Sexuality Network

Chairs:

The Sexuality Network brings together scholars who study the history of human sexuality in its countless varieties.

Since its foundation in 1998, the Sexuality network is Europe's only recurrent international platform for the presentation of new work in the field. The network is interested in contributions from around the world and across time. For the 2025 conference in Leiden, it is especially (though by no means exclusively) encouraging contributions that focus on Southeast Europe and the Black Sea Region, on trans and intersex histories, and on the early modern period.

The ESSHC Sexuality Network invites paper and panel proposals for its biennial meeting in 2027. Founded in 1998, the Sexuality Network remains Europe’s oldest and only recurrent forum for the presentation of new work in the history of sexualities from around the globe. It brings together scholars of sexual history from a wide range of countries, and is neither restricted to European topics, nor to European historians.

The Network prefers pre-organized panels on the history of sexuality, which explore new areas or directions or that fill historiographical gaps. Individual papers may also be submitted, as may proposals for topical roundtable discussions and new books sessions. All pre-organized sessions should, ideally, be transnationally comparative and/or cut across time periods.

In composing its programme, the Network organizers will base their selection on the following criteria: originality, empirical grounding, geographic & chronological spread, panel coherence and attention to diversity. We strive towards a balance between early career researchers and established scholars and strongly encourage all panel and roundtable to proposals to take that balance into account.

Please note that the Network has grown steadily over the years and that, therefore, participation in the conference is ever more competitive. We sincerely regret that we cannot accommodate all applications, including from those who have attended the conference before. We are happy to offer people who wish to attend without presenting a paper a role as panel chair or roundtable moderator.

In preparing panel proposals, please keep in mind the Sexuality Network’s session format. Sessions should include four to five papers. In the former case, each speaker will have 20 minutes of presentation time; in the latter 15. Where, exceptionally, six papers are allowed, speaking time is reduced to 10 minutes each. To maximize time for Q&A, we do not accept paper discussants. Instead, panel chairs are asked to ‘get the ball rolling’ where necessary.

The window for pre-registration of a paper or session proposal on our website will be open from 1 March to 15 April 2026. For general information and the online pre-registration, please visit esshc.iisg.amsterdam.

For questions regarding the Sexuality Network specifically, please contact its chairs at esshc.sexuality.network@gmail.com

 

Looking forward,

Anna Dobrowolska (University of Basel

Wannes Dupont (University of Edinburgh)

Andrew DJ Shield (Leiden University)