Register for this Zoom panel at http://myumi.ch/rrQbj

Complete series details at https://myumi.ch/RpDJX

Moderator: Lyosha Gorshkov, Director of LGBTQ+ Initiatives, Colgate University

Speakers:

Shota Kincha, Staff Writer, Open Caucasus Media

Zhanar Sekerbayeva, Co-Founder, Kazakhstan’s LGBTQ Feminist Initiative “Feminita”

Mohira Suyarkulova, Associate Professor, Department of International and Comparative Politics, American University of Central Asia

Tatsiana Shchurko, Post-Doctoral Scholar, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University

Many efforts have been made over the past several years to diversify Eastern European and Eurasian studies. This new spotlight surfaces research that has been conducted by many scholars for much longer, highlighting their commitment to telling stories and honoring perspectives of diverse and minority communities. Their work reveals that while there is no unified queer experience in the region, there is often a one-size-fits all state response to the reality of queer lives in many nations within the region. How can a queer-studies focus advance conversations about decolonization in East European and Eurasian Studies? To address this question, Queer Focus will have six virtual panels featuring speakers from various disciplines and institutions. Panelists and participants will explore how gendered regimes were constitutive of Russo-centric relationships of power, defining the region and how we study it, as we collectively grapple with what it means to re-examine our current research, teaching, and institutional practices.

Panel 6 of the series will examine the role and impact of queer activism within the region.