Dear all,
We are pleased to announce the Call for Participants for the IV Monsters Summer School at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Further details are available on our Summer School webpage.
Brief Information:
👾 Monsters Summer School IV: "Monsters Under Pressure: the queer art of resistance"
🗓 17–21 May 2026
📍 Centre for Social Studies | University of Coimbra (Portugal)
Application
Submit your abstract, biographical note, and motivation letter, by November 30th using this:: Application form
“What if we stopped fearing the monster and instead embraced monstrosity as a space of resistance, solidarity, and radical belonging?”
The figure of the monster has long been used to represent danger, abnormality, and sin. Historically, monsters were seen as signs of catastrophe, embodying fears of the unknown.
The IV Monsters Summer School invites participants to think with and through monstrosity - not as a metaphor for destruction, but as a site of possibility, defying boundaries between normal and abnormal, human and nonhuman, good and bad. Under current times of threats to academic freedom, we open this Call wishing for new forms of solidarity, community and belonging.
Structure of the Course
The Summer School will feature:
Keynote lectures by leading international scholars
Group discussions and hands-on workshops
Activism and cultural events in the city of Coimbra
Networking opportunities
All sessions will be conducted in English.
Confirmed Speakers
Ana Cristina Santos – Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
David Paternotte – Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Judith Takács – HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences (Hungary)
Maggie O’Neill – University College Cork (Ireland)
Miguel Cardina – Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
Fees
Early bird (until 5 January 2026): 250€
Regular registration: 300€
UC PhD students: 100€ (3 places only)
Fees include tuition, materials, coffee breaks, and lunches during the Summer School.
Topics of Interest
Ageing and queer life courses
Biopolitics / necropolitics
Crip and disability studies
Critical human rights
Decolonial and postcolonial studies
Fat studies
LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers
Mad studies
Monstrous embodiments
Queer geographies
Posthumanism and transhumanism
Trans, intersex, and non-binary lives
Important Dates
30 November 2025 – Deadline for submitting your application
By 15 December 2025 – Notification of selected candidates
Until 5 January 2026 – Early bird registration and payment
6 January – 15 February 2026 – Regular registration and payment
Organised by
TRACE -Tracing Queer Citizenship over Time: Ageing, ageism and age-related LGBTI+ politics in Europe
PULSAR: O papel de profissionais LGBTQ+ para uma saúde inclusiva
CLICK – Connecting Families, Educators and Policymakers to Improve the Well-being of LGBTIQ Children through an Intersectional Approach
GPS- Research Group in Sexualities
Centre for the Social Studies of the University of Coimbra
We invite you to submit your application to join us for the upcoming edition of the Monsters Summer School in Coimbra.
Monstrous regards,
The Organising Committee
Ana Cristina Santos and Joana Brilhante (Coord.), Ana Lúcia Santos, Irene Massa, Mafalda Esteves, Mara Pieri, Pako Chalkidis and Pedro Fidalgo
CES Summer Schools 2026 Poster (1)
CES Summer Schools 2026 Poster (2)
