About

We are a reading group and seminar series interested in cultural theory and the critical, interdisciplinary engagement it enables with the arts, politics, and social history. This will be the study group’s 12th year. Each year, the group focuses on reading and discussing the work of one cultural theorist in meetings and events throughout the year. This year, we have chosen to focus on American-Palestinian theorist Edward Said. 

More than 20 years after his death, Edward Said remains one of the most influential figures in 20th century political and literary thought. His book Orientalism (1978) is one of the foundational texts of postcolonial theory, as Said's critiques of the production and dissemination of power and knowledge still carry weight in the humanities. Said also wrote extensively about Palestine, giving us the chance to discuss the history and recent developments of the Palestinian conflict through his ideas. Indeed, we will start our reading group with The Question of Palestine (1979), recently republished by Fitzcarraldo Editions.

We want to make this group as accessible as possible, so please email us at quiltingpoints@gmail.com if you have any trouble accessing the reading or have any additional needs that we should be aware of.

Quilting Points is based in the Leeds Humanities Research Institute at the University of Leeds and is affiliated with the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies (CERS).

Current Directors

Aman Erfan (School of English), Alberto Andrés (School of English), Fyeeza Shyraz (School of English), Areej Alhejely (School of English), and Noor Khassawneh (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies).

Past Directors

2023-2024: Poonan Sharma (School of English), Jack Rondeau (School of English), and Owen Atkinson (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies)

2022-2023: Ellie Wakeford (School of English), Freddie Coombes (School of History), and Marika Ceschia (School of English)

2021-2022: Ana García Soriano (School of English), Evie Lewis (School of English), Ghada Habib (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies) and Michael Hedges (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies)

2020-2021: Joseph Genchi (School of English), Izzy Jenkinson (School of English), and Craig McDonald (School of English)
2019-20: Sam Ross (School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science), Izzy Jenkinson (School of English), and Sam Ridout (School of Music)
2018-19: Adrienne Mortimer (School of English), Clare Fisher (School of Performance and Cultural Industries), and Liam Wilby (School of English)
2017-18: Emma Parker (School of English), Hayley Toth (School of English), and Bethan Hughes (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies)
2016–17: Rachel Johnson (School of Languages, Cultures, and Societies), Dominic O'Key (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies / School of English), Sam Rae (School of Sociology and Social Policy)
2015–16: David Wingate (School of Earth and Environment) and Adam Roberts (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies)
2014-15: Ryan Topper (School of English) and Ben Chwistek (School of Classics)
2013-14: Stefan Skrimshire (School of Philosophy, Religion, and the History of Science) and Kasia Mika (School of English)
2012-13: Michael Kelly (School of History) and Arthur Rose (School of English)
2011-12: Arthur Rose (School of English)

Our Name

The quilting point is the word ______, with all these trans-significant connotations. Everything radiates out from and is organized around this signifier, similar to these little lines of force that an upholstery button forms on the surface of material. It's the point of convergence that enables everything that happens in this discourse to be situated retroactively and prospectively.
(Jacques Lacan, Seminar III)

Quilting Points, or points de capiton, are points of suture where there is a knotting together of words and their meanings.

The point de capiton is thus the point in the signifying chain at which "the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of the signification" and produces the necessary illusion of a fixed meaning.

The wider symbolic implication is that there are certain obvious points of entry in ideas, identifiable by an illusory stability, that provide a means by which these ideas might be discussed, critiqued and evaluated. Quilting Points are therefore a means to examine ideas and their consequences.


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