Evil geek entrepreneurs in films and why they matter
Geek entrepreneurs are everywhere in cinema from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to thrillers and biopics. Whether we’re talking Tony Stark or Steve Jobs, these people are usually depicted as heroes. They may be flawed, but the bottom line is that … Continued
The (surprisingly) many aspects of role modelling
One of the upsides of working with “research dissemination” through blogging and tweeting while conducting a research project is that you get in touch with a lot of interesting people doing related research. In this post, Andreas Ottemo reflects on … Continued
Why did we meet in-person last November?
Most of our research team meetings are online. Given the practicalities of travel and our other commitments, this project would be impossible without online meetings. Through the medium of cyberspace, we have jointly analysed data, discussed ideas, made plans for … Continued
Geeky Christmas Gifts
In many parts of the world Christmas is a religious celebration but in Sweden we focus mainly on two things: food and giving each other gifts. If you want to skip the Christmas gifts this year, we understand that (and … Continued
Why don’t young people see Black Panther’s Shuri as a ‘new’ tech geek?
Why is Shuri, the little sister of T’Challa in the Black Panther movie not perceived as a ‘new’ tech geek? That was one of the things discussed at a research seminar at the Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, where … Continued
Doing academic work outside universities
One of the members of the Geek Equity research team, Heather Mendick, is freelance. Here she explains why she has decided to exit university employment and how being an independent academic shapes her work on this project. Becoming a freelance … Continued
Queerbaiting vs. subtexts (and queer leakage) in geek popular culture
In the first weekend of August, this year’s edition of QueerCon took place. QueerCon is a convention organized by QueerNördarna, a Swedish organization for “nerdy and geeky LBTQI+ people” that wants to pluralise geek culture and provide more room for … Continued
Representing women in science: Emmanuelle Charpentier
Have you heard of Emmanuelle Charpentier? Last year (2020) she was the Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, together with Jennifer Doudna, for the discovery of the gene scissor CRISPR/Cas9. In this blog Eva Silfver explores the gendered portrayal of Professor … Continued
How geek culture prefigured cancel culture
There’s a lot of talk about ‘cancel culture’ whereby people are called out for their views and then deprived of a platform such as Donald Trump’s ongoing ban from Facebook following his posts inciting violence. In this blog Heather Mendick … Continued
Why I cannot make up my mind about the Swedish word ’ras’ (race)
In a previous post on this blog, Eva Silfver discusses her ‘intellectual journey’ around ‘race’. In this post, Andreas Ottemo reflects further on what terminology to use in discussing race and racism in a Swedish context. As Eva points out, … Continued