This seminar, by Professor Yiu-tung Suen, aims to provoke researchers to reflect on the space that sexualities studies occupy within academia and beyond.
First, it asks: what are the opportunities and challenges that the expansion and institutionalisation of sexualities studies entail? In an era of neoliberalism and managerialism, what does researching and teaching sexualities mean? To what extent are queer studies still ‘queer’?
Second, what are the larger cultural, social and political roles that sexualities studies can claim in wider society? What are the possible ways for sexualities researchers to create social impact? What do sexualities researchers need to be aware of in engaging policy makers, service providers, the public and the media? What are the setbacks and rewards when sexualities researchers go beyond the academia?
This presentation uses Prof. Yiu-tung Suen’s own experiences of studying sexualities in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom as a starting point, and draws on observations of the field of sexualities studies broadly defined. This presentation inevitably raises more questions than what it can answer.
About the Speaker:
Yiu-tung Suen (D.Phil. University of Oxford) is Assistant Professor of the Gender Studies Programme, and Associate Director of the Gender Research Centre, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prof. Suen is the Founding Director of the Sexualities Research Programme, the first research programme in Hong Kong dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexuality issues, with a focus on sexual orientation, gender identity, law and social policy.
Internationally, he serves as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme Being LGBTI in Asia programme. He is also a global advisor for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association for its Global Social Attitudes Survey.
His academic writings can be found published or forthcoming in such journals as Journal of Homosexuality, Hong Kong Law Journal, Sociological Research Online, Sexual and Relationship Therapy, Higher Education Research and Development, Social Theory and Health, and others. Prof. Suen serves as the Vice-chairperson of AIDS Concern Hong Kong. He has been frequently invited to speak on LGBTI issues to a wide range of audiences including policy makers, business leaders, lawyers, health care professionals, service providers, secondary school and university students, and social activists.
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