The first presentation in our International Doctoral Seminar Series will be given by Ms Diekara Oloruntoba-Oju on Thursday 29 April, 2021 on the topic ‘Like a Drag or Something’.
A PhD candidate in the Department of African and African American Studies, with an emphasis in anthropology, at the University of Harvard, Ms Oloruntoba-Oju focuses in her presentation on the fluidity that characterizes the queer experience in Nigeria, with the aim of unravelling particularities not captured in the Western framework of LGBT+ discourse which, as she argues, perpetuates the imposition of colonial systems of knowing and understanding on the sexualities being created and navigated in the African queer frontier.
As this summary introduction to her talk indicates, it promises to be a thought-provoking presentation which tackles, on the one hand, the heteronormative interdiction of queer sexualities in Nigerian society and, on the other hand, the discursive elision of the expression of these identities when processed through the Western-originated LGBT+ prism.
The IAS International Doctoral Seminar Series (IIDSS) is a new platform for PhD candidates working on cutting-edge research topics in relation to the Black and African experience. It affords these candidates from universities on the continent and abroad an avenue to present their work at various stages of development to an engaged audience of scholars, researchers, academics, policymakers, etc., drawn from all over the world.
This first lecture in the series will be organized as a Webinar on Thursday 29 April, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. Nigerian time. Keep an eye on this page for details on how to join the Webinar as the day approaches.
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