REGISTER | To Listen and Respond: Dialogue as Feminist Method

“Writings scatter to the winds blank checks in an insane charge. And were they not such flying leaves, there would be no purloined letters.” Jacques Lacan

This quote from Lacan suggests that the meaning of what we communicate is not ours to determine the meaning of. There is fragility and flux about this, but also immense possibility – while there might be misunderstanding or misuse of our words – it’s also possible for our intended meaning to become ‘more’. That extra zeros might be added to our cheques when cocreative interpretation is allowed.

The theory, practice and impact of dialogue as feminist method may take many forms of expression, engagement and embodiment which allow room for this cocreative interpretation to occur. The 2025 Australian Collaborators in Feminist Theologies Conference hosted by Pilgrim Theological College brings together diverse contributions exploring this theme: To Listen and Respond: Dialogue as Feminist Method.

The conference is  a hybrid event and begins at 5:30pm AEDT on Friday, with a celebratory book launch of feminist theologies works published since our last gathering, chaired by Associate Professor Monica Melanchthon and with two books launched by Professor Joy Damousi AM FASSA FAHA.

The opening is followed by dinner and the annual Janette Gray RSM Lecture. This year’s lecture is presented by keynote speaker and Janette Gray Scholar, Julia Thwaites, whose paper is titled, “Restoring Humanity to Poetry with Giorgio Agamben and Jacques Lacan.”

Saturday brings a program of papers exploring the theory, practice and impact of dialogue as feminist method. This day also includes the ACFT Inc. AGM, which includes opportunities for members to be nominated and elected to ACFT Committee roles and working groups. (Membership benefits include a discount on the conference registration so join the network first for a discount code).

Our dialoguing is informed by our relationships, work, activism, faith, research, teaching, contemplative practice, lived experience and the intersections of these, between each, and our very identity.

Of what writings are you seeking to make meaning in these times? Who are you in dialogue with? Is anyone listening? What response are you longing for?

We invite you to be curious, we invite you join us, we invite you To Listen and Respond.

Pilgrim Theological College

Pilgrim Theological College is a college of the University of Divinity from the Uniting Church tradition, based in Melbourne, Victoria.