“Text and Context: A Conversation on Radical Queerness,” an intimate talk and discussion space hosted by Dr. Vinh Phu Pham, from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday afternoon, July 25, 2026.

Taking José Esteban Muñoz’s text “Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity” as our starting point, we will navigate the idea of radical queerness, a political and imaginative refusal to fit queerness into a present society that is not ready for it. This concept is caught in the tension between queerness as utopian potentiality and a part of a commodified queer identity.

Dr. Vinh Phu Pham will walk us through the concept of radical queerness as proposed in the related literature, along with a brief introduction to the Frankfurt School, the philosophical movement from which the concept was influenced. Transitioning between the talk and the discussion space will be a collective reading of the Introduction of “Cruising Utopia”, in which the host and participants will share their ideas on the text and the connections it evokes. This will be followed by an expansion into global queer influences such as RuPaul’s Drag Race phenomenon, Ball room culture, and more—where we will dive into how global queer cultural products are adapted to local context, and what potential cultural translation of queerness can be born from this.

“Text and Context: A Conversation on Radical Queerness,” an intimate talk and discussion space hosted by Dr. Vinh Phu Pham took place from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday afternoon, July 25, 2026.

Artwork: “Still Life (Flowers)”, Andy Warhol, 1950s. Courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; The Andy Warhol Foundation/ARS, New York. Mentioned in “Cruising Utopia”, p. 8.