
Irina Schmitt
Senior lecturer

Background
I defended my PhD thesis on young people’s negotiations of national belonging in Germany and Canada at Bremen University, Germany, in 2007 and joined the Department of Gender Studies in Lund as a postdoctoral researcher in 2008. October 2010, I was Visiting Associate Professor at the Centre for Women and Gender Studies, University of British Columbia. 2011 I was hired as associate senior lecturer, and as senior lecturer since 2015. During 2011 and 2014, I served as director of undergraduate studies.
My research explores power relations and experiences of the intersections of gender, sex and sexuality with ideas of national attributions and belonging. Grounded in trans- and queer-feminist educational research, I situate this work in organizations where knowledge is produced and the national is inscribed, such as schools and universities.
Research areas
- Queer-feminist studies
- Trans-feminist studies
- Feminist, queer-feminist and trans-feminist methodologies
- Justice, law, nation
- Justice and LGBTQI+ in schools and higher education
Ongoing research and teaching
Through various research projects, I have explored the negotiation of national belonging, children with LGBTQI+ parents and their experiences in school in a European collaborative project, equality work in academia, and strategies for LGBTQI+ equity work and queer educational justice in schools. My latest project explores how young and young adult transgender and nonbinary people negotiate their identities with the normative, nationally coded expectations of school. What do they perceive as supportive and what support would they have expected? Participants' analyses of schools highlights both concrete situations and overall structures where schools are failing them, and classrooms and schools that are actively working in a cis-normative way. The study, which is the first of its kind in the Swedish context, contributes to the growing field of trans_intersex research in Sweden, and to international trans- and queer-feminist educational research. The study clearly shows that gender identity is negotiated intersectionally in schools and that cis-normativity is co-produced with not least racism, and norms of class and ability.
I teach, develop courses, co-ordinate courses and supervise theses together with colleagues at the Gender Studies Department's undergraduate and master's level courses, as well as the Faculty of Social Sciences' international master's programme, focusing on feminist theories and methodologies, feminist knowledge production and social negotiations of justice. I am part of the teaching team for a PhD course, and serve as co-supervisor and third reader.
Together with colleagues from different departments, I am responsible for and teach the course Gender and Diversity in Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Social Sciences’ courses for teaching in higher education, and give lectures on justice work in academia. I am also the Gender Studies Department's representative for Gender Equality and Equality Work.
Publications
Displaying of publications. Sorted by year, then title.
”’Man måste verkligen ändra i läroböckerna för att få en ändring i samhället’. Kön och könsidentitet i skolan”
Irina Schmitt
(2022) "Jag är inte ensam, det finns andra som jag". Rapport om unga hbtqi-personers levnadsvillkor , p.159-177
Report chapterEmbodying responsibility? Understanding educators’ engagement in queer educational justice work in schools
Irina Schmitt
(2020) Queer Studies and Education book series
Book chapterTeachers who ”try to be progressive”? Trans and non-binary young people’s experiences in school in Sweden
Irina Schmitt
(2019)
Conference paper: abstractUnderstanding cis-normativity in higher education classrooms
Irina Schmitt
(2019)
Conference paper: abstractGendered knowledges in schools – trans* young people’s experiences and schools’ strategies
Irina Schmitt
(2019)
Conference paper: abstract171 forskare: ”Vi vuxna bör också klimatprotestera”
Per Adman, Mats Alvesson, Elina Andersson, Mimmi Maria Barmark, Ebba Brink, et al.
(2019) Dagens nyheter (DN debatt)
Newspaper articleA pedagogy of being there in times of crisis? A tribute to Sara Goodman, and a rant
Irina Schmitt
(2017)
OtherReview: Z Nicolazzo, Susan B. Marine, och Francisco J. Galarte (2015) “Trans*formational Pedagogies” TQS: Transgender Studies Quarterly 2(3). In: Tidskrift för genusvetenskap 37 (4): Cisnormativitet och feminism, eds. Erika Alm, Signe Bremer and Iwo Nord
Irina Schmitt
(2016) Tidskrift för genusvetenskap
ReviewQueer- och transforskning
Irina Schmitt, Erika Alm, Iwo Nord, Signe Bremer
(2016) En skriftserie om genusvetenskap, 5
Book chapterRemissyttrande över betänkande Juridiskt kön och medicinsk könskorrigering, (SOU 2014:91) (dnr S2015/418/FS)
Erika Alm, Signe Bremer, Guntram Lisa, Johnsdotter Sara, Tove Lundberg, et al.
