Heath Pennington, aka ItsPlay
Scholar of
Transgressive Cultures
Researcher | Creator | Educator
Recent News
Three images, L to R: a turquoise, red, and black advertisement for Conversations With at the London Film School featuring a picture of my face; part of a text-based flier for my "The Ethics of Intimacy Coordination" research seminar at Queen Mary; a picture of a computer screen showing the EventBrite for the Show and Tell at which I will speak in March, featuring my face and the faces of two other presenters against a background with floating red spheres.
What I've been up to in 2024:
In January I began work as a lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London, teaching the undergraduate course "Postmodern Gender, Identity, and Queer Theory" and co-teaching the postgraduate (MA) course "Corporeality, Embodiment, and Alternative Spaces" with colleague Andrea Tuijten. I continued ethnographic interviews for my dissertation research on fetish club Torture Garden, and taught "Consent in Motion," a workshop for MA students at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. I also spoke at the London Film School for their series Conversations With.
February saw me busy with teaching and dissertation research and writing. I traveled to Bristol for the scintillating Bristol Light Festival, offered an equity training at a London-based business, and closed out the month by giving a research seminar entitled "The Ethics of Intimacy Coordination" at the Centre for Film and Ethics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
In March I spoke about my career trajectory and offered advice to aspiring creatives and academics at QMUL's Show and Tell. I also wrapped up my lecturing at Goldsmiths. Throughout April I was hard at work on a forthcoming journal article. More details on that soon.
May found me working toward a writing deadline while preparing to present at The geography of pain: an interdisciplinary workshop at QMUL. At the end of the month, I lead my recurring "Intro to BDSM and Kink for ICs" workshop, offered through the Intimacy Professionals Association: https://www.intimacyprofessionalsassociation.com/events/intro-to-bdsm-and-kink-for-ics.
Conferencing again in June, I presented a workshop at PSi, Performance Studies international, which took place this year in London: "Assemble!" conference #29 ran June 20-23.
In July, I focused on preparing key materials, including my teaching philosophy and diversity statement, in anticipation of entering the academic job market later this year. At the end of the month, I traveled to France.
August was dedicated to dissertation writing and further job market preparation. During a productive writing retreat in the French countryside, I completed a full chapter draft. I also found time to explore Paris, Lyon, Le Vigan, Arles, and Nîmes, before heading to Spain for a week in Badalona and Barcelona.
September sees me returning to the UK to attend and present research at the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) annual conference, held from 4-6 September at Northumbria University. I shared a paper titled "Examining Consent Work in Intimacy Coordination" during the Performer Training Working Group's open panel.
Looking ahead to October, I will lead an intimacy coordination workshop at the University of Warwick and present a collaborative Field Conversation as part of pre-conference programming with the American Society of Theatre Research (ASTR)'s annual conference.
Stay tuned for new developments!
* * *
Connecting with likeminded people is always a pleasure. If you research kink and BDSM, gender, consent, critical race, and/or intimacy, please reach out using the Contact page!
To read news from 2023 and earlier, visit my Archive section.
Links
Peruse my Intimacy Coordination and Intimacy Direction website
Add me to your network on LinkedIn
Connect with me on Twitter/X
Check out my IMDb
In January I began work as a lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London, teaching the undergraduate course "Postmodern Gender, Identity, and Queer Theory" and co-teaching the postgraduate (MA) course "Corporeality, Embodiment, and Alternative Spaces" with colleague Andrea Tuijten. I continued ethnographic interviews for my dissertation research on fetish club Torture Garden, and taught "Consent in Motion," a workshop for MA students at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. I also spoke at the London Film School for their series Conversations With.
February saw me busy with teaching and dissertation research and writing. I traveled to Bristol for the scintillating Bristol Light Festival, offered an equity training at a London-based business, and closed out the month by giving a research seminar entitled "The Ethics of Intimacy Coordination" at the Centre for Film and Ethics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
In March I spoke about my career trajectory and offered advice to aspiring creatives and academics at QMUL's Show and Tell. I also wrapped up my lecturing at Goldsmiths. Throughout April I was hard at work on a forthcoming journal article. More details on that soon.
May found me working toward a writing deadline while preparing to present at The geography of pain: an interdisciplinary workshop at QMUL. At the end of the month, I lead my recurring "Intro to BDSM and Kink for ICs" workshop, offered through the Intimacy Professionals Association: https://www.intimacyprofessionalsassociation.com/events/intro-to-bdsm-and-kink-for-ics.
Conferencing again in June, I presented a workshop at PSi, Performance Studies international, which took place this year in London: "Assemble!" conference #29 ran June 20-23.
In July, I focused on preparing key materials, including my teaching philosophy and diversity statement, in anticipation of entering the academic job market later this year. At the end of the month, I traveled to France.
August was dedicated to dissertation writing and further job market preparation. During a productive writing retreat in the French countryside, I completed a full chapter draft. I also found time to explore Paris, Lyon, Le Vigan, Arles, and Nîmes, before heading to Spain for a week in Badalona and Barcelona.
September sees me returning to the UK to attend and present research at the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) annual conference, held from 4-6 September at Northumbria University. I shared a paper titled "Examining Consent Work in Intimacy Coordination" during the Performer Training Working Group's open panel.
Looking ahead to October, I will lead an intimacy coordination workshop at the University of Warwick and present a collaborative Field Conversation as part of pre-conference programming with the American Society of Theatre Research (ASTR)'s annual conference.
Stay tuned for new developments!
* * *
Connecting with likeminded people is always a pleasure. If you research kink and BDSM, gender, consent, critical race, and/or intimacy, please reach out using the Contact page!
To read news from 2023 and earlier, visit my Archive section.
Links
Peruse my Intimacy Coordination and Intimacy Direction website
Add me to your network on LinkedIn
Connect with me on Twitter/X
Check out my IMDb
© 2024 by Heath Pennington. All Rights Reserved.
