Sweden is the most gender equal country in the world, with paid parental leave for all parents, a high number of women in leadership positions, progressive sex education, and equal rights for homosexuals, the Nordic prostitution model in which selling sex is legalized but purchasing it is illegal are among the hallmarks of all Scandinavian societies. However, Sweden also has a very gender-divided workplace and gender equal policies do not automatically lead to gender equal behaviors. With a comparative look to neighboring countries in Europe, this course explores how concepts of gender, body, sexuality, and race intersect in current debates about changing family structures, children’s rights, and new ethical dilemmas in a changing Scandinavia.
Iwo Nord is a trans researcher and educator interested in transgender and queer lives and culture, nuances of agency and power, intersections of the transnational and the local, and questions concerning mobility (travel and migration). The past years he has been committed to building and strengthening Transgender Studies in both the Nordic region and in the former Yugoslav space. Devoted to social change for trans people, he is involved in trans academic and activist alliances, resulting in the forthcoming collaborative volume In Transition: Trans Lives, Activisms, and Culture in the Post-Yugoslav Space, edited by Bojan Bilić, Iwo Nord and Aleksa Milanović. He was one of the founding members of Trans Fest Stockholm, an activist collective that strives to create inclusive and empowering cultural and community events in the Swedish capital. Iwo is a PhD candidate in Gender Studies at Södertörn University, and is affiliated with the Center for Baltic and East European Studies. His doctoral project ethnographically explores Belgrade as a transnational destination for gender-affirming surgery. He holds an MA from the University of Oslo, Norway, and has formerly taught at the Institute of Scandinavian and Finnish Studies at the University of Gdansk, Poland. Iwo’s publications include “Routes to Gender-Affirming Surgery: Navigation and Negotiation in Times of Biomedicalization” in Body, Migration, Re/constructive Surgeries: Making the Gendered Body in a Globalized World, edited by Gabriele Griffin and Malin Jordal (Routledge 2018). With DIS Since 2020.
Long Study Tour
About this tour
Before arriving in Berlin, we’ll start in Copenhagen, which allows us to gain insights into a third Scandinavian country and capital. During one of the workshops there, we will explore DIY archives and DIY resistance practices among queer and BIPOC grassroots groups.
Berlin was chosen for this Study Tour because it’s a thriving hub for LGBTQIA+ communities and a key destination for queer expats, migrants, and tourists. In Berlin, we’ll explore why these communities thrive through visits to queer spaces, workshops, and museums. Our perspective is intersectional. Among other things, we will examine challenges faced by transgender asylum seekers, explore drag as an art form, and discuss sex education at a queer sex shop. The tour blends academic and experiential learning.
Learning outcomes
Analyze how LGBTQIA+ lives and activism have been historically and contemporarily shaped in Berlin and across Europe, with a focus on the intersectional challenges faced by minorities, including the experiences of transgender asylum seekers and the impact of Nazism historically
Critically engage with community-building, advocacy, and resistance practices among queer and BIPOC grassroots groups, by exploring DIY practices and drag as a tool for identity exploration and activism
Engage in critical discussions on sex education, queer sexuality, gender, desire, and lust, and explore how these issues are navigated in various contexts, acknowledging the complexities and challenges in a time when sex and sexuality are increasingly debated and contested
Possible activities
Create your own zine as part of a DIY resistance workshop
Join a queer walking tour of Berlin
Take part in a drag workshop
Visit a queer sex shop and join a workshop on “Queer Sex Shop Basics”
Looking for some advice? We’ll support you every step of the way.
