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QueerCon Conference

QueerCon was a 2-day conference and festival hosted at FASoS from 1-2 July 2024. The conference brought together 79 participants – scholars and students alike – from 15 universities in 10 countries (and from as far away as Australia!). 22 scholars presented their research in queer studies on topics ranging from "Autobiographical Queer Writing in Russia" to "Amplifying Queer Voices: Representation issues in the era of Large Language Models" and "LGBTIQA+ rights in the EU". Workshops in the afternoon offered participants the opportunity to engage in depth with topics such as "Queer temporalities and (imaginaries of) the climate crisis", "LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Research", and collaborative art making.  

Instead of traditional keynote lectures, we hosted keynote concerts by musicians from Maastricht and other parts of the Netherlands. These concerts were part of the QueerCon festival. The festival – which also included an Open Mic Night in collaboration with COC Limburg and a Film Night in collaboration with Lumière Maastricht and the Bonnefanten Museum – was a joyful platform for queer and trans* inclusive community-building beyond the university that fostered collaboration between the university and regional organisations.

Overall, QueerCon was a truly interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational event. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive and stressed the need for an event like QueerCon not just for the university, but for the wider community – locally, nationally, and internationally.

LGBTQIA+ Conference at Maastricht University

Date: 1-2 July 2024
Location: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University

QueerCon Maastricht invites scholars from all academic disciplines and at every stage of their academic career to come together to advance LGBTQIA+ knowledge. The conference is the first of its kind in UM history, and it aims to be interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational.

A festival that aims to celebrate and advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion and equity runs parallel to the conference. The call for artistic contributions and performances for the festival can be found here.

Click here to sign up for the QueerCon Conference

 

Conference Themes and Goals

Recognising a need for a LGBTQIA+-centred space for thinking and activism in the Euro-region, QueerCon is an initiative supported by the Diversity and Inclusivity Office and the Centre for Gender and Diversity. With this conference, we aim to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity and to make LGBTQIA+ knowledge accessible to the community. As such, QueerCon seeks to provide a platform for:

  • Interdisciplinary Exchange: Connect with scholars and students from diverse academic backgrounds who are actively working on LGBTQIA+ topics.
  • Visibility: Elevate the visibility and importance of LGBTQIA+ issues in academia and the community.
  • Networking: Connect with fellow attendees, staff and students from across the university, and organisations from the wider community.
  • Social Change: Explore how research can be a powerful tool for social change and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society.

Conference Formation and Submission Guidelines

We welcome proposals for research presentations and workshops sessions that align with the conference’s themes. Research presentations should be no longer than 7 minutes and be aimed at an interdisciplinary audience of researchers, students, and interested members of the community. Workshop sessions will be chaired discussion sessions on specific topics that are relevant for LGBTQIA+ scholars.

We welcome proposals from scholars at every stage of their academic career, including PhD candidates. As an interdisciplinary conference, we welcome proposals from all disciplines and on any topics related to LGBTQIA+ issues. 

Please email your proposals for research presentations and/or workshop sessions by 11 December 2023 to queercon.um@gmail.com. Please submit your proposal as a pdf attachment. Proposals should include the following information:

  • Title
  • Author(s): name(s) and short bio(s)
  • Contact details (email)
  • Format information (research presentations, workshop sessions)
  • Abstract (up to 200 words)

Accepted presenters will be notified by the end of January 2024.

Overview of important dates

  • Submission Deadline: 11 December 2023
  • Notification of Acceptance: 31 January 2024
  • Conference Dates: 1-2 July 2024

Collaboration and Sponsorship

This event is made possible with the generous support of a Maastricht University Diversity and Inclusivity Grant 2023/24, and UM’s Centre for Gender and Diversity. QueerCon is a joint and cross-faculty organisational effort by UM staff and students in collaboration with UM Pride, Dionyx and COC Limburg. 

If your organisation is interested in partnering with QueerCon, please contact us at queercon.um@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities, and for all other inquiries and further information.