About the Centre
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The Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at the University of Leeds is one of the largest UK gender studies research centres.
Founded in 1997, we bring together academics, researchers and postgraduates from the arts and humanities, social sciences, medicine and healthcare disciplines.
We focus on contemporary gender issues, and stress the intersections between gender and other social categories: race, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, space and location, age, and embodiment, emphasising the relationship between theory, practice and policy. Our particular areas of focus include the following.
- The Body (including aesthetic and cosmetic surgeries)
- Citizenship
- Global Gender Relations
- Intimacies
- Masculinities
- Queer Theory and Practices
- Race and Ethnicity
- Science and Technologies
- Sexuality
- Sex Work
- Transgender
Latest news
Dr Sally Hines, Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies has been successful in securing funding from the ESRC for the research project - Recognising Diversity: Equalities in Principle and Practice. To read the initial report please click here
Dr Zowie Davy who completed her PhD with CIGS has won the 2012 prestigious British Sociological Association's (BSA) Philip Abrams Memorial Prize. The prize is for the best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology. Zowie's book Davy, Z: (2011) Recognizing Transsexuals: Personal, Political and Medicolegal Embodiment, Ashgate Publishing) was developed from her PhD thesis on transsexual aesthetics. The award was announced at the BSA conference 2012 at the University of Leeds. Zowie Davy is now a research fellow in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Lincoln. Many congratulations to Zowie.
Professor Ruth Holliday recently featured on Radio 4's "Thinking Allowed" with Laurie Taylor, outlining her current research project about cosmetic tourism Sun, Sea, Sand and Silicone.
- Visit the project website
- Listen to Professor Ruth Holliday talking to Laurie Taylor about cosmetic tourism on "Thinking Allowed" (BBC Radio 4, Mon, 16 Jan 2012)
Dr Richard Cleminson, Deputy Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies and Reader in the History of Sexuality at the University's School of Modern Languages and Cultures, has marked Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) history month with the translation into Spanish of his groundbreaking history of male homosexuality in Spain, 'Los Invisibles': A History of Male Homosexuality in Spain, 1850-1939.
World-leading research
Our research was graded the second highest in the country in terms of 'world-leading' research’ (4*) in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
International focus
Both research and teaching in the Centre has an international focus and we recruit students from all over the world.
Vibrant research culture
We have a vibrant research and postgraduate culture, and our programme of events includes conferences, visiting speaker’s seminars, lectures, work in progress workshops, and film and book clubs.