Dr Jamie Hagen is a lecturer in International Relations in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics and co-director of the Centre for Gender in Politics at Queen's.

Her research is at the intersection of gender, security studies and queer theory and focuses on LGBTQ inclusion in Women, Peace and Security practices, as well as queer analysis of security studies more broadly.

What is your role?

I'm a lecturer in International Relations in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics. I'm also the co-director of the Centre for Gender in Politics which aims to promote interdisciplinary feminist research about gender to understand challenges in global politics and sustain dialogue with students, activists, cultural organisations and policymakers.

Tell us about your research

I research gender, peace and security with attention to the experiences of LGBTQ individuals in conflict-related environments.

With my research I bridge a feminist security studies approach with queer theory to offer a more complete gender analysis of how the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security resolutions impact lesbian, bisexual and transgender women living in conflict-related environments. The central contribution of my research is a queer security analysis of women's experiences in conflict-related environments. I am also interested in considering how best to include LGBTQ individuals in peacebuilding initiatives in post-conflict environments.

Tell a little about yourself

My partner, Margaret Middleton, works in the museum field, so we spend a lot of time thinking about and exploring museum exhibits together.

I'm really proud of their work on family inclusion to help museums to think about queer families and those who may not fit into the traditional vision of family when planning programmes and exhibits.

Also: Cats! Cats! Cats! I think that fits all the above categories. Fortunately, Margaret feels the same way considering we now have three cats including our newest little London who I'm holding in my picture.

What is the best thing about being LGBT at Queen's?

It's fantastic to join a university that already has an organisation like PRISM. It's also wonderful to see that the Students' Union has an LGBT+ Students' Officer.

It has been a privilege to supervise queer and feminist research.

I'm currently supervising a number of Undergraduate and Postgraduate projects asking interesting questions about gender and specifically transgender politics. I hope as I am here longer students look to me to continue to do much needed interdisciplinary research about LGBTQ lives.

What advice would you give to an LGBT person new at Queen's?

As someone new to Belfast I'm thrilled at the connections I've made since moving here. The city is small enough that it is easy to connect with people already doing fantastic activism including groups like HEReNI, Transgender NI and the Belfast Feminist Network.

Find your feminist and queer community! Go to some events on campus and in Belfast to say hello to people. There are so many opportunities the connect with like-minded people whether it be for scholarship, solidarity or friendship. I'm always happy to have a chat on campus or you can find me online on Twitter: @jamiejhagen.

How to join the PRISM staff network 

If you would like to join the Staff LGBT+ Network, please email prism@qub.ac.uk, indicating in your email whether you would like to be invited to (a) forthcoming meetings of the Network and/or (b) events organised by the Network.

PRISM is keen to grow their membership and particularly encourages contact from any staff who identify as belonging to the LGBT+ community.

All emails will be treated in confidence.

Follow @QUBLGBTSN on Twitter for information on upcoming events and other activity.