Queering the Museum: Utopian Futurity in Contemporary Exhibitions expands the history of American art beyond its tightly policed borders to include curators, viewers, artists, and artworks as key players in contemporary queer exhibition surveys in U.S.-based museums. Exhibition histories are not the sole domain of museum or curatorial studies, and are as much a part of art history as artists and art objects yet they remain understudied and under-analyzed within the field. I posit that a queer art history not only analyzes the relationship between works of art, but it also engenders the potential to queer the visitor (through the viewing of artworks), considers the production and circulation of artworks within the institution, and disrupts a normative experience of time and space in the museum. Working interdisciplinarily through queer, feminist, and critical theory, my intervention offers an analysis of exhibitions, not as a history per se, but as a constellation of projects that unfolded across U.S.-based museums located in Philadelphia and New York from 2017 through 2019. Placed within the longer context of queerness in the museum I analyze three case studies: Johanna Burton’s, Sara O'Keeffe's, and Natalie Bell's Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon (2017) at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Nayland Blake’s Tag: Proposals on Queer Play and the Ways Forward (2018) at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Philadelphia; and the collectively curated (Margo Cohen Ristorucci, Lindsay C. Harris, Carmen Hermo, Allie/ A.L. Rickard, and Lauren Argentina Zelaya) exhibition Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years after Stonewall (2019) at The Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center. I parse what this particular constellation of exhibitions did at that specific moment in time, one right after the other, all clustered together both physically (within the northeast corridor) and also conceptually. While institutional critique has primarily been applied to the production of artwork by artists who intervene in and critique various artworld structures from museums to galleries, my dissertation proposes the term to encompass the entire exhibition as a critique of normative exhibitions and the institutions that present them. The curators of these queer exhibitions engage in deterritorializing traditional museum spaces thereby reterritorializing them with nontraditional artists and artworks. In doing so, the curators construct queer sites of discourse as heterotopias both within and outside of the museum structure offering glimmers of hope, if only momentarily, for ways of being in the world. / Art History

In many regards, the Black church has been incapable of reaching its fullest potential given its embrace of sexist and heterosexist theologies that marginalize and demonize women and our LGBTQ siblings. This project examines the source of these pernicious theologies and presents an inclusive alternative rooted in the radical love ethic best demonstrated through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Appropriating Thomas Groome’s Shared Christian Praxis pedagogy, this project sets forth a path for critically evaluating existing theologies within the Black church; and establishes practices for reconstructing inclusive theologies, in community. By establishing theological foundations that reject the perpetuation of oppression, the Black church can more fully live into its Christian witness, more faithfully engage the work of liberation and more genuinely resemble the Christ whom we seek to serve.

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In recent years, the field of queer asylum studies has slowly been expanding in different contexts across the world, with numerous methodologies and various topics of focus. In Sweden, the academic work in this area has mainly focused on legal perspectives. Providing a different perspective, this thesis examines the situation and experiences of LGBTQ asylum seekers and refugees in Linköping, Sweden through a community-based collage project. It examines how collages can be used as a method for research and a tool for community building within this context, and explores the experiences of LGBTQ asylum seekers and refugees in Linköping, Sweden, using individual and group collages. Using the concept of bricolage, the thesis ties together various artworks with short narratives and analytical interpretations. Together, they form a fragmented, in itself collage-like insight into this community. Through these fragments, the thesis reflects on the themes of migration, belonging, survival, and identity. Additionally, it explores questions of home, family, refugeeness, mess, homonormativity and representation. I argue that commonly used narratives of migration often do not fit this group, as they face highly complex forms of oppression based on their intersecting identities. Furthermore, the thesis examines the use of collage as a method by looking into the ways collage can negotiate methodological issues like accessibility and researcher accountability, how it can function as a tool for community building, and how it can be used to allow a community researcher to negotiate their positionality in an easier way. I argue that the use of collage has many benefits and that the use of the collage method in this thesis has enriched the research.

