About

TRASH is a one day postgraduate conference at the University of Sussex, and a curated evening of art, film and music at The Basement in central Brighton. It is organised and partly funded by Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies (SCCS)

Conference Theme

Trash operates as a physical and symbolic manifestation of consumer society and its associated debris; it celebrates the filthy, excessive and grotesque; and it expresses how power communicates and classifies abject bodies. It not only describes the devaluation of trash culture, but it also refers to the material practices and processes through which we deal with ‘waste’ in all its forms.

Postgraduate conference – Friday 14th Sept

In this one day postgraduate conference we propose to rummage through the trash heap of history, art, media, culture, politics, and society in order to uncover new scholarly approaches and methods that continue to appropriate and recycle theories of trash. Papers will approach themes of excess, filth and debris from a variety of scholarly approaches.

We are delighted to announce our guest speaker Dr Tracey Potts, who will open the conference.

Evening of art, film and music – Thursday 13th September

To coincide with TRASH at the University of Sussex the conference organisers will also be curating an evening of art at The Basement in central Brighton. The evening will be the welcome event for the conference and it will also provide the opportunity to engage with and network around the theme of trash outside of the academy. Confirmed exhibits include: interactive installation; music and sound; short film; photography; workshops; archive material.

More about Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies (SCCS)

Formed in 2006, Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies is a new site for consolidating the current and historical work that has been long-established at the University since its inception 40 years ago. Cultural Studies at Sussex has enjoyed an international reputation for decades, and we recently decided to formalise our research in a centre in order to work more effectively with each other in a supportive, collegiate environment.

We are deeply committed to the emerging project of Cultural Studies, its history of political and critical engagement, and its scholarly rigour. We want to think across and through conventional disciplinary frameworks, whilst adopting the best of these for our own intellectual purposes. We believe in the imaginative potential of Cultural Studies to challenge ‘safe’ scholarship, to press into the deeper questions of power, representation and identity.

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