(2015)
OtherNormkritiska pedagogiker, lagstiftad antidiskriminering och maktanalys
Irina Schmitt
(2014) Vetenskapliga perspektiv på lärande, undervisning och utbildning i olika institutionella sammanhang - utbildningsvetenskaplig forksning vid Lunds universitet , p.285-302
Book chapterOm begreppens klibbighet och problem: en intersektionell analys av jämställdhets-, likabehandlings- och mångfaldspolicy på Lunds universitet
Irina Schmitt
(2014) Att bryta innanförskapet. Kritiska perspektiv på jämställdhet och mångfald i akademin , p.60-97
Book chapterBryt innanförskapet i akademin! Förslag för hur en kan arbeta inom akademin med jämställhet, mångfald och likabehandling för en ökad rättvisa och jämlikhet
Lovise Haj Brade, Irina Schmitt, Kerstin Sandell
(2014)
OtherQueering school, queers in school: An introduction
Irina Schmitt, Malena Gustavson, Anna Malmquist
(2013) Confero - Essays on Education, Philosophy and Politics, 1
Journal articleTheorising intersectionality and sexuality
Irina Schmitt
(2013) Gender and Education, 25 p.238-240
ReviewQueering school, queers in school
(2013) Confero - Essays on Education, Philosophy and Politics, 1
Editor for a journalFleeting meanings and single-issue subjects – gender equality, equal opportunity and diversity work at a Swedish university
Irina Schmitt
(2013)
Conference paper: abstractSexuality, secularism and the nation - reading Swedish school policies
Irina Schmitt
(2012) Sexualities in Education: A Reader , p.270-280
Book chapterIntroduction: Heterogeneity, Belonging and Learning in Schools
Irina Schmitt
(2012) International Handbook of Migration, Minorities and Education. Understanding Cultural and Social Differences in Processes of Learning , p.321-329
Book chapterLogics of inclusion and exclusion - academic gatekeepers and their praxes of equality and diversity policies in Sweden
Irina Schmitt
(2012)
Conference paper: abstractSchool policies, gender-sex-sexuality and ethno-cultural re-production in Sweden, Canada and Germany
Irina Schmitt
(2012) International Handbook of Migration, Minorities and Education. Understanding Cultural and Social Differences in Processes of Learning , p.365-382
Book chapterDelaktighetens subjekt? Logiker av inklusion och exklusion på akademin
Irina Schmitt
(2012)
Conference paper: abstract"Var är maktanalysen, Mikael Nordenmark?"
Malin Espersson, Diana Mulinari, Despina Tzimoula, Helena Gyllensvärd, Ina Knobblock, et al.
(2011) Dagens Nyheter
Newspaper articleFamiljebanden – att knyta om och upplösa queera föreställningar om föräldraskap och familj
Irina Schmitt
(2011) Lambda Nordica , p.198-201
ReviewSchool is Out?! Comparative Study ‘Experiences of Children from Rainbow Families in School’ conducted in Germany, Sweden, and Slovenia
Uli Streib-Brzic, Christiane Quadflieg, Irina Schmitt, Malena Gustavson, Maja Pan, et al.
(2011)
ReportSkolan är ute?! Barn och ungdomar med hbtq-föräldrar och deras erfarenheter i skolan i Tyskland, Slovenien och Sverige
Irina Schmitt, Malena Gustavson, Silke Bercht, Maja Pan, Christiane Quadflieg, et al.
(2011)
ReportCulturally queer, silenced in school? Children with LGBTQ parents, and the everyday politics of/in community and school
Malena Gustavson, Irina Schmitt
(2011) Lambda Nordica. Tidskrift för homo/lesbisk/bi/transforskning, 16 p.159-187
Journal articleLogics of inclusion and exclusion – academic gatekeepers and their praxes of equality and diversity policies in Sweden
Irina Schmitt
(2011)
Conference paper: abstractVem är du familj med? Affisch för pedagogiskt arbete om familjenormer i skolan
Irina Schmitt, Malena Gustavson, Karin Casimir Lindholm
(2011)
Other'Normally I should belong to the others': Young people's gendered transcultural competences in creating belonging in Germany and Canada
Irina Schmitt
(2010) Childhood, 17 p.163-180
Journal articleDo you have a boyfriend? Feeling queer in youth and education research
Irina Schmitt
(2010) Lambda Nordica, 15 p.15-39
Journal articleExtending Family: Lesbian Baby Boomers, Heteronormativities, Sexual Citizenship, and Kinship
Irina Schmitt
(2010) Nora: nordic journal of feminist and gender research, 18 p.140-143
ReviewHow childish! Queering ‘youth’ and some other of the mutual challenges of queer and education research
Irina Schmitt
(2010)
Conference paperSurprisingly exclusive? Non-heteronormativity in school policies in Sweden, Germany and Canada
Irina Schmitt
(2010)
Conference paper: abstractGender: Regulation and Resistance in Education. Conference report on the 7th conference of the Gender and Education Association, London, UK, 2009.03.25-27
Irina Schmitt, Thomas Viola Rieske
(2010)
OtherHow to train your advisor? Thinking about doctoral advising from the student’s perspective
Irina Schmitt
(2010)
Working paperCurrent Debates on Citizenship and Belonging: Multiculturalism, Gender and Sexuality
Irina Schmitt, Elke Winter
(2009) Canada in Grainau/ Le Canada à Grainau. Canadian Studies/Études canadiennes: The State of the Art , p.129-153
Book chapterQueer(ing) youth, schools, and the end of innocence. Problematizing understandings of non-heteronormative youth in schools
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractYoung People in Germany: Understandings of Migration, Belonging, and Participation
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractSchool policies, sexualities, and the conceptualization of young people as heteronormative
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractBetween tolerance and invisibility. Policies towards non-heteronormative youth in schools’
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractDo you have a boyfriend? Researching Policies and Discourses on Gender-Sex-Sexuality in Schools as a Queer Researcher
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractLooking at the cracks – young people, schools, and human rights
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstractRegulation of sexualities: policies and normative discourses about sexualities at school
Irina Schmitt
(2009)
Conference paper: abstract‘From 'Security Risk' to Charter Rights – Gender, Sexuality and the Canadian Politics of Integration
Irina Schmitt
(2008) Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien, 28 (Bd 52) p.46-69
Journal article'Ich besorg' dir Viagra für deinen Freund' – Heteronormativität als methodologische Herausforderung in der Forschung mit Jugendlichen
Irina Schmitt
(2008) Kritik mit Methode? Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungsmethoden und Gesellschaftskritik , p.253-268
Book chapter'wir sind halt alle anders' – Eine gesellschaftspolitische Analyse deutscher und kanadischer Jugendlicher zu Zugehörigkeit, Gender und Vielkulturalität.
