2019), involving the founder of Sex Matters, and which
established that "gender critical views" are protected as a
'philosophical belief' under the Equality Act 2010; recently, Peggie vs
Fife Health Board and Dr. B Upton (2025), which considered whether a
nurse had been subject to discrimination by virtue of being expected to
share a changing room with a trans* colleague. With her legal expertise
and personal insights into the fight for trans* rights inside the
courtroom, Jane Russell is ideally placed to shed light on how powerful
groups use the law to target trans* people, and how trans* rights can be
protected by the court.
There will be drinks & snacks and a Q&A after the talk!
We are especially happy if those join the talk who are versed in the
legal situation of trans* people in Austria, so we can have a fruitful
discussion on similarities, differences, and possible strategies for
action. But: no prior legal knowledge required!!!
Please register here [3] and forward to everyone who could be
interested!
Looking forward to seeing you at the talk!
The Trans*Formations Team and UPSalon - A Salon for Underrepresented
Philosophers [4]
P.S.: Here [5], you find a poster - you can also print it and hang at
your own department!
--
Flora Löffelmann, MA MA
Department of Philosophy
University of Vienna
Pronouns: they/them (for more info see:
https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why/)
Happy about a gender neutral "hello"!
Links:
------
[1] https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/
[2] https://queer-at-hochschulen.org/
[3]
https://urise.univie.ac.at/mod/booking/optionview.php?optionid=2719&cmi…
[4] https://upsalon.univie.ac.at/
[5] https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/91476ae5-ecba-47db-8f24-1f62f30b62fd
We are happy to invite you to our 6th talk of the Vienna STS Talk Series in 2026S:
[cid:image001.png@01DCD254.2CD40310]<https://sts.univie.ac.at/en/news-events/details-news-events/news/vienna-sts…>
Best wishes,
Katrin Hackl
Mag. Katrin Hackl
Research Support & Communication
Department of Science and Technology Studies
University of Vienna
Department of Science and Technology Studies
Universitätsstraße 7 /II/ 6th floor (NIG), 1010 Vienna / Austria
T +43-1-4277-49607
katrin.hackl(a)univie.ac.at<mailto:katrin.hackl@univie.ac.at>
Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,
während Artemis 2 nach der Umkreisung des Mondes zur Erde zurückfliegt möchten
Ralf Gisinger und ich Sie herzlich zu einem Buchsymposium zu Philosophie und
Raumfahrt am 21. Mai in NIG 2H einladen. In einem fachübergreifenden Workshop
möchten wir mit Jan Völker über seinen 2025 bei Matthes & Seitz erschienenen
Essay "Ein Weltall des Kapitals: Die Überwindung der terrestrischen Vernunft"
diskutieren. Völker ist seit dem Wintersemester Professor an der Abteilung für
Philosophie der Universität für angewandte Kunst. Sie finden im Anhang das
Plakat zur Veranstaltung, ein detaillierteres Programm werden wir im Mai vor
der Veranstaltung aussenden.
PHILOSOPHIE UND RAUMFAHRT
Symposium zu Jan Völkers Buch "Ein Weltall des Kapitals: Die Überwindung der
terrestrischen Vernunft" (2025)
Donnerstag, 21. Mai 2026, 14.00 – 18.30, NIG 2H
Die Raumfahrt hat das Verständnis der Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos
unwiderruflich verändert. Gagarin und Sputnik, Mondlandung und Erdfotografien
waren wichtige Themen der Philosophie ihrer Zeit. Heute erlebt der Griff nach
Mond und Sternen unter den Vorzeichen von kommerzieller Verwertbarkeit, neuer
geopolitischer Rivalitäten und ökologischer Krisen eine Renaissance. In seinem
neuen Essay wirft Jan Völker die Frage auf, ob sich damit der Abschied von
einer terrestrischen Vernunft und dem Bild der Erde als unersetzlicher
Heimstatt des Menschen ankündigt. Wir diskutieren darüber in einem
fachübergreifenden Workshop, zu dem alle herzlich eingeladen sind.
Vortragende:
-- Prof. Dr. Alexandra Ganser, Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
-- Ralf Gisinger, Institut für Philosophie
-- Assoz. Prof. Dr. Nina Klimburg-Witjes, Institut für Wissenschafts- und
Technikforschung, ERC-Projekt „FutureSpace“
-- Miguel de la Riva, Institut für Philosophie
-- Prof. Dr. Jan Völker, Abteilung für Philosophie, Universität für angewandte
Kunst
Mit besten Grüßen
Miguel de la Riva & Ralf Gisinger
--
Miguel de la Riva, M.A.
