PMA/LSP Associate Professor Karen Jaime was recently invited to the University of Miami's Center for the Humanities to discuss her research during a luncheon and public lecture on March 27, organized by the Queer Studies Interdisciplinary Research Group.
The lecture was based on two of her forthcoming books, Framily: Queer Kinship As a Way of Life, and The Anachronistic Butch. In her talk, she focused on emerging kinship networks that result from masculine-presenting and gender non-conforming individuals working together in queer nightlife venues. Specifically, her talk focused on downtown New York City-based workers at queer bars and clubs in positions such as door staff and security, and barbacks.
Professor Jaime stated that “I proposed the term “framily” or friend + family, as both a lens and framework for analyzing how laboring together at night, often navigating precarious conditions, resulted in relationships that proved essential for affective and literal queer survival.”
The Center for the Humanities at Miami University sponsors these lectures across disciplines, often with the Center’s Interdisciplinary Research groups, with the goal of exposing individuals to research that may spark their curiosity and energize the university community.
Read more about Professor Jaime’s upcoming books.
Emma Alexander ’26 is a communications assistant in the Department of Performing and Media Arts.
