Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg invite you to Academic Pride, an event that highlights issues affecting the rights of LGBTQIA+ people from different perspectives with a special focus on academia.
Academic Pride is a platform for knowledge, conversation and reflection. Through lectures, panel discussions, workshops and other program items, current issues about diversity, rights and LGBTQIA+ perspectives are raised. The program also highlights the role of culture in issues of identity, norms and representation.
Together we explore how we can contribute to a more inclusive study and work environment.
This year's event will take place in both Swedish and English.
The event is aimed at employees and students at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology as well as to the interested public.
Program
13:00–13:20 Introduction – Welcome to Academic Pride 2026
Maria Elmquist, Deputy President, Chalmers University of Technology, and Pauli Kortteinen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for issues regarding education, University of Gothenburg, welcome everyone to the event.
Hosts for the event: Linnéa Aminoff, Student Welfare Officer, the Student Union at Chalmers 2026–2027; Astrid Ehrman, Student Welfare Officer, the Student Union at Chalmers 2025–2026.
Venue: Veras gräsmatta
13:30–14:15: Part 1: Two parallel items.
Choose which of the following seminars you wish to attend.
Seminar 1) An Introduction to LGBTQI+
This lecture introduces the basics of LGBTQI+ identities, terminology and history. It also explores topics such as discrimination, laws and prejudice, LGBTQI+ rights, and how to create more inclusive and respectful environments. The course aims to increase awareness, challenge stereotypes, and help participants communicate and interact respectfully with LGBTQI+ people.
Language: English
Participants: Agnes Rudbo, General Manager of West Pride.
Venue: Vasa-L03
Alternative 2) Decreased Tolerance for LGBTQI Persons – How Do We Reverse the Negative Trend?
In a recent report from The Living History Forum, it is established that an increasing number of young people hold negative attitudes towards LGBTQI individuals than before. Due to these findings, we aim to investigate the experiences of LGBTQI persons within the education system, at the undergraduate level as well as within higher education, and what risks and consequences the decreased tolerance can have on LGBTQI persons in the elementary school, upper secondary school, and university. How does this development affect the society at large, beyond education? And how do we reverse this trend
Participants: Ylva Odenbring, Professor of Education (PhD), University of Gothenburg, and principal investigator (PI) of a research project that investigates mental health issues and violations among young LGBTQI students in Swedish and Danish schools; Katharina Kehl, Senior Lecturer in Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Gothenburg, and editor for the journal lambda nordica. Recently arranged a symposium about the resistance that LGBTQI individuals meet within academia, how to address these issues, and the possibilities for solidarity.
Moderator: Astrid Ehrman, Student Welfare Officer, the Student Union at Chalmers 2025–2026.
Language: Swedish
Venue: Veras gräsmatta
14:15–15:15: Fika/coffee break/mingle
15:15–16:00: Part 2: Two parallel items.
Choose which of the following seminars you wish to attend.
Alternative 1) The Political Climate & LGBTQI+
This lecture will focus on the global political climate and how polarization and cancel culture makes it even harder to make inclusive progress. The lecture will focus on studies surrounding the topic and also broaden the perspective of how one’s actions could help decreasing the polarization.
Participants: Agnes Rudbo, General Manager of West Pride
Language: English
Venue: Vasa-L03
Alternative 2) Queer Lives, Queer Books – Making LGBTQI Literature Visible and Accessible
Siska Humlesjö and Sebastian Lönnlöv from the University of Gothenburg presents the database Queerlit that collects fiction depicting same sex desire and overriding of binary gender norms – about the project’s challenges and conclusions, interesting works, the subject heading list QLIT and working with the Swedish translation of Homosaurus, an international queer thesaurus.
Participants: Siska Humlesjö, Research Engineer and systems librarian, University of Gothenburg; Sebastian Lönnlöv, PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, University of Gothenburg.
Language: Swedish
Venue: Veras gräsmatta
16:00–16:15: Rounding up and thank you for today.
16:30: After Work at the beer hall (ölhallen) in the Chalmers Student Union House, JA Pripps.
Everyone is welcome to continue the conversations at an After Work at the Union House (extern link to the Union House´s website)!
Register
Register via this form (extern link to a form at Chalmers’ webiste)
