Workshop: Interdisciplinary Doctoral Research on Gender and Games

Research on gender and games is more important than ever. We live in a cultural and political moment in which societal and academic engagement with gender are increasingly under pressure. We identify a need to stand strongly in support of our colleagues, especially young and early career scholars. Forming strong, institutionalized connections between gender and game studies scholars is crucial. We envision such connections to be supportive and caring. In this light, we are organizing a two-day workshop on Interdisciplinary Doctoral Research on Gender and Games in Bergen, Norway on November 5-6, 2025. 

The workshop is part of a series of three workshops on gender and games, leading up to the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Network for Research on Gender and Games. Games, game cultures and gaming continuously intersect with questions of gender. Games have developed into an important cultural medium for the (re)production of strong gendered imagery, as well as the challenge of and resistance to hegemonic conceptualizations of gender. Gender and game studies scholars have approached these phenomena from a myriad of theoretical, methodological and disciplinary approaches. This workshop aims to platform this diversity of approaches from doctoral researchers’ ongoing cutting edge and state-of-the-art projects.

We invite submissions from doctoral researchers dealing with gender and games from different perspectives, including but not limited to:

• Gendered game mechanics
• Gendered and lived experiences of game players
• Representation and gender in games
• Intersectional approaches to games that include a focus on gender
• Queer(ing) perspectives on games and game studies
• Challenges to gendered concepts by game players
• The significance of games for gender in society at large
• Perspectives on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts

We welcome a broad range of approaches to gender and games, play and intersecting phenomena. If you are in doubt whether your PhD topic applies to the workshop, feel free to reach out to the organizers (tom.legierse@uib.no). During this two-day workshop, doctoral students will be offered space to present a work-in-progress paper and receive feedback from invited early career scholars and peers. Additionally, participants will be invited to contribute to the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Network for Research on Gender and Games. As such, the first day of the workshop is dedicated to the ongoing work of the participants. 

The second day is reserved to explore collaborations between workshop participants and to co-construct visions for the to-be-established network. The workshop will host eight doctoral researchers in total. Invited early career researchers are to be confirmed. The event is free of charge (lunch and breaks included), and we can offer participants accommodation in Bergen for three nights at a local hotel. 

This event is funded by the Nordic Gender Fund and organized by the Center for Digital Narrative at University of Bergen, in collaboration with University of Jyväskylä and Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies.

Key Dates

• Call for abstracts deadline: May 9th 2025. An abstract (max. 500 words, excluding references) of the participant’s draft/text, should be sent by e-mail to Tom Legierse (tom.legierse@uib.no). The document should also include a short author biography, stating position and affiliation, and research background, project and/or interest.
• Notification of acceptance: May 28th 2025. Applicants will receive notification of decisions regarding their submission. Accepted participants will receive an email with additional practical information for the workshop.
• Draft paper submission deadline: October 23rd 2025. The developed draft texts of approximately 4000 words (excluding bibliography) to be discussed at the workshop should be submitted no later than October 23rd.

Workshop dates: November 5th and 6th 2025.

We are looking forward to your submissions! If you have any questions, please contact TomLegierse (tom.legierse@uib.no).

A blogpost on the first workshop in our series, Feminist Approaches to Esports Research, can be found here.