2022 Queer Iceland in an International Context

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. On 17 March, Guðrún Elsa Bragadóttir, literary scholar and film studies teacher, will dive into queer femininity in Icelandic films. Eyrún Eyþórsdóttir, lecturer at the University of Akureyri, will talk about her research on hate crimes against queer people in Iceland on 7 April and the final lecture, will be in the hands of Xinyu Zhang, PhD student in Icelandic Literature at the University of Iceland, who will look at Halldór Laxness‘ novel Under the Glacier through the lens of queer theory on on 28 April.

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.

The following lectures will be in English and their recordings will be posted here: 

24 February 2022 at 12:00 GMT
Mobilising for Intersex Rights in Iceland
Daniela Alaattinoglu

Further information about the event

17 March 2022 at 12:00 GMT

Queer Femininity in Icelandic Cinema
Guðrún Elsa Bragadóttir

Further information about the event

28 April 2022 at 12:00 GMT
Is the Glacier a Closet?
Xinyu Zhang