Leeds Centre for Global Queer Cultures and Politics
Leeds Centre for Global Queer Cultures and Politics
What we do
The Centre advances interdisciplinary research in global queer cultures and politics, paying special attention to local histories and intercultural, polycentric, multilingual exchanges, in both contemporary and historical settings. Founded by Vlad Strukov and Helen Finch in 2025, The Centre builds on the expertise and experience of queer researchers in the LCS and across the University and celebrates queer lives of the University’s students and staff.
Engaging queer topics and methodologies, as well as a queer ethics of care, the Centre supports researchers, scholars and educators, including post-graduate (MAR and PhD) researchers. Through equitable, collaborative work, the Centre also seeks to support the visibility of global queer activists, artists, writers, and all those involved in thinking critically and creatively about queer cultures and politics.
The Centre provides a supportive and inclusive research environment for all members, benefitting from the experience of its members in leading the School’s research culture, Equality, DI and Inclusion, and other frameworks that ensure a supporting a safe environment for all. At the same time, the Centre supports the visibility of global and local LGBTQI+ groups, organisations and networks at a time when their existence is under threat.
The Centre aims to:
- Advance research at all levels, raising the profile of LCS and the University as a place for excellent research in this area,
- Contribute to the LCS and University strategic research objectives,
- Promote the creation and dissemination of high-quality research in queer cultures and politics across disciplinary boundaries, particularly work with a global focus,
- Create a supportive community of researchers in global queer cultures and politics centred around the LCS, but drawing in researchers from across the University and wider networks locally, nationally and internationally,
- Foster innovative teaching in the discipline at all levels,
- Build relationships with queer activists, artists, filmmakers, writers, and other practitioners, particularly those in global contexts
The Centre’s principal activities include:
- A seminar / Work-in-progress series (on site and online),
- Invited lectures and seminars,
- An annual showcase, highlighting the Centre’s work and celebrating achievement,
- Training sessions for researchers interested in Global Queer Cultures and Politics,
- Meetings and workshops with networks, groups and institutions based in Leeds, the UK and internationally
Contact: CGQCP@leeds.ac.uk
Centre directors
Professor Helen Finch researches queer memory in literature and culture, formations of gender, and queer narratives surrounding the Holocaust. She recently co-led the project 'Queer Experiences in the Holocaust' with Dr. Rosie Ramsden, resulting in a special issue of Holocaust Studies which included her article on 'Constructing a gay German Jewish identity in Holocaust memoirs'. Her previous research projects in queer studies include articles and monographs on queer memory and identity in the works of German writer Antje Ravik Strubel, W. G. Sebald, and Olga Grjasnowa.
Professor Vlad Strukov is Professor of Film and Visual Cultures, leading an international research project on non-normative genders and sexualities in (post-)Soviet Muslim Republics (2025–28, AHRC–DFG). He was principal investigator (international) in a project on queer visualities, funded by Swedish Research Council. Across these projects, he addresses theoretical questions of queer visibility, visuality and materiality, as well as (anti-)identity and post-representation. His most recent publication is a special issue of Studies in ‘Russian and Soviet Cinema’ devoted to Russian and Russophone queer cinema. His most recent curatorial project is an exhibition of art co-created by a UK-based Kyrgyz artist Nat Sultan and United Queerdom community of LGBTQI+ migrants.