SoSe 2023

“Queerness” does not simply signify a non-heterosexual identity, but rather challenges the normalizing mechanisms of gender and interrogates the social processes that produced, normalized and sustained identity in the first place. A “queer memory,” therefore, does not simply imply the remembrance of a particular set of events. It is one that reconsiders the structures, process and methodologies that have constituted the scholarship on time and memory, and questions the heteronormative discourses that have shaped our thinking on history and the archive. Through readings, discussions and film screenings, we will survey alternative methods of historiography and embrace eclectic, idiosyncratic and transient archives, which include ephemera, gossip, innuendos, emotions, gestures, performative acts, fleeting moments, clandestine languages and methods that unsettle the traditional notions of memory and documentation. Together, we will problematize the relationship between “queerness” and the “document” in the broadest sense of the term, with an emphasis on practices emerging outside the racial and sexual mainstream, and how they negotiate with established theoretical frameworks and institutional limitations.

What does it mean to be human in Africa today? In what ways can queer Africans make claims about being human? Much about queer African scholarship is about the tensions between human and non-human; who is legitimized by the state and other forces, and who isn’t; under what conditions does one exist, move, and thrive. What is often missed are the nuances of the different forms that these tensions produce, what cements the fragile intimate relations, and what exists beyond queer African negation. Moving between Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal and the African diaspora, this course invites a reading through the cracks of the dis/continuities of colonial and postcolonial formations of queer beings in Africa. From Fanon, Senghor and other key figures, the course navigates through rich texts and films to problematize the present and the past in the quest for black queer potentialities and futures.

Remark on participation and assessment
A credit for the course is obtained through the following:
• a critical reading of all texts suggested (15%),
• regular attendance (15%),
• contributions to class discussions (15%),
• writing two reflective pieces (15%),
• presenting on one session (20%); and
• a term paper (20%)

Who can take the course?
Students interested African Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies and Queer Studies

Ziel des Tutoriums ist es, zu analysieren und zu verstehen, wie in den Gender Studies derzeit geforscht wird. Zu diesem Zweck werden wir die verschiedenen Forschungstechniken und -methoden analysieren, die in wissenschaftlichen Artikeln zu unterschiedlichen Themen verwendet werden (zusätzlich zu einem ersten Vorschlag für den Seminarplan, sollen Student:innen die Möglichkeit haben, gemeinsam zu entscheiden, welche Themen sie besonders interessieren). Dieses Tutorium eignet sich sowohl für Studierende, die einen Einblick in die Forschungsmethodologie der Geschlechterforschung erhalten möchten, als auch für diejenigen, die den Raum als Unterstützung für eigene wissenschaftliche Schriften bzw. Forschungsprozesse nutzen möchten (Hausarbeiten, Masterarbeiten, Projektstudium).

Da wir mit Artikeln aus der ganzen Welt arbeiten werden, ist der Großteil der Bibliographie auf englischer Sprache verfasst, was eine gute Beherrschung der Sprache voraussetzt. Die Diskussionen im Tutorium werden aber auf Deutsch geführt.

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EN: The objective of the Tutorial will be to analyze and better understand how research in Gender Studies is currently being conducted. To this end, we will analyze the various research techniques and methodologies used in academic articles on various topics (in addition to making an initial proposal of articles, there will be space to decide as a group what topics we are interested in reading about). This Tutorial can be used by students who wish to get an overview of the research methodology in Gender Studies, as well as by those who wish to use the space to support/assist their own academic writing or research process (Term papers, Master Thesis, Project).

Since we will be working with articles from all over the world, the bibliography will be in English. However, class discussions will be conducted in German.

How is knowledge produced and what kind of knowledge is made (in)visible in research? Is there a ‘feminist methodology’? How does the own background and context affect research? What kind of power relations occur when conducting research field work? These questions do influence the process of conducting research and the choice of methods in various ways.

The seminar provides theoretical and practical knowledge on feminist methodologies and research approaches including epistemological critiques and debates. In the first part of the course we will discuss what kind of criticism feminist scholars have raised of mainstream methods and what alternative methods have been developed. Moreover, qualitative and participatory research methods such as expert interviews, focus groups, walk-alongs or mappings will be introduced. The role of ethics and responsibility in research will be discussed. These topics will be illustrated with selected empirical examples from the field of agrifood-studies.

In the second part of the course students will conceptualize, plan and perform a small, collaborative research project and selected methods will be tested. These projects should be conducted with a focus on urban food practices, gender relations and/or intersectionality.

The course builds on the theoretical perspectives taught in the course “Gender, Environment and Sustainability: Theory and Debates” (Tuesday 12-2pm) by Meike Brückner.

Dieses Seminar bietet den Studierenden eine Einführung in die Forschung zu lesbisch_queerer Geschichte aus geschichtswissenschaftlicher und geschlechter- und queertheoretischer Perspektive. Entlang ausgewählter Primärquellen aus dem Bestand des Spinnboden Lesbenarchivs sowie begleitender Forschungslektüre erarbeiten sich die Studierenden Einblick in vergangene Lebenswelten lesbisch_queerer Akteur*innen. Neben einem Überblick zu verschiedenen Zeiträumen geht es auch um strukturelle Ausschlüsse und Diskriminierungsmechanismen in deutschsprachigen Lesbenbewegungskontexten, insbesondere Rassismus, Klassismus, Antisemitismus, Queer- und Transfeindlichkeit. Schließlich sollen Kontinuitäten, Veränderungen und Brüche innerhalb der historischen Kontexte, auch im Verhältnis zu gegenwärtigen Bewegungen verhandelt werden. Die begriffliche Fassung ‚lesbisch_queer‘ verdeutlicht, dass in diesem Seminar die Überschneidungen und Verflechtungen von lesbischer und trans*queerer Geschichte nachgezeichnet werden und eine gemeinsame, lesbisch_queere, Historiografie erstellt wird.