Celebrating Rainbow History Month

A colloquium at the University of Turku, Monday to Thursday 11.–14.11.2019.

The Rainbow History Month was organized in Finland for the first time in 2018. Unlike in many other countries, in Finland the LGBTQI history month has not yet been taken to the schools, from where it originated in the U.S. in 1994. One possible reason might be that in Finland the pedagogies for addressing sexual and gender diversity have not been in the focus when educating future teachers. To overcome some of the obstacles for addressing LGBTQ histories and related themes in Finnish schools and memory institutions, this colloquium Celebrating Rainbow History Month focuses on the different ways in which queer history and lives can be integrated into the classroom and other sites of learning.

During the introductory day on Monday, we hear two public lectures. Professor Emeritus Nancy Commins, University of Colorado at Denver, talks about the ways in which teachers can support the identity development of their students, and Collegium Researcher Tuula Juvonen, University of Turku, reasons why it makes sense to include diversity of sexuality and gender in the school curriculum.

On Tuesday, we start the two-day workshop Queer pedagogies of the Rainbow History Month with lectures held by Associate Professor Therese Quinn, Director of Museum and Exhibition Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to the lectures, there will be group work where we seek to translate those inspiring ideas into Finnish context.

The third day, Wednesday, the workshop continues with presentations of various Finnish experts. They share their insights and experiences about the ways in which knowledge about both historical and contemporary sexual and gender diversity can be integrated in the education provided in the schools and other didactic settings.

In addition, Professor Angelia Wilson, University of Manchester, will hold a public lecture on Thursday on the dynamics of the politics of hate. It lays out the predicaments of the political climate surrounding any pedagogical endeavors that seek to address gender and sexual diversity.

We invite those teachers, educators and students who are interested in learning about didactic tools that they can put in practice in their professional lives to join the two-day workshop and the accompanying public lectures. The working language of all the events is English, except of Tuula Juvonen’s public lecture.

The participation is free for the public lectures, the fee for the workshop is 20 €/day, including lunch and coffee (yet free for students, no lunch included).

Please register (also as a student) for the workshop at https://konsta.utu.fi/Default.aspx?tabid=88&tap=7849 by November 8.

For queries, please contact tuula.juvonen@utu.fi

The colloquium is organized jointly by Turku Institute for Advanced Studies and School of History, Culture and Arts Studies, with its Gender Studies Programme.

Programme

Monday 11.11.2019, Public talks

Pub3, Publicum, Assistentinkatu 7, University of Turku

14.15–15.15
Supporting Identity Development: The Critical Role of Educators
Clinical Professor Emeritus Nancy Commins, University of Colorado at Denver and Senior Fellow, University of Turku
In collaboration with DivEd project at the Department of Teacher Education

Turku Public Library, Studio, Linnankatu 2

18.00–19.30
Mitä kummaa? Sukupuolen ja seksuaalisuuden moninaisuuden sisällyttäminen kouluopetukseen
A public lecture by Collegium Researcher Tuula Juvonen, University of Turku

Tuesday 12.11.2019, Queer pedagogies of the Rainbow History Month, part one: The U.S. Workshop

Tempo (E211), Minerva, Kaivokatu 12, University of Turku

10.00–10.15 Welcome addresses
Professor Martin Cloonan, Director of TIAS, University of Turku
Dr. Tuula Juvonen, TIAS & Gender Studies, University of Turku

10.15–12.00 Queer pedagogies and arts education
Associate Professor Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago

12.00–13.30 Lunch

13.30–15.30 Questions about museums and social justice to explore
in the classroom
Associate Professor Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago

15.30–16.00 Coffee

16.00–18.00 Using museums to teach about LGBTQ people’s lives
                     and contributions
                     Associate Professor Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago,
                     and participants

Wednesday 13.11.2019, Queer pedagogies of the Rainbow History Month, part two: Finland Workshop

Tempo (E211), Minerva, Kaivokatu 12, University of Turku

10.00–11.00 Queering the Finnish past. The case of Sateenkaarihistoriakuukausi
Dr. Rita Paqvalén, Executive Director at Culture for All

11.00–12.00 Gender and sexual diversity. A challenge for teaching and schools
Dr. Jukka Lehtonen, Senior researcher, WeAll project, Gender Studies,
University of Helsinki

12.00–13.30 Lunch

13.30–14.30 SepäSe-workshop model in upper comprehensive schools in Tampere
Outi Santavuori, Sinuiksi support and counselling services, SETA
Pirkanmaa

14.30–15.30 Addressing queer past and present in teacher training
Dr. Jan Löfström, Associate Professor in Social Studies Education,
Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku

15.30–16.30 Queering art museum pedagogy: Intersecting Queer and Crip in
                     Finnish Museum of Photography
                     Aapo Raudaskoski and Jemina Lindholm,
                     Aalto University/Finnish Museum of Photography

16:30–17:00 Observations, commentary and discussion
Associate Professor Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago,
and participants

Thursday, 14.11.2019, Public talk

Recommended literature

Block, Corrie (2019) Educator affect. LGBTQ+ in social studies curriculum. Critical Questions in Education, 11(1), 1–16.
Kjaran, Jón Ingvar & Lehtonen, Jukka (2017) Windows of opportunities: Nordic perspectives on sexual diversity in education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2017.1414319
Lehtonen, Jukka (2017) Troubling normativities? Constructing sexual and gender diversity in the educational work of Finnish LGBTI human rights association Seta. In Vaahtera, Touko, Niemi, Anna-Maija, Lappalainen, Sirpa & Beach, Dennis (eds.) Troubling educational cultures in the Nordic countries. London: The Tufnell Press, 117-139.
Maguth, Brad & Taylor, Nathan (2014) Bringing LGBTQ+ topics into the social studies classroom. The Social Studies, 105(1), 23–28.
Paasonen, Susanna & Spišák, Sanna (2018) Malleable identities, leaky taxonomies: The matter of sexual flexibility. Sexualities 21:8, 1374–1378. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460718779798
Quinn, Therese & Meiners, Erica. Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall: Moving beyond equality. In Butler-Wall, A., Cosier, K., Harper, R., Sapp, J., Sokolower, J., & Tempel, M. (Eds.) Rethinking sexism, gender and sexuality. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools , 27–38. Available as an e-book through EBESCO.
Suominen, Anniina & Pusa, Tiina (eds) (2018) Feminism and Queer in Art Education. Aalto University publication series ART + DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE, 7/2018. Available at https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/34087
Taavetti, Riikka (2018) Queer Politics of Memory: Undisciplined Sexualities as Glimpses and Fragments in Finnish and Estonian Pasts. Publications of the Faculty of Social Sciences 87. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/10138/244517

Celebrating Rainbow History Month

Programme

Recommended literature

Recommended links