New research forum to promote LGBTQ+ research at UiA

What do you do when you are the only person in your academic community conducting research on queer issues? PhD research fellow Johanne Emilie Christensen, who is researching queer parents in Norwegian and Swedish film and television, found the answer together with several colleagues at the University of Agder (UiA).

They launched QiA – Queer Research Agder, an academic community for those conducting research on queer themes.

“The aim is to strengthen and raise the profile of queer research at UiA, and to create a community where current issues can be discussed with an interdisciplinary audience,” says Christensen.

This ambition is shared by Mary Ann Skretteberg Warenius, who coordinates the forum.

“It therefore seemed natural for us to bring researchers together to create a meeting place for exchanging experiences,” she says.

Expanding knowledge in Agder

And the forum has a broad scope. It brings together researchers working in the fields of history, religious studies, literature, theatre, gender theory, art and health sciences.

The researchers will keep each other updated on ongoing projects and new areas of research.

Associate Professor Lee Michael Shults is the head of the UiA Centre for Gender Equality and believes the forum meets a real need at the university.

“The forum is important for UiA because both research on queer topics and research that applies a queer perspective takes place across different faculties. The forum helps to bring together researchers and knowledge, and facilitates interdisciplinary discussions and projects,” he says.

But the need does not stop at the campus boundaries. Shults points out that external stakeholders are also seeking knowledge in this field.

"One example is that Agder County Council wants a new survey of the living conditions of queer people in the region. It becomes easier to collaborate and provide important knowledge when a research forum is in place", he says.

An important role in society

Although the forum is still in its very early stages, the calendar is already starting to fill up. In September, the programme features an author talk with the American writer Maia Kobabe, with several members of the forum contributing.

“We are keen to take part in key events in the region, such as Skeive Sørlandsdager, and to raise the profile of queer research. We envisage that, in the long term, the forum could serve as a kind of hub, where we are accessible to those conducting research on queer topics and to those interested in a queer perspective on other areas of research,” says Shults.

He emphasises that the forum also has a wider social role to play.

"It is important that UiA plays an active role in improving the living conditions of queer people. Queer rights are at the heart of many polarised debates at present, and the university must act as a democratic arena that both accommodates disagreement and grounds debates in knowledge."