Centre for Religion and Public Life Research Seminar with Dr Chris Greenough about Queer Methodologies in the Study of Religion

Abstract

As we approach the thirtieth birthday of the naming of ‘queer theory’ by Teresa de Lauretis (1990) we can celebrate how queer theory has played a major role in critical contexts across academic disciplines. Queer disturbs and disrupts. However, during the course of my own doctoral studies, I came across and struggled with the fact that academic research builds on and repeats previous inquiries. So, there is a real irony when carrying out ‘queer’ research that the methodologies used end up being traditional, established, repeated, hegemonic and, alas, unqueer. In this context, this paper addresses the methodological explorations of my own research journey. Contending that methodology is too rigid a process for queer enterprise, I explore resistance, rupture and risk as ingredients for queer research. Finally, I offer briefly some practical considerations to how I queered my own PhD thesis in theology and religion.