Hi! My name is Boka En.

I publish and teach in Gen­der & Sexuality Stu­dies, particularly on topics such as intimacies/​sexualities/​relationships, im-/possi­bilities of emanci­patory learning spa­ces, and LGBTIQ* move­ments. My PhD project is centred around inclusions and exclusions within and across LGBTIQ*-related activism and academia, particularly in relation to knowledge politics, legiti­macy and ethical expectations. Additionally, I currently work as a Coordinator at the Gender Research Office of the University of Vienna.

I have co-founded Qwir text + design, where I work on translations, other texts and design with Michael En. I am also a founding member of the Non-Mono­gamies and Contemporary Intimacies conference series, which seeks to bring together academics, activists, artists, thera­pists/coun­sellors and (other) practitioners, as well as the working group Inter*​Trans_​Nonbinary in the Austrian Gender Studies Association. Further, I have taught at, among others, the University of Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and have facilitated workshops, including for HOSI Wien and the Austrian Students’ Union.

Publications (selection)

• 2023. Baumgartinger, Persson Perry; En, Boka; Hornstein, René_ Rain; Hübscher, Evianne; Humer, Tobias. Trans*Inter*Nichtbinaritäts-Aktivismen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. In: Hornstein, René_ Rain & Balthes-Löhr, Christel (Hrsg.): trans*, inter* und nicht-binäre Geschlechtlichkeiten. Transcript.
• 2022. En, Boka & En, Michael. (Un)doing relationships: Boundary-drawing and queer(ing) ways of relating. In: Rees, Emma (Ed.): The Routledge Companion to Gender, Sexuality and Culture. Routledge.
• 2022. En, Boka & En-Griffiths, David. Power as usual? Intersectionality, Performativity, and BDSM in the West. In: Biele Mefebue, Astrid; Bührmann, Andrea; Grenz, Sabine (Eds.) Handbuch Intersektionalitätsforschung. Springer.
• 2021. En, Boka. The My absent_present queer body in academia. Queer STS Forum, 6.
• 2021. Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft Österreich (Ed.): Geschlechtersensible Sprache – Dialog auf Augenhöhe.
• 2020. En, Boka. Categorisation and Recognition: Musings on Misfitting and Misunderstanding. In: En, Michael (Ed.) Truths, Trust and Translation: A festschrift, love letter and thank you to Michèle Cooke, 85–100. Peter Lang. 
• 2020. En, Boka & En, Michael; mit En-Griffiths, David; Pilz, Felix; Pöll, Mer; Rosenthaler, Max. Beziehung(s)formen im queeren Alltag. In: Schadler, Cornelia & Raab, Michel (Eds.) Polyfantastisch? Nichtmonogamie als emanzipatorische Praxis, 45–63. Unrast-Verlag.  
• 2019. En, Michael & En, Boka. “Coming out” … as a translator? Expertise, identities and knowledge practices in an LGBTIQ* migrant community translation project. Translation Studies, 12(2), 213–230. 
• 2018. Cardoso, Daniel; En, Boka; En, David; Barker, Meg John; Muscarina, Sina; Pallotta-Chiarolli, Maria (Eds.). Non-Monogamies and Contemporary Intimacies. Special Issue des Graduate Journal of Social Science, 14(1).  
• 2017. En, Boka & Klaura, Andrea* Ida Malkah. Partizipation in universitärer Bildung – oder: Ermöglichen unmöglich? In: Isop, Utta (Ed.) Gewalt im beruflichen Alltag. Wie Hierarchien, Einschlüsse und Ausschlüsse wirken, 178–184. Neu-Ulm: AG Spak Verlag. 
• 2016. En, Boka & Pöll, Mercedes. Are You (Self-)Tracking? Risks, Norms and Optimisation in Self-Quantifying Practices. Graduate Journal of Social Science, 12(2), S. 37–57.
• Altenhofer, Marlene; Bachinger, Leo Matteo; En, Boka; Engelhart, Jasmin; Neumann, Victoria; Pöchhacker, Nikolaus; Pöll, Mercedes; Prendl, Angela (Eds.). Ideologies, Ambitions and Utopias in Science and Technology. Special Issue of the Graduate Journal of Social Science, 12(2).

Teaching_Learning

I believe that the aim of learning is not rote learning of pre-set answers to equally pre-set questions, but a cooperatively developing a knowledge process that is connected to participants’ lives (see e.g. the works of bell hooks and Paulo Freire). In these processes, I work to engage critically with societal and institutional power relations and coercive mechanisms as well as their effects on learning. My courses also often seek to draw on different forms of knowledge and relate them to each other – specifically academic, activist, artistic and participants’ experiential knowledges.

Ich have been teaching at the universities of Vienna, Klagenfurt and Salzburg as well as the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna since 2015. In 2016, Mer Pöll and I were awarded Teaching Award of the University of Salzburg. Below are some of the courses I have taught:

• Key Theories and Methods in Gender Studies (Klagenfurt)
• Key Topics and Questions Gender Studies (Vienna)
• Guided Reading: Non-/Performativity Trouble (Vienna)
• Inclusions and Exclusions in LGBTIQ* Movements (Vienna))
• Discipline and Punish? BDSM, Power and Society (Vienna/Klagenfurt/Salzburg)
• Ways of Relating (Klagenfurt/Salzburg)
• Guided Reading: Queer Sexualities? (Vienna)
• Theory_Practice Relations (Vienna)
• Hacking Gender, Hacking Technology (Klagenfurt/Academy of Fine Arts; with jackie klaura)

Contact

Feel free to drop me an email at boka.en@univie.ac.at if there’s anything you’d like to talk about. I use they/​them pronouns.

For enquiries regarding translations and copy-editing work, please email me at boka.en@qwir.at.