Wissenschaftlicher Projektmitarbeiter
Institut für Philosophie
Universität Wien
https://bsky.app/profile/m-de-la-riva.bsky.social
Dear All,
please save the date for the next Trans*Formations Event at the
Philosophy Institute.
For those who do not know the series: This talk and workshop series
organized by a bunch of people from the Philosophy Department (BA, MA
and PhD) provides insights into recent developments in trans*
philosophizing. Thanks to the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP)
[1] and queer@hochschulen [2] for their financial support!
In the next talk, Luana Pesarini (Goethe Universität Frankfurt) will
discuss historical and contemporary theories of the neural basis of
transness, and the presuppositions these studies rely on, from a
trans/feminist science studies perspective.
The next Event will be in English!
When & Where: Thursday, 30.4.2026 - 18:00-19:30 at HS 3A, NIG
(Universitätsstraße 7)
The Trans Brain?
History and Current Hypotheses on the Neural Basis of Transness
Abstract:
Against the background of contemporary debates about the supposed
natural basis of sex/gender and the intersection of neurodivergence and
transness, the lecture will turn to the history and contemporary
theories of the neural basis of transness. Contemporary trans brain
hypotheses rest on a whole array of presuppositions: The assumption that
brains have a sex/gender; that this brain sex/gender can stand in
opposition to the sex assigned at birth; that brain sex/gender develops
in response to hormonal changes; that this development has a temporal
threshold; and that one can discern transness from a
trans-sexed/gendered brain - all of these conveyed through imaging
technologies.
To fan out the presuppositions that fuel contemporary theories of the
neural basis of transness, the lecture will trace its history through
the lens of trans/feminist science studies. Starting from theories about
the natural bisexuality and plasticity of mammals and their eugenic
interpretations at the beginning of the 20th century (Eugen Steinach,
Paul Kammerer), the lecture will move through the early hypotheses about
the neural basis of transness in the post-Second World War inception of
trans medicine in the US (John Money, Robert Stoller, Harry Benjamin),
to the first neuroimaging studies on transness in the 1990s and early
2000s, to finish with the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of transness in
contemporary neuroscience and a discussion of its impacts on the lives
of trans people.
Neuronal explanations of transness certainly do not carry the same
weight in the debates about the natural basis of sex/gender and
transness as chromosomal explanations. Incidents such as the
International Chess Federation's ban of trans women from the women's
category, the European Society of Endocrinology's considerations about
brain scans as "a useful tool for earlier identification of
transgenderism in young people," and calls from neuroscientists to
intervene in and prevent the development of transness in the brain
nevertheless illustrate the current and potentially future power of such
explanations over the lives of trans people.
Bio: Luana Pesarini is a philosophy-trained sociologist specializing in
feminist science and technology studies, theories of materiality, and
trans feminism. She is currently working as a doctoral researcher in the
German Research Foundation-funded RTG "Fixing Futures. Technologies of
Anticipation in Contemporary Societies" at Goethe University Frankfurt,
Germany.
There will be a Q&A after the talk, as well as snacks and drinks!
Please also save the date for the next Trans*Formations Events: A talk
on Law and Gender by UK barrister Jane Russell on 15.5., and a full-day
event with a focus on Gender Euphoria on 7.6. with, among others, talks
by Quill Kukla (Georgetown University) and Eric A. Stanley (University
of California, Berkeley).
We are thankful to our previous Trans*Formations speakers: Luce deLire
[3], Alyosxa Tudor [4], Eric Llaveria Caselles [5], Emelia Stanley, [6]
Emma Heaney [7], Juliana Gleeson, [8] Gen Eickers & Sigmond Richli [9],
Jonah I. Garde [10] and Anna Klieber [11]!
We are looking forward to seeing you at the event, and happy if you
forward this invitation and the attached poster to others who might be
interested!
With all the best,
the Trans*Formations Team
Links:
------
[1] https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/
[2] https://queer-at-hochschulen.org/
[3]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/en/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/det…
[4]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/detail…
[5]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/detail…
[6]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/detail…
[7]
https://lists.philo.at/hyperkitty/list/news@lists.philo.at/thread/GIUSVC6TO…
[8]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/detail…
[9]
https://urise.univie.ac.at/mod/booking/optionview.php?cmid=293&optionid…
[10]
https://lists.philo.at/hyperkitty/list/news@lists.philo.at/thread/ZUJBVRNM7…
[11]
https://philosophie.univie.ac.at/news-events/nachrichten-news-events/detail…