Queer Natures: Animals, Environment and Modern Sexual Knowledge Production (1860s to 1930s and today)
Professor Ina Linge
AHRC Catalyst Grant (2024-2026)
Professor Ina Linge is Project Lead (PL) on a 2-year project “Queer Natures: Animals, Environment and Modern Sexual Knowledge Production (1860s to 1930s and today).” The project is funded by an AHRC Catalyst Grant in round 1, which makes it the very first Catalyst award to be held at the University of Exeter.
“Queer Natures” explores how German-speaking artists, scientists, and writers between the 1860s and 1930s mobilised knowledge about non-human animals and their environments to shape new ideas about the place of LGBTQ+ people in a just society. In this transformative period in German culture, groundbreaking ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality took root. This project uniquely reveals how these critical thinkers navigated complex and deeply politicized conversations about sexual identity by drawing on the interconnectedness of human and non-human worlds.
As an engaged research project, “Queer Natures” brings topics of queerness and nature into creative and critical dialogue by bringing together artists, community partners, and academic research in languages, cultures and societies. As part of the project, Dr Linge collaborates with Artists in Residence S.K. Marley and Siân Docksey to research, develop and deliver artistic methods and practices that engage LGBTQ+ audiences in knowledge production. The team is supported by creative producers Flock South West. Dr Gemma Lucas is our research assistant. Dr Chloe Asker leads on the creative evaluation of the project.
For more information about the project, please visit our website.
