Queer Iceland in an International Context – RIKK and GEST Spring 2022 Lecture Series

The topic of the spring 2022 Lecture Series organised by RIKK – Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland and the Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GRÓ-GEST) is Queer Iceland in an International Context. The series emphasizes a diverse and interdisciplinary approach on queer studies in Iceland.

Hafdís Erla Hafsteinsdóttir, PhD student in history at the University of Iceland, opened the series on 3 February, with a lecture on the history of AIDS in Iceland. The next lecture is in the hands of Hjörvar Gunnarsson, teacher, and Jón Ingvar Kjaran, professor at the School of Education at the University of Iceland, on 10 February addressing the experience of gay men of Asian origin in Iceland belonging to two minority groups. Þorsteinn Vilhjálmsson, PhD student in history at the School of Education at the University of Iceland, will look at Megas, queerness and artistic immunity, in his lecture on 17 February. Daniela Alaattinoglu, postdoc at the law department of the University of Iceland, will give a lecture on 24 February, on the mobilisation for intersex rights in Iceland. Xinyu Zhang, Phd student in Icelandic Literature at the University of Iceland, will look at Halldór Laxness‘ novel Under the Glacier through the lens of queer theory in a lecture on 3 March. Two weeks later, on 17 March, Guðrún Elsa Bragadóttir, literary scholar and film studies teacher, will dive into queer femininity in Icelandic films. The final lecture of the semester is given by Eyrún Eyþórsdóttir, lecturer at the University of Akureyri, who will talk about her research on hate crimes against queer people in Iceland.

The lectures are held at 12.00-13.00 in the lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland and are conducted in either English or Icelandic. Further information can be found on RIKK’s webpage and Facebook page.