Colourful chalk arrow with the word BritCult25 in the middle, pointing across a small courtyard to a building in the back that a group of 5 people is about to enter

Sun rising over a river spanned by a bridge at the far end, lined with houses on the right side

Spent 2 wonderful days in Bamberg for #BritCult2025 last week. Lots of truly inspiring talks, urgency but also solidarity as speakers tackled questions around how to do gender/queer/trans studies in these challenging times. Already had several great conversations sparked by this since returning home

2 days at the annual #BritCult2025 conference. There was a sense of urgency among those of us who practice queer studies not only but perhaps especially as queer individuals in times where our fellows‘ mere being is perceived as a threat (to what exactly, though?) in many parts of the world.

The conference organising team of 12 people with rainbow lenyards, smiling and standing in front of a PowerPoint slide that reads "Re-Orientating Gender (Studies): Feminism, Queerness and Trans* in Cultural Studies Today“, Bamberg, 20.-22. November 2025.

#britcult2025 on queering religion, menstruation and literary reception; on being haunted by the ghosts of our past and taking strength in community for what lies ahead of us; on reading reparatively and listening to each other - thank you so much to everyone for these past 2 days!

Pepper pretzel photographed on a red paper bag with a tiny pink resin duck nestled in the middle.

Thanks to @femsista.bsky.social recommendation from her keynote at #BritCult2025 , I’ve got a local snack to try on my way home, the pepper pretzel 🥨 (Tiny conference duck, though overshadowed by it in size but not in cuteness, travels with me 🦆). @susannegruss.bsky.social @jennyleetsch.bsky.social

Presentation slide featuring the cast of the Heartstopper Netflix series with the title: Why are we like this? : Seriality, Genre, and Queer Joy in Alice Oseman‘s Heartstoppet (2022-), by Anneke Schewe and Melissa Schuh

Photograph of a bridge in Bamberg with the rising sun in the background.

Photograph of a sunlit river back in Bamberg.

On my way home from a sunny Bamberg after an amazing, rich #BritCult2025 conference, where I got to share in a collaborative panel discussing queer romance and queer happy endings with the all together brilliant Anneke Schewe, @jennyleetsch.bsky.social , and Amanda Boyce. @susannegruss.bsky.social

thank you to @susannegruss.bsky.social and the lovely team of organisers for hosting this year's #britcult2025 conference in bamberg! leaving with a full heart and brain after three days of panels, key notes, and conversations - what a joy to be part of such an inspiring academic community!

Colby Gordon in front of his presentation, title Nonsecular

Colby Gordon in front of his presentation showing 2 Bible illustrations with Eve emerging from Adam's body's side

Yesterday's keynote at #BritCult2025 #conference was really impactful, with @badinfinity2.bsky.social highlighting the queer & trans elements in #Medieval & #EarlyModern Christian iconography & texts, from Genesis to Jesus Christ & the Last Judgment

#TransStudies #QueerStudies #Theology #ArtHistory

It was such a joy to participate in #BritCult2025 remotely and present my research on (Inter-)Textile Practices and/as Networked Feminism this morning! Thank you so much to @susannegruss.bsky.social @sarahbusch.bsky.social and the rest of the team for making this possible! #AcademicParenting

Glass bowl full of a colourful assortment of small resin ducks, with a pink one set next to the bowl

University of Bamberg tote bag in navy with white lettering, with a yellow name Tag including pronouns and a small pink resin duck on it.

Who could say no to a conference duck 🦆? I chose a pink one to match my outfit 😍

@susannegruss.bsky.social #BritCult2025 @jennyleetsch.bsky.social

Elisabeth Lechner & Greta Olson in front of their PowerPoint slides on the topic of Feminism

Elisabeth Lechner & Greta Olson in front of their PowerPoint slides, showcasing the books mentioned in their talk

This year's #BritCult was off to a great start today with the 1st joint keynote by @femsista.bsky.social & @greta-olson.org on current questions & issues of #Feminism - incl how to avoid getting sucked into anti-feminists' toxic discourses 🧛🦇

#BritCult25 #BritCult2025 #GenderStudies

Photograph of a tree in front of some rooftops and a cloudy sunset sky

Photograph from a bridge onto a bank of south German houses.

Photograph of a bridge with locks on the bannister with a river and houses in the background.

Photograph of a church with a white sandstone front.

