Professor Justin Bengry
What is the Future of Queer History?
by Dr. Justin Bengry
March 24, 2025
6:30 p.m. | Cash bar and snacks
7 p.m. | Lecture begins
M1040
Justin Bengry designed and led the world’s only MA in Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 2017 until 2024. Even as his appointment as the UK’s first lecturer in queer history signaled an important moment in the development of queer history in the UK, the field remains fraught with challenges from within and beyond the academy. Queer historians face attacks on specialisation from their own institutions, while on social media we are caricatured and condemned. But it is precisely for these reasons that an inclusive and critical queer history is more urgent than ever. Drawing from these experiences, this talk will reflect on the state of queer history and the challenges we face going forward.
Bio: Dr. Justin Bengry holds appointments at the University of Oxford, King's College London and the University of Exeter. Until 2024, he was Lecturer in Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London where he led the world’s first MA in Queer History. With Molly Merryman (Kent State University) he led Queer Pandemic: Resilience in Times of Crisis, which uncovered LGBTQ+ experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic and created the world's largest Covid oral history archive of our voices. He is the co-editor of Locating Queer Histories: Places and Traces across the UK and the forthcoming Queer Treasury, and is currently revising a book manuscript titled The Pink Pound: Capitalism and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Britain.
The Driedger Fund supports the study of history through scholarships and special events, and is made possible by the children of Dr. Gerhard and Hilda Driedger to honour their parents’ lifelong love of history.
Thank you for support from The Prentice Institute for Global Population Economy and the Office of the Vice-Provost of Accessibility, Belonging, and Community