This afternoon at 2pm, the Bram Stoker Club will welcome ex-librarian of the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) and former Bram Stoker committee member Huda Awan to present her paper “BROWN: Reflections on Colour and Identity”.
The Phil’s Bram Stoker Club meets weekly in the Phil Conversation Room in the Graduate Memorial Building (GMB). It offers students a relaxed environment in which to read a paper they have written. It is named after the illustrious former president of the Phil and author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, who hosted similar laid-back meetings during his time at Trinity from 1864 to 1870.
Bram Stoker papers and talks are often on a wide range of topics and issues – some more outlandish than others. In the last few months the club has given talks on everything from the inequality and economics involved in Tinder, to a reconsideration of why incest is so taboo.
This week, Awan will exam the formation and development of identity. She will apply sociological theory and also focus on her own personal experience being brown and Irish. Ethnic, sexual and national identity and the ways in which these interrelate and adapt to one another will be examined. The paper will address Awan’s difficulty of finding a satisfactory label for herself, in a society where certain strands of identity are often seen as mutually exclusive. She will be asking whether it is possible to be both queer and Muslim, brown and Irish.
A discussion will follow Huda’s paper and the audience will be given the opportunity to ask questions. It promises to be a fascinating paper which will allow students to engage with a complex subject. Need more convincing? As per usual, tea, coffee and biscuits will be in abundant supply after the talk.
