Students on ‘Queer Literature’ Module Visit London’s Queer Britain Museum on a Third-Year Field Trip with Dr Declan Kavanagh
Queer Britain is the first LGBTQ museum in the UK and it focuses on British LGBTQ history and culture. Located in Granary Square, Kings Cross, London, the museum’s three connected galleries house a range of exhibits and opened in May 2022 with the award-winning ‘We Are Queer Britain’ exhibition. 
This term, the museum received a visit from Kent’s senior lecturer in 18th-century Studies & Queer Literature, Dr Declan Kavanagh. Dr Kavanagh took students on his third-year special module ENGL6025 ‘Queer Literature’ on a trip to Queer Britain for the kind of student-academic research activity that embodies our student-centred, community approach to education in English Literature and Creative Writing at Kent. Meeting at the Canterbury train station, Dr Kavanagh and students travelled to London to explore the museum and consider the long history behind such a new addition to the many museums of London.
The museum holds materials, photographs, ephemera, fashion, texts and other cultural products related to LGBTQIA+ life from the last hundred years. Material related to ‘Queer Literature’ course content includes novels such as Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness; Section 28 responses and campaigning; queer British Asian life and culture. Students spent over an hour at the museum reflecting upon how the materials made them think anew about seminar and lecture discussions over the autumn term. Students have the opportunity to write a report on their trip for credit. 
Students in the English Literature BA or English Literature & Creative Writing BA are an important part of our academic community. One of the things that is very important to us is that our students are able to participate in learning within and outside of the lecture halls and seminar rooms, and we are always keen to make connections between course materials and lived experience, between practical skills and critical thinking. 
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• Dr Jenny DiPlacidi