abstract: At their cores, both rhetoric and public sphere theory have conceptualized how membership in public and counterpublic settings, as well as participation in public life and discussion, is cultivated, shared, contested, and shaped. Previous case studies on publics and counterpublics have looked at the experiences of individuals and collectives who enact practices in rhetorical invention that mark participation in public life. Much of public sphere scholarship focuses squarely on seasoned individuals in positions of authority and decision making in mainstream publics. Conversely, counterpublic spheres focus on the labor of individuals who have extensive experience in articulating discursive practices in response to dominant publics. However, a quietude that has permeated much of rhetoric and public sphere scholarship comes by way of the absence of youth-based voices in the public sphere. It is these same youths who are expected to lead the very publics that claim to represent them, yet do not afford them a mode of participation or agency in their own right. Given that studies in critical and vernacular rhetoric invest significant inquiry into the ways that marginalized communities enact responses towards dominant and mainstream ideologies, it is necessary to consider how these youthful perspectives contribute to rhetoric and the public sphere writ large. In an effort to inform the rhetorical tradition of its potential in accounting for the voices of youth, this study explores the ways in which youth speak, perform, and embody the various ways in which they belong to a public sphere. Through fieldwork in the LGBTQ youth organization One n’ Ten, I aim to speak to the ways in which rhetorical scholarship can begin to move towards a rhetoric of youth in public life. In this field, I utilize the concepts of enclaving and imagining in counterpublic spheres to examine the practices, discourses, and values that give rise to a queer counterpublicity that emboldens LGBTQ youth to speak and act in a way that honors their identities. Moreover, I draw on theories of critical and vernacular rhetorics to make sense of how One n’ Ten provides youth with opportunities to enact rhetorical agency conducive toward participation in public and counterpublic spheres. Finally, I discuss implications pertaining to how the experiences of young individuals stand to substantially inform theories in public, counterpublic, critical, and vernacular rhetorics, all of which contain opportunities to represent the experiences of both LGBTQ youth and youth writ large as members of public life. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication Studies 2018

In this study, I use critical discourse analysis to analyze how queer women are represented in 34 English-language children’s picture books distributed in contemporary U.S. markets. I consider how these books include and exclude particular types of queer women characters and incorporate or omit specific queer women experiences. I argue that, in children's picture books, many queer women identities are “othered” through the binary oppositions of (i) lesbianism and motherhood and (ii) lesbianism and being a woman of color. In addition, (invisible) lesbianism in these picture books is still presented as an “issue.” The binary opposition of lesbianism and motherhood is created by making lesbianism invisible in children’s picture books by emphasizing mothering through the prominence of caregiving activities, limiting queer physical intimacy, limiting queer verbal intimacy, utilizing naming practices based on motherhood labels, and directing homophobia disproportionately at queer characters without children. The binary opposition of lesbianism and being a WOC is created by primarily featuring white queer characters. (Invisible) Lesbianism is still presented as an issue by the representation of two-mom families/queer relationships as “incomplete,” “unnatural,” “special,” “just the same as non-queer families and relationships,” and homonormativity. Informed by these results, I offer (i) a toolkit to evaluate the representation of queer women characters in picture books and (ii) a creative response to the queer women representation gaps in children’s literature.