Irina Schmitt
(2008) Transkulturelle Perspektiven 9
BookYoung people in Germany: Differentiated Belonging and Contextualized Transcultural Competences within Normative Settings
Irina Schmitt
(2008)
Conference paper: abstractA different kind of integration? The role of school in young people’s negotiations of gender-sex-sexuality in immigration societies
Irina Schmitt
(2008)
Conference paper: abstractYoung people's strategies of creating belonging in specific national contexts
Irina Schmitt
(2008)
Conference paper: abstract'It's just a name?' Young people in Canada and Germany discuss 'national' belonging'
Irina Schmitt
(2007) Jugend, Migration und Zugehörigkeit. Subjektpositionierungen im Kontext von Jugendkultur, Ethnizitäts- und Geschlechterkonstruktionen , p.81-96
Book chapterFrom 'security risk' to Charter Rights – Gender, Sexuality and the Canadian Politics of Integration
Irina Schmitt
(2007)
Conference paper: abstract'Ich wollte immer ein Junge sein' – Zur Herstellung von Gender-Geschlecht-Sexualität in der Forschung mit Jugendlichen
Irina Schmitt
(2007)
Conference paper: abstractHeteronormativität in der Schule im Kontext von Migration und Vielkulturalität
Irina Schmitt
(2006)
Conference paper: abstractSelbstpositionierungen Jugendlicher in vielkulturellen Kontexten – Beispiele aus Kanada und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Irina Schmitt
(2006)
Conference paper: abstract'There is no such thing as being different, we're all different!' Jugendliche und kulturelle Selbstpositionierungen in Kanada und der BRD
Irina Schmitt
(2006)
Conference paper: abstractSchooling society? Jugendliche, kulturelle Selbstpositionierungen und die Rolle der Schulsysteme in Kanada und der BRD
Irina Schmitt
(2006)
Conference paper: abstract'I am who you think I am' – Cultural self-positioning of young people with and without migration experiences in Germany and Canada
Irina Schmitt
(2006)
Conference paper: abstractNegotiating Transcultural Lives: Belongings and Social Capital among Youth in Transnational Perspective.
(2005) Transkulturelle Perspektiven 2
BookGermany speaking? Rap and Kanak Attak: Dominant Discourses on Language
Irina Schmitt
(2005) Negotiating Transcultural Lives: Belongings and Social Capital among Youth in Transnational Perspective , p.215-236
Book chapterAnsätze und Fragestellungen zum Transkulturalitätsbegriff. Transfer kultureller Praxen und Normen
Irina Schmitt
(2005) Transcultural Studies. Interdisziplinarität trifft Transkulturalität , p.52-58
Book chapterIntroduction: Transculturation and the Accumulation of Social Capital: Understanding Histories and Decoding the Present of Young People
Irina Schmitt, Dirk Hoerder, Yvonne Hébert
(2005) Negotiating Transcultural Lives: Belongings and Social Capital among Youth in Transnational Perspective , p.11-36
Book chapterQueering Multiculturalism: Canadian Multiculturalism from a Queer Perspective – finding a transcultural Canada?
Irina Schmitt
(2004)
Conference paper: abstractQuering Multiculturalim. A Critical Analysis of Multiculturalims from a Queer Perspective
Irina Schmitt
(2002)
Master's Thesis
Introduction
Irina Schmitt (irina/she) is a lecturer in gender studies. Irina's research focuses on trans- and queer-feminist educational research with a focus on organizations where knowledge is produced and the national is inscribed, such as schools and colleges.