This is an in-person conference which will take place at the University of Cincinnati on Friday, February 28th, 2025. Graduate students from any specialty are welcome to submit.
In the introduction to their collection Queer Methods and Methodologies, Catherine J. Nash and Kath Brownewrite that in queer theory, “the ‘subject’ of research, previously envisioned as a unified, coherent and self-knowledgeable individual, is redrawn as contingent, multiple and unstable; constituted within historically, geographically and socially specific social relations” (4). Queer theory isn’t just about queer people—it’s about what it means to be non-normative in a society of norms.
By researching with a queer theoretical lens, our research methods are inevitably affected. Queer methods break out of the traditional, positivist notions of research as a process by which all-knowing academics glean knowledge from and assign meaning to the subjects of their studies. Queer methods are not inherently tied to studying LGBTQ people or lives—rather, they are methods of inquiry that oppose the normative structures of academia and society. One can use queer methods in any discipline, to study any subject matter, by approaching research in an anti-normative way.
We invite submissions for conference presentations that engage in queer knowledge-making practices in your field of study. This could mean a wide variety of things, but we offer these examples as suggestions and starting points for your thinking.
We encourage proposals for presentations that:
- Engage deeply with queer theory
- Use queer research methods
- Present models for how others might use queer research methods
- Examine LGBTQ+ experiences or lives
- Question or counter normative structures and established narratives
- Blend personal narrative with academic research
- Directly grapple with contingency, materiality, history, and locality
- Consider how queer theory can impact academic praxis
Please submit individual proposals of up to 250 words or panel proposals of no more than 500 words. For panel presentations, please designate different speakers by number and include the title of the presentation for each speaker. Each session will be an hour and 15 minutes long, with an average presentation time of 15 minutes. Please include your univeristy and program of study in your email.
Submit proposals to UCGradConference2025 by Friday, December 20th, 2024.