Talk on “Assisted Dying” by Kateřina Kolářová
Readers of this blog know that Prof. Robert McRuer has twice taken lucky students in his “Transnational Film Studies and LGBTQ Cultures” to Prague for the annual Czech Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. For GWU students and for Robert, a highlight of the course is getting to know their counterparts in the Czech Republic.
Now, one of those Prague colleagues is coming to GWU. The English Department, along with Women’s Studies and the University Writing Program, is pleased to welcome Kateřina Kolářová, who will be delivering a talk Friday, Feb. 5, titled “Entangling the Discourse of Choice: ‘Assisted Dying’ and Representations of Severe Disability.” The event is from 3-4:30 in Rome 771, and all are welcome.
Prof. Kolářová’s talk examines the discourse of individual choice that has been powerful in shaping the debate on assisted dying. She examines the discourse of choice in relation to sexuality and dis/ability, drawing on examples ranging from media coverage of a “voluntary death” in Britain, current German legalisation of the “patient’s will” in cases of assisted dying, and the Spanish film Mar Adentro. “I want to present a thesis that the present controversial debate concerning ‘the right to die’ might in fact make a strategic use of disability,” she writes.
Please join us for Prof. Kolářová’s timely and interesting presentation.
