Centre for the Study of Sexuality and Culture (CSSC)
The Centre for the Study of Sexuality and Culture (CSSC) is the first research facility in the UK to focus exclusively on the interrelationships of sexuality, gender, culture, and history.
With affiliated staff drawn from disciplines across the University, and through partnerships with local and international organisations, arts centres and networks, the Centre fosters pioneering scholarship alongside a commitment to arts activism that challenges current understandings of sexuality and gender.
The banner image above features the artistic director of award-winning company Trans Creative, Kate O’Donnell, and Manchester-based drag superstar, Cheddar Gorgeous, whose public event ‘A Queer Dialogue on Trans and Drag’ closed the 2019 Sexuality Summer School.
Research areas
CSSC researchers are setting agendas in sexuality studies by exploring new paradigms and theoretical approaches in the following areas.
- Queer and trans historiography and temporalities
- Formations of subjectivity, including race, ethnicity and class
- Post-gay cultures
- Norms and normativities
- LGBTQ health and sexual politics
- Queer and feminist visual cultures
- AIDS writing and activism
- Queer cultural theory
CSSC runs an interdisciplinary master's course on Gender, Sexuality and Culture.
Academic and postgraduate members of the Centre regularly organise research seminars and events on feminist and queer debates. These include:
- the Manchester Queer Research Network, which runs regular reading groups and events;
- the Centre’s annual Sexuality Summer School (SSS), which takes place each May, providing scholarly conversations for postgraduate students alongside a curated programme of queer cultural events in partnership with Manchester arts organisations;
- to receive information about the Centre and its events please join our mailing list.
