I am involved in two different interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams, both of which have successfully secured major research grants. The first project, an Insight Grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, is for “Understanding Decisions to Seek Conversion Therapy in Canada” ($143,125, PI: Dr. Travis Salway). The second project, an Operating Grant funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is for “Displacement and the Health of People Living with HIV” ($447,136, PI: Dr. Rodney Knight).

I have been successfully renewed for a second term as a Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities. Fifteen UBC researchers were appointed as new and renewed CRCs in the most recent round of the competition.

As stated on the announcement from UBC, the Canada Research Chairs Program is among the highest research designations in the country. It enables Canadian universities to achieve research excellence and become world-class research centres. Chairholders improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada’s international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of scholars. There are very few scholars from the Arts in this most recent round of the competition, which makes me that much more grateful for the recognition.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) has invited me to deliver a keynote address at its upcoming conference in June. I have been tasked to set the agenda for future interdisciplinary and international collaborations on “Studies of Belonging.”

NIAS is the Netherlands’ only independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences. Founded in 1970, the Institute is the first of its kind in Europe and the third of its kind in the world.

I am delighted to announce my new publication, “Why Gayborhoods Matter: The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities.”

Urban scholars should listen closely to LGBTQ+ people, whose street-level experiences and interactions facilitate a more nuanced understanding of gayborhoods than the supra-individual patterns distilled by conventional approaches. In other words, the reasons that residents provide for why their neighborhoods appeal to them showcase the analytic power of the streets for understanding what places mean, why they matter, and for cautioning against claims that cultural districts are becoming outmoded or obsolete.  

My article is part of Springer’s Urban Book Series. The edited volume in which it was published — The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods — is available, in its entirety, as open access.

There is a vibrant literature on LGBTQ+ urban geographies, as well as established traditions in sociology and political science on collective action, but research infrequently brings these interdisciplinary fields of sexualities, social movements and urban studies together to explore the emplacement of LGBTQ+ urban activisms. In my new article in Urban Studies, I propose two ways to advance the field.

My graduate student Ryan Stillwagon and I won the 2020 Distinguished Article Award (Honorable Mention) from the Sociology of Sexualities section of the American Sociological Association for “Queer Pop-Ups: A Cultural Innovation in Urban Life.”

I’m delighted to receive two “Top Cited Article, 2018-2019” awards from Wiley publishing. My articles, “Performative Progressiveness: Accounting for New Forms of Inequality in the Gayborhood” (co-authored with my graduate student Adriana Brodyn) and “Cultural Archipelagos: New Directions in the Study of Sexuality and Space” were both published in City & Community – making them both among the top cited articles from that journal.

“Performative Progressiveness” looks at the co-occurrence of progressive mindsets and homonegative actions among straight residents of urban gay districts. Adriana and I describe the subtle forms that discrimination takes in a contemporary context of increasing acceptance and integration. “Cultural Archipelagos” is part of a special symposium on queer urbanisms. In the article, I describe the diversity of queer spaces, particularly the forms they take beyond big city gayborhoods.

From 2006 to 2016, the number of LGBTQ bars, pubs, and nightclubs in London declined by 58%, falling from 125 venues to 53. In my new article, I explore the high closure rate of LGBTQ nighttime venues in London, and the city’s recognition of these venues’ intertwined economic and cultural significance. Available now on Metropolitics.

My graduate student Ryan Stillwagon and I have just published our research in the journal City & Community. Our article is entitled “Queer Pop-Ups: A Cultural Innovation in Urban Life.” You can access the piece here.

I am delighted to announce the publication of my new book, Imagining Queer Methods, with NYU Press.

My book, Sex Cultures, was reviewed in Social Forces. Dustin Kidd from Temple University writes, “What sort of a book is Sex Cultures? While it is constructed very differently from the author’s previous monographs, I cannot rightly say this is not a monograph unto itself. It offers original arguments and analysis, and it is based significantly on fieldwork, even if that fieldwork was primarily the basis for the previous volumes. Much of its argumentation is driven by theoretical and methodological claims, which are worthy of monographs unto themselves. I pose this question because the monograph is the most esteemed book form in the field. So, I want to say that this is indeed a monograph, but I also want to recognize that it is a unique sort of monograph that I would love to see a great deal more. In Sex Cultures, Ghaziani synthesizes a narrative from across his existing works, and then further synthesizes that narrative with the field of sexuality studies. The book essentially lays out an agenda for the field by staking claims about the pivotal contributions of the sociology of sexuality and the possibilities for future analysis.”

I’ve always admired Next City, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating pathways toward more equitable and sustainable urban futures. I was thrilled when the editor invited me to pen a piece based on my new research on cultural archipelagos. Here it is, in time to kick off Pride month: Greetings from the Gayborhood–And Beyond.

The City of Vancouver has recognized me as a “trailblazer” for my work on queer urban spaces. Read the interview that I gave to the Georgia Straight.

