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LCAHM Conference 2026: Voices Everywhere

Learn about the research being undertaken by postgraduate researchers in the school of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music
A blackboard with hello in different languages
    • Date
      Wednesday, 20 May 2026 (09:00 - 17:00) (UK)
    • Format
      Online and in person
    • Location
      Ashley 422, Ashley Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT
    • Contact
      i.m.j.palmer@bham.ac.uk

‘Voices Everywhere’ captures a deliberate duality. Phrased as an empowering call, the theme first evokes the resilient presence of voices from diverse places and backgrounds, especially those long marginalised, who continue to assert their perspectives, claim visibility, and resist attempts of censorship and silencing. It celebrates the persistence of expression in all its forms - spoken, written, performed, visual, and embodied - each asserting presence, agency, and identity in times of constraint.

Alternatively, the theme also encapsulates the reality of information overload. In a post-truth world characterised by the pervasiveness of social media and new technologies, we are often overwhelmed by noise, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Questions of authenticity, authorship, and the survival of the ‘real’ thus become increasingly urgent as genuine voices risk being obscured or distorted.

‘Voices’ is an expansive term that invites multiple interpretations. Taken literally, it refers to the sounds people make when they speak, write, sing, or perform. Metaphorically, it implies diverse forms of expression and perspective, encompassing the many ways individuals experience the world and articulate their stories, subjectivities, and identities.

Texts, images, objects, movements, and performances can all be understood as ‘voices’ that communicate distinct viewpoints. Nonetheless, the ability to express these voices is never evenly distributed. As the asymmetry between the global North and the global South deepens, it prompts us to consider whose voices are amplified and whose are pushed aside. Beyond examining power structures and the politics of representation, we are invited to ask how marginalised voices can be supported to endure, flourish, and reach new audiences.

Programme

Time Session
9-9:15 Coffee and welcome
9:15-11

Panel 1: Trauma and Testimony
Chair: Kenneth Murray (PhD researcher, Art History, Curating and Visual Studies)

  • Katie Morris (PhD researcher, Creative Writing), “Silence, Suffering and Storytelling: Creating Epistemic Justice for Victim Mothers After Domestic Abuse in Family Court”
  • Aram Alhogail (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Re-voicing the Silenced Child: Translation, Trauma, and the Politics of Voice in Arabic Translations of English Childhood Narratives”
  • Sarra Ghersallah (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “From Stored to Storied: Testimony, Trauma, and the Making of Voice in Journals of Salt”
  • Holly Winter-Hughes (PhD researcher, Creative Writing), “Migratory Voices: Non-Human Narrators, Silence and Ethical Witnessing in Experimental Poetics”
11-11:15 Coffee break

11:15-1

Panel 2: Queer and Gendered Voices
Chair: Yuheng Fan (PhD researcher, Modern Languages)

  • Sophia Barry Gordon (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Translating the Unspeakable: Voice, Trauma, and Trans Embodiment in Romanzi espliciti”
  • Minji Du (PhD researcher, History), “Rituals of Happiness: Cruel Optimism and Performance Art in Contemporary Chinese Marriage Script”
  • Yifei Zhu (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Queer Audibility in the Cracks: Strategic De-Queering in Danmei Mashup Videos Under Platform Censorship”
  • Jacob Dodd (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “The Sound and Sense of Vegetal Silence in Al Berto’s Salsugem (Sea Brine, 1984)”
1-2 Lunch
2-3:20

Panel 3: Dissent and Power
Chair: Abigail Poole (PhD researcher, Modern Languages)

  • Tina Hofman (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Good (immigrant), Othered and Structurally Disruptive: What does UK based East European migrant artists’ experience tell us about the persisting stereotypes in British theatre”
  • Jai White (PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Cuir speculation as an urgent decolonial project in the Dominican Republic”
  • Aaron Benson (MA researcher, Modern Languages), “The blossoming relationship between the radical right and young people in Spain”
3:20-3:40

Coffee break
3:40-5

Panel 4: Liveness and Performance
Chair: Zizhou Chen (PhD researcher, Art History, Curating and Visual Studies)

  • Michelle Cerqueira Cesar Tambosi (Visiting PhD researcher, Modern Languages), “Bring the body back: in theory and in poetry”
  • Linzi Yang (PhD researcher, Music), “Voicing the ‘Real’: Pre-recorded Vocals and the Question of ‘Liveness’ in K-Pop Live Performance”
  • Anya Simon (PhD researcher, Music), “The Roar of the Crowd that gave me Heartache to Sing; An exploration of the globality of music fandom culture, through the lens of My Chemical Romance”

Food and refreshments will be available throughout the day

Postgraduate organisers:

  • Zizhou Chen (Department of Art History, Curating, and Visual Studies)
  • Yuheng Fan (Department of Modern Languages)
  • Kenneth Murray (Department of Art History, Curating, and Visual Studies)
  • Abigail Poole (Department of Modern Languages)

Location

Address
Ashley 422Ashley BuildingUniversity of BirminghamEdgbastonBirminghamB15 2TT
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