Some pretty Bamberg sights on the first day of the #BritCult2025 conference…

@susannegruss.bsky.social @jennyleetsch.bsky.social

Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures Re-Orientating Gender (Studies): Feminism, Queerness, Trans* in Cultural Studies Today Bamberg, 20-22 November 2025 After a period of seeming consolidation, feminist politics, queer and trans* identities as well as gender studies as a programme field are, once again, under threat. Taking its cue from the inherently political nature of cultural studies, this conference will take stock and re-orientate the position and importance of gender (studies) in cultural studies today. keynote speakers: Greta Olson & Elisabeth Lechner, Colby Gordon location: An der Universität 2, room 00.25 organisation: Chair of English Literature (Susan Brähler, Sarah Busch, Susanne Gruß, Allison Lemley, Theo Lupprian, Kerstin-Anja Münderlein)

Round cheese platter with cubes and wedges artfully arranged

Charcuterie platter with hams and Salami artfully arranged

Antipasto platter

The #BritCult2025 conference in Bamberg is off to a great start, including the most beautiful (and massive) cheese platter I have ever seen 😋🧀
@susannegruss.bsky.social @jennyleetsch.bsky.social

A rainbow coloured arrow reads BritCult 25

A rainbow coloured square guiding us to the entrance to, as it reads, BritCult 25

At #BritCult2025 #conference in Bamberg: impressive 🌈🏳️‍🌈 -coloured signs guided us to the university rooms, where the Postgraduate Forum took place.
#BritCult25 #GenderStudies #QueerStudies #CulturalStudies

en route to #BritCult2025!! Umstieg in Würzburg hat geklappt, nun trägt mich der Regio hoffentlich reibungslos nach Bamberg. 🤞🤞🤞

Very much looking forward to meeting old friends and new colleagues! ✨

It's cold, there is a tiny bit of snow. Almost 100 conference speakers and participants are on their way to Bamberg today, most of them by train. It's fortunate that DB has a long history of dealing really well with the first snow of the year, right? RIGHT??? #britcult2025

selfie in IG-Farben-Haus, Uni Frankfurt/Main

Lots of familiar BritCult faces at the fantastic "The Company We Keep" workshop in Frankfurt (sponsored by Britcult!). The association's president, 2 members of the advisory committee, one of the organisers of #BritCult2025, and the unimpressed guy in the middle are looking forward to #BritCult2025!

Currently finishing a paper and co-ordinating the details of conference. Stressful, but: almost 100 people registered for our feminist/gender studies conference in late November, & that makes me VERY happy (also slightly panicked, because the room might be too small, but mostly happy). #Britcult2025

Screenshot website

Things are getting real! The website for #britcult2025 has gone live: www.britcult.de/conference20.... Check out our exciting programme, register until October 20, then join us for a 3-day conference on the Re-Orientation of Gender (Studies) in the 21st century. #AcademicConference #GenderStudies

collage of four syllabus title pages for summer term 2025

As summer term is drawing near, here is a quick preview of my classes. 2 of them will also prepare students for the #BritCult2025 conference later this year.
- (Reading) Feminism, Gender & Queer Studies
- From Dickens to Neo-Dickens
- (Adapting) 19th-Century Literature & Culture
- Queering the Canon

Truly excited that we received almost 30 abstracts for our #BritCult2025 conference covering a wide range of topics. Now for the hard part: we only have 14 slots. Off to read & select abstracts (fun), create panels (also fun), & then reject some people (not fun). #AcademicConference #GenderStudies

Watching one of my inboxes on the day of the deadline of a CfP: loving it! Also: appreciative but slightly concerned about the people who submit abstracts days (or weeks!) before the actual deadline. #BritCult2025

Our conference topic has perhaps become even more vital over the last couple of weeks. Join us for #BritCult2025 in Bamberg later this year, submit abstracts on all things #feminism, #GenderStudies, #QueerStudies, and #TransStudies in British cultural studies until March 19, and spread the word!

screenshot of website announcing the conference

first page of conference CfP (download the document via link in the post)

second page of conference CfP (download the document via link in the post)

Now live: CfP for #Britcult2025 @gukbamberg.bsky.social - "Re-Orientating Gender (Studies): Feminism, Queerness, Trans* in Cultural Studies Today", Nov. 20-22. Deadline for abstracts: March 19, full CfP via www.britcult.de/2025/01/brit.... Reposts welcome!
#AcademicConference #GenderStudies

Books: Elisabeth Lechner, Riot Don't Diet - Greta Olson et al (eds), Beyond Gender - Colby Gordon, Glorious Bodies

2025 project loading: the organisation of #BritCult2025 (on all things feminism & gender/queer/trans* studies in cultural studies). Already looking forward to our keynotes: 1) joint keynote by @femsista.bsky.social & @greta-olson.org and 2) @badinfinity2.bsky.social about #earlymodern trans studies.

Organising a conference is not always fun, but getting to invite fantastic people for keynotes for #Britcult2025 definitely is! I'm also trying to think of ways to make keynotes less traditional/conservative and I think I found the right people for this. More soon!