My co-editor Matt Brim and I have received stellar endorsements for our forthcoming book Imagining Queer Methods. Here’s what some of the top scholars in queer studies have to say:

“For those working in the areas of queer theory or queer studies, we know that the question of something called ‘queer methods’ or ‘queer methodologies’ is a long-standing and vexing one. It is a mixing of two ideas that on first blush appear incompatible—that is, ‘queerness’ and ‘method.’ The latter calls to mind the possibility of unified disciples, fixed approaches, and data sets, while the former defies any such easy categorical coherence. Imagining Queer Methods is nothing less than a manifesto on the future of how these two seemingly orthogonal terms can together be productively engaged in knowledge production. Amin Ghaziani and Matt Brim, two leading voices among their generation of queer theorists, have carefully curated an impressive array of transdisciplinary voices who do precisely that in the essays contained in this volume.”—Dwight A. McBride, author of Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch: Essays On Race and Sexuality

“Imagining Queer Methods jumpstarts a much-needed conversation among sociologists, historians, and literary theorists about what exactly it means to ‘do’ queer work. Original and path-breaking, Imagining Queer Methods will change the way we think about and practice our scholarship.”—Arlene Stein, author of Unbound: Transgender Men and the Transformation of Identity

“The scholars and activists of Imagining Queer Method dare to ask not only ‘why’ but ‘how.’ Through oral history, community study, social mapping, and manifesto they break through the artificial divide between academic and activist methods in order to name and support the political and procedural protocols that might—with struggle and care—give birth to dynamic practices of queer liberation.”—Robert F. Reid-Pharr, author of Archives of Flesh: Spain, African America, and Post-Humanist Critique.

“Smart, scrappy, and exciting, Imagining Queer Methods brings together top scholars from across disciplines for a provocative tour of how queerness can challenge and invigorate research enterprises.”—Joshua Gamson, author of Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship

“Is ‘queer methods’ an oxymoron? Not according to this volume, which takes aim at the longstanding assumption that the political force of queer studies arises from its anti-disciplinary commitments. Provocative, timely, and fierce, Imagining Queer Methods is both a case study and manifesto for why methods matter.”—Robyn Wiegman, author of Object Lessons

I received a letter from the President of UBC informing me that I have been promoted to a full professor. President Ono writes, “It gives me great pleasure to inform you that I have reviewed your dossier and have determined that you will be promoted to the rank of Professor, effective July 1, 2019. I congratulate you most warmly on your achievements.”

I have produced a video to correspond to my new research on “Cultural Archipelagos,” the trend of queer spaces becoming more diverse and more plural. The video is available on the main page of City & Community and on Vimeo as well.

I am the lead essay in a special symposium on “Queer Urbanisms” that was recently published in City & Community, the official journal of the community and urban sociology section of the ASA. My piece is entitled “Cultural Archipelagos: New Directions for the Study of Sexuality and Space.” I invited four leading scholars to respond to my essay: Theo Greene (Bowdoin), Petra Doan (Florida State), Japonica Brown-Saracino (Boston), and Hector Carrillo (Northwestern). The entire symposium is available for free access.

I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded a Killam Research Prize for “outstanding research and scholarly contributions.” It is one of the highest research awards given to faculty across all departments and all disciplines at the university.  Winners are selected by the Faculty Research Award Committee, which spans arts and humanities, business, applied science, science, and medicine at UBC. See the announcement from sociology here.

My latest book, Sex Cultures, was recently reviewed in the British Journal of Sociology. Eric Anderson from the University of Winchester writes, “In Sex Cultures, sociologist Amin Ghaziani provides a smart, engaging and accessible introduction to thinking about sex in society. He begins with the premise that sexuality is the sum of ‘sex plus culture’, and proceeds to advocate propositions about the cultural expressions and analysis of sexuality that will resonate with a wide range of scholars. Drawing on a canon of scholarship from the social sciences and the humanities, along with a creative strategy of using an international set of ‘case studies’ to breathe life into those respective theories, he places culture in the driver’s seat and thus at the centre of the production of sexuality…[A] well-written, well-evidenced, and scintillating account.”

My three graduate students and I co-authored an essay in The Conversation about the emergence of “queer pop-ups,” or ephemeral community spaces that challenge arguments about the decline of queer sociality in North America. Our essay is entitled, “Queer Pop-Ups Take Us Beyond the Gayborhood.” Click here to read it.

I published an op-ed in the Sunday edition of the LA Times. The piece is entitled, “What we really mean when we talk about acceptance of gay people.” Click here to read it.

My graduate student Adriana Brodyn and I published our article in the journal City & Community. Entitled “Performative Progressiveness: Accounting for New Forms of Inequality in the Gayborhood,” we explore how public opinions that show a liberalization in attitudes toward homosexuality actually conceal subtle forms of prejudice and discrimination among straight residents of urban gay districts. You can our research under the “Articles” tab. Our piece has received a tremendous amount of media attention as well, including Vogue UK. You can access this coverage under the “Media and Public Relations” tab.

I am delighted to announce the publication of “Queer Pop-Ups,” my new essay that I co-authored with my graduate student Ryan Stillwagon. We explore the temporary spaces of queer community-building and argue that they provide cultural innovations in urban nightlife. You can access the research under the “Articles” tab.

I have been invited as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK for the Winter 2018 semester. I’ll be affiliated with the Urbanisation, Planning, and Development Cluster in the Department of Geography.

Click here for my talk in the sociology department at the University of Pennsylvania.

How many people do you think are gay or lesbian? Take a minute, think about it, and take your best guess. You’re probably wrong.

Click here to read my new essay in Contexts magazine, “The Closet”, where I muse on how to measure people who don’t want to be measured.

I have been elected to serve a 3-year term on the Council of the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the American Sociological Association.

Click here for the official announcement.

My research on urban gay districts received extensive coverage in the New York Times.

Click here to read the feature story: “There Goes the Gayborhood”

I am delighted to announce the release of Sex Cultures, published by Polity Press. This is my fourth and most recently published book. In the project, I provide a unique cultural perspective on the study of sexuality. Unlike sex, which is a biological expression, the word sexuality highlights how the materiality of the body acquires cultural meaning as it encounters other bodies, institutions, regulations, symbols, societal norms, values, and worldviews. Think of it this way: sex + culture = sexuality.