Mention obtenue: Exceptionelle / Cette thèse s’intéresse à l’inscription des sujets LGBTQ dans les discours dominants et leurs dispositifs dans le cadre de la production culturelle caribéenne récente. Pour ce faire, la recherche se base sur l’autobiographie Antes que anochezca de Reinaldo Arenas; les romans El Rey de La Habana de Pedro Juan Gutiérrez et Masi de Gay Victor; le recueil de nouvelles Mundo cruel de Luis Negrón; la nouvelle « ¡Jum! » de Luis Rafael Sánchez; les poèmes « Young Faggot » et « Surrender » de Faizal (Deen) Forrester; le documentaire Des hommes et des dieux d’Anne Lescot et de Laurence Magloire. Le point de départ théorique de la thèse st le concept (bio)pouvoir développé par Michel Foucault, soit un réseau de relations de pouvoir omniprésent qui encadre, détermine, crée, définit et limite les sujets à l’aide de discours (tels que l’idéologie ou la religion) et de dispositifs (comme le genre et la sexualité). Dans un premier temps, la thèse analyse la représentation du corps LGBTQ dans les discours que sont la norme du genre et de la sexualité, la nation et la religion (christianisme et religions syncrétiques afrocaribéennes). Marginalisés par la norme, les corps des sujets LGBTQ sont aussi définis comme étant problématiques par les discours nationaux et religieux. La thèse traite par la suite de la construction des identités LGBTQ caribéennes, qui sont représentées comme étant fortement dichotomiques et basées sur le rôle sexuel, ainsi que des espaces dans lesquels sont représentés les sujets LGBTQ caribéens. Ceux-ci sont marginaux et fonctionnent comme des hétérotopies. Finalement, la thèse s’intéresse aux stratégies de survie qui permettent aux sujets LGBTQ caribéens de négocier avec le biopouvoir : la désidentification, l’invisibilité contextuelle et la migration. / This thesis concerns the inscription of LGBTQ subjects in dominant discourses and their apparatus in the context of recent Caribbean cultural production: Antes que anochezca by Reinaldo Arenas, El Rey de La Habana by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, and Masi by Gary Victor; the collection of short stories Mundo cruel by Luis Negrón; the short story “¡Jum!” by Luis Rafael Sánchez; the poems “Young Faggot” and “Surrender” by Faizal (Deen) Forrester; and finally, the documentary film Des hommes et des dieux by Anne Lescot and Laurence Magloire. The theorical starting point of this thesis is the concept of (bio)power developed by Michel Foucault: an omnipresent web of power relationships that oversees, determines, creates, defines and limits subjects by means of discourses (such as ideology or religion) and apparatus (like gender and sexuality). Additionally, the thesis deals with the construction of Caribbean LGBTQ identities, which are represented as strongly dichotomic and based on the sexual role, and with the physical spaces in which Caribbean LGBTQ subjects are represented. These are not only marginal but they function as heterotopies. Finally, the thesis analyses the survival strategies that allow Caribbean LGBTQ subjects to negotiate with biopower, such as disidentification, (in)visibility, and migration. / Esta tesis se interesa en la inscripción de los sujetos LGBTQ en los discursos dominantes y en sus dispositivos del biopoder en la reciente producción cultural caribeña: Antes que anochezca de Reinaldo Arenas, El Rey de La Habana de Pedro Juan Gutiérrez y Masi de Gay Victor; la colección de cuentos Mundo cruel de Luis Negrón; el cuento “¡Jum!” de Luis Rafael Sánchez; los poemas “Young Faggot” y “Surrender” de Faizal (Deen) Forrester; el documental Des hommes et des dieux de Anne Lescot et de Laurence Magloire. El punto de partida teórico de esta tesis es el concepto de (bio)poder desarrollado por Foucault, es decir una red de relaciones de poder omnipresente que enmarca, determina, crea, define y limita a los sujetos gracias a discursos (tales como la ideología o la religión) y a dispositivos (como el género y la sexualidad). Inicialmente la tesis analizará la representación del cuerpo LGBTQ en el discurso de la norma sexual y de género, la nación y la religión (cristianismo y religiones sincréticas afrocaribeñas). Marginalizados por la norma, los cuerpos de los sujetos LGBTQ también son definidos como problemáticos por los discursos nacionales y religiosos. A continuación, la tesis analiza la construcción de las identidades LGBTQ caribeñas, que son representadas como fuertemente dicotómicas y basadas en el rol sexual, y los espacios físicos en los que son representados los sujetos LGBTQ. Estos son marginales y funcionan como heterotopías. Finalmente, la tesis deslinda las estrategias de supervivencia que permiten que los sujetos LGBTQ caribeños negocien con el biopoder: la desidentificación, la invisibilidad contextual y la migración.

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om svenskundervisning ur ett hbtq-perspektiv i fyra olika grundskolor, varav två är hbtq-certifierade, samt att dessutom närmare undersöka lärares kunskaper om och upplevelse av att arbeta med hbtq-perspektiv i svenskundervisning. Jag har studerat hur lärarna arbetade, vilka som representerades i läromedlen och i klassrumsmiljöerna, hur klassrummen var möblerade samt hur eleverna var grupperade. Fyra skolor, varav två genomgått RFSL:s hbtq-certifiering, ingår i undersökningen. Studien visar att det råder brist på kunskap om hbtq hos två av de fyra lärarna. Normkritiskt arbetssätt är inte något som praktiseras kontinuerligt förutom av en lärare som ibland hade inslag av normkritiskt arbete. Ingen av de fyra lärarna hade berört hbtq under sina lärarutbildningar. Slutsatsen av mitt arbete är att det krävs en kompetenshöjning när det gäller hbtq-relaterade frågor hos personal som jobbar i skolan. Att hbtq-certifiera verksamheten verkar inte ge bestående effekt; det krävs uppföljning och kontinuerligt arbete för att ändra på de starka normer som råder i samhället. Då styrdokumenten tydligt förespråkar en inkludering av alla elever oavsett kön, könsöverskridande identitet eller uttryck, etnisk tillhörighet, religion eller annan trosuppfattning, funktionsnedsättning, sexuell läggning eller ålder borde kraven på kompetenshöjning i ett normkritiskt arbetssätt komma via styrning uppifrån för att nå ett snabbare resultat. / The purpose of this article is to study four primary school teachers and how they work with LGBTQ-perspectives. Four schools, of which two are LGBTQ-certified by RFSL, are included in this study. The study reveals a lack of knowledge regarding LBTQ issues in three out of the four teachers. Norm critical practices are not continuously applied by the teachers in their work, with the exception of one who does apply them. None of the teachers had come in to contact with LGBTQ through their own education. The conclusion I have drawn from my work on this article is that an improvement of competence concerning LGBTQ related issues among personnel working in school environments is required. LGBTQ-certification does not seem to come with a lasting effect; follow-ups and continuous work are required to change the strong norms that are currently present in society. As Skolverket clearly advocates for the inclusion of all students, regardless of gender, cross-gender identity or expression, ethnic background, religion or other faith, disability, sexual orientation, or age, the requirements of competency improvement regarding the application of norm critical practices should come through guidance from above to assure quick results.

