We Want In on This: Contemporary Queer Archaeology and the Preservation of Queer Cultural History

Summary

This research will address how contemporary archaeology can be used to explore notions of identity, gender expression and self-determination, community belonging, and the value of queer cultural heritage, with an emphasis on the experiences and engagement of queer and trans youth. Queer and trans youth are organizing in their schools and communities to create change that affects their lives and the lives of their friends and families. They are creating new language for queer and trans identities and gender expressions that better fit them, and are using new technologies in innovative ways to connect with each other and share information about what it means to be queer and trans today. This research uses contemporary archaeology to engage queer young people in exploring and reflecting on cultural heritage as it pertains to queer history and culture and their own place within it. It uses the perspectives of queer and trans youth to address questions on the curation of queer archives and collections and capacity-building for organizations that house and support these collections by emphasizing the needs and interests of queer and trans youth.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage