In mid-February, I attended the Sex, Science, and Censorship in the 19th and 20th Centuries Conference, organized by the Rethinking Sexology group at the University of Exeter, England, and local academics at the University of Granada, Spain.
I ring the bell at the Carmen de la Victoria, a conference center managed by the University of Granada. All photos are by me except for this one, which Mallory Szymanski took with my phone.
The view toward the Alhambra and Generalife (summer palace) from the Carmen was captivating day and night.
Rethinking Sexology (a Joint Investigator Award project funded by the Wellcome Trust) and the University of Granada provided much of the financial and logistical support, though poster presenters paid most of their own way. My round-trip flight from Frankfurt to Granada was 211 euros. A four night hotel stay, with two nights subsidized by the conference, cost 176 euros. I spent 12 euros on ground transit and 135 euros on food for 4 ½ days. The total cost for this conference was 470 euros (approximately $507.65).
Conference topics included the different meanings and deployments of censorship in sex research, action, and publication, along with self-censorship and the manipulation of censorship by sexologists themselves. Many of the participants (including myself) knew each other from previous Rethinking Sexology events or had another connection to the University of Exeter, and many were also contingent and early-career scholars. Despite dismal job prospects and obstacles to funding, there was nonetheless a palpable eagerness among the attendees to forward research on the history of sexology.1
I arrived a day-and-a-half early and stayed a day late, in order to do some exploring on my own and to take the organized tour of the Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (The tour cost 24 euros.)
Dr. Jen Grove takes in the view toward the Alcazaba (fortress) and Palacios Nazaríes from the Generalife.
Not only was it worthwhile to see the Alhambra up close and expand my own view of the world—which included climbing the Watch Tower for gorgeous views of the city—but also I got to enjoy the wonderful company of fellow attendees and build relationships informally.
View of Granada from the top of the Torre de la Vela (Watch Tower), including the Cathedral of the Incarnation at the center.
I probably would have left Granada in a warm glow of intellectual stimulation and the Spanish sun the day after the conference was over. However, February 19 was the day that olive farmers were protesting in the city regarding below-cost compensation for their oil from wholesalers and retailers.
Tractors in slow procession on the Calle Gran Vía de Colon in Granada.
Tractors blocked traffic in the city for most of the morning and early afternoon. Agricultural protests have been taking place all over Spain in the last few months.
Many tractors had olive branches attached.
I know little about Spain’s long agricultural and labor history. But I could hardly help be moved by the long line of tractors, honking, flag-waving, tossing olive branches, and hand-painted signs. It was impossible to get the airport bus or a taxi close to the hotel, so I instead walked a little over two miles to the main city bus station to catch the airport bus from there. It wasn’t much in the way of solidarity, but it was the least I could do.