This ethnographic study intends to explain the recent mobilization practices within the LGBTQ movement in contemporary Madrid in reference to the strategic use of identity and networking in collective action. It describes the Spanish movement as an ideologically polarized heterogeneous aggregate. The active challenging groups criticize the dominant part of the movement for giving up its original message of sexual liberation and diluting it in consumerism by supporting capitalist tendencies and the power of leading political parties. Via launching protest campaigns and collaborating in internationally supported networks with other ideologically related social movement communities, the challenging groups demand civil rights for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity. They mobilize upon the collective identity of "precariousness" while integrating elements of queer and transgender theory into their radical leftist oriented politics in order to transform the Spanish society. By bringing on new critical ideas and adherents, the success of the leftist oriented challenging groups has an impact on the direction of the politics of the dominant group, which thereby is forced to adopt such ideas into their politics. Despite the disunity and antagonistic character of the movement, the...

Dans un contexte de bouleversements sociaux et d’une profonde polarisation politique entre la gauche et la droite, les élections présidentielles de 2018 au Brésil ont confirmé une significative montée du conservatisme dans la société brésilienne. Cela a conduit l'extrême droite au pouvoir, dont la campagne électorale était basée sur un discours conservateur anti-LGBTQ. Par conséquent, des manifestations hostiles contre les minorités sexuelles ont gagné en importance autour des disputes politiques, notamment des manifestations conservatrices contre l'exposition d'art Queermuseu en 2017. Toutefois, cette situation révèle une certaine contradiction au Brésil, où la communauté LGBTQ est constamment opprimée par un conservatisme qui gagne en force, en même temps qu’elle bénéficie d'un certain nombre de droits et de protections. Ainsi, afin de comprendre les aspects de cette situation contradictoire et les mécanismes de ce conservatisme qui se développent au Brésil, cette étude propose une analyse des circonstances historiques et politiques qui ont mené aux hostilités contre cette exposition. D’ailleurs, une comparaison de l’affaire Queermuseu avec un cas similaire aux États-Unis en 2010, l'exposition HIDE/SEEK à la National Portrait Gallery, permet de comprendre comment des polémiques autour des normes morales peuvent être exploitées au profit des politiciens conservateurs. Ces analyses révèlent l’existence d’un conservatisme politique au Brésil étroitement lié à un pouvoir religieux qui agit de manière stratégique dans l’arène politique en quête du pouvoir, par le truchement des églises évangéliques, qui sont constamment en opposition aux demandes de la communauté LGBTQ. / In a context of social upheaval and deep political polarization between left and right, the 2018 presidential election in Brazil confirmed a significant increase of conservatism in Brazilian society that led to the rise of the far-right, whose political campaign was based on a conservative anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. As a result, hostile demonstrations against sexual minorities have gained prominence, including conservative protests against the Queermuseu, a queer art exhibition, in 2017. However, this situation reveals a certain contradiction in Brazil, where despite the constant oppression caused by the increase of conservatism, the LGBTQ community is granted a certain number of rights and protections in public policies. Thus, this study proposes an analysis of the political and historical circumstances that led to the hostility toward this exhibition as a means to better understand the aspects of this contradictory situation and the mechanisms of the variety of conservatism that has developed in Brazil. Moreover, a comparison between the polemics around the Queermuseu and a similar case that took place in the United States during the 2010 exhibition HIDE/SEEK, presented at the National Portrait Gallery, helps us understand how controversies around moral norms can be exploited to the benefit of conservative politicians. The information gathered reveals the existence in Brazil of a political conservatism that is closely linked to a religious current that, in a quest for power in the political arena, acts strategically through evangelical churches that constantly oppose the claims of the LGBTQ community.