Each of our tutors bring a wealth of knowledge and a love for their chosen subjects. To understand where this passion comes from, we’re asking them to share a little about themselves. First up, we had a few questions for LGBTQ+ history tutor, Dr Emily Garside.

Originally from theatre. When I got into theatre as a teenager, I naturally gravitated toward queer theatre. I think because it was the first place I saw queer stories (Thanks to Mrs Thatcher and growing up under Section 28). I fell in love with two pieces: Tony Kushner’s Angels in America and Jonathan Larson’s Rent. As someone who likes to take things to extremes, I then did a PhD on these two! And with that, I slowly immersed myself in queer culture, I discovered more and more about the wider context of the theatre that I loved. Being a big musical theatre nerd too, I quickly discovered a whole array of queer cultures in that area!

Theatre will forever be where my queer heart lies and where I’ve continued to work mostly. But I also love queer TV, and I love integrating TV and film into discussions on theatre and literature. I’m passionate about not putting arbitrary barriers between our ‘culture’, especially as a minority group - we need to take up as much space as we can.

Finally, as someone who was originally a historian, I’m so passionate about the role queer art and culture play in telling our history. We might have been written out of many historical narratives, erased from curriculums, even (again, thank you Mrs Thatcher), but actually, those stories, those works of art endure. We can put them back in their rightful place and uncover the history and the people who surround them, while also enjoying them for what they are. That’s exciting to me!

What are some of your favourite works of queer theatre/literature, and why these works?

So, as I mentioned, the two that started it all were Angels in America and Rent, and I often say one is my head and one is my heart (but they both have a firm place in my heart). Kushner’s play was the most brilliantly engaging, ridiculous, political and queer piece of theatre I’d seen, and I wanted to unpick all the details of it. As I’ve grown older too, I love the heart of that piece as much as its politics, or sprawling theatricality. Meanwhile, like any good musical theatre-loving queer teen, I fell in love with Rent for its rebellious anarchic attitude, but also the pure love at its core and seeing a gay love story given the same weight as a straight one. A little later Martin Sherman’s Bent was the kind of theatre experience that left me speechless for some time after. While I also became enchanted by the queer world of Cabaret.

In books, I feel like I came to the ‘classics’ late, but have such a place in my heart for Brideshead Revisited and Tales of the City - classics of different eras but with equal importance. Today, I love the plethora of queer stories, and the forms they take, including works like Alison Bechtel's graphic novel, Fun Home. I also unashamedly read queer YA novels, because I think we’re all entitled to the kind of teen stories we missed at that time. More recently too, as someone who is asexual, I’ve been appreciating authors who incorporate those identities into queer stories, and I love Alice Osman and Alison Cochrun for that!

Tell us what someone taking one of your courses might expect

A real mix of things! But primarily nerding out about books, theatre and queer art of all kinds!

I love to find the links between history and culture, but also link older pieces of literature and drama with contemporary works. So you’ll often find me going seamlessly from Brideshead Revisited to Schitt’s Creek, or giving an impassioned talk on Tennessee Williams, followed by an analysis of Mama Mia. There’s no high and low culture in my book, and no piece of queer art is less valuable or interesting when piecing the picture together.

I also try and give people an overview so they can use the courses as a jumping off point. So, whether that’s finding a reading list of Queer books, or discovering a musical (or five) they’d like to listen to, I hope to provide tools for them to keep expanding their knowledge. I also love to give historical background and cultural context, so it’s not just about the books, plays or whatever, but the people and community behind them.

I also really love to have fun and discuss the work! Over the years, I’ve had such interesting conversations in my classes with people who talk about what a particular book means to them, or an experience they had seeing a queer play, or whatever it might be. And, as cliché as it sounds, for the duration of the course we create a little community to share our love of queer art, and that’s the very best part!