UK University Will Offer Drag Studies Course

Right outside of Liverpool, Ormskirk is the home of Edge Hill University, the first university in the UK with a drag studies program. According to THE, the course will be titled “Drag Kings and Drag Queens of Performance" and will be offered to third-year undergraduates starting January 2016.

The course will cover a variety of topics including "drag performance, costume, lipsyncing and the use of humor, and is underpinned by wider theories and histories of sexuality, performativity, gay and lesbian theatre, transgender identities, drag, HIV/AIDS and activism," according to Liverpool Echo.

Liverpool is known to be the UK’s most bustling city for the LGBTQIA community and takes pride in its strong drag culture. Now, with the program at Edge Hill, those of the community can learn that “there’s a lot more to drag studies than wigs, makeup and high heels!” said senior lecturer, Mark Edwards.

Edwards shared that this new undergraduate program will also dive into the complexities of gender, feminist and queer theory, and drag as a performance art form. According to Edwards, drag as an art has seen a decline in the past decade, "yet there are new and exciting emerging forms coming through which makes this module all the more relevant to performance contexts." What an exciting time to be a student at Edge Hill University!

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