Oliver Klaassen

Oliver Klaassen is a research associate at the Institute for Art and Visual Culture (IfKuvK) at the University of Oldenburg and a Ph.D. candidate at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at Justus Liebig University Giessen. They serve as a board member and speaker for the working group Queering: Visual Cultures & Intermediality under the German Gender Studies Association. Additionally, Klaassen acts as a writing assistant for the University of Oldenburg’s Writing Assistance for Term Papers and Theses program and facilitates workshops on sexual orientation/gender identity (SCHLAU Marburg_Gießen).

• Current affiliations: Institute for Art and Visual Culture (University of Oldenburg), GCSC (Justus Liebig University Giessen)
• Leadership: Speaker of AG Queering, board member of German Gender Studies Association
• Collaborations: Editorial roles in On_Culture and gender(ed) thoughts journals

Their research focuses on queer(ing) art studies, history and theory of photography, aesthetic ambiguity in contemporary art, and queer museum/curatorial practices. Recent work explores eco-queer critiques in photography, ambiguity’s political role in visual culture, and club culture’s subversive potential. Publications span topics like Dean Sameshima’s counter-surveillance tactics, Wolfgang Tillmans’ Panorama Bar installation, and feminist analyses of Game of Thrones representations.

Klaassen’s scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed articles in journals like InMedia and KULT_online, edited volumes such as Queering: Minoritarian In_Visibilities, and book chapters addressing queer relationality during the pandemic, curatorial resistance, and ambiguity-driven research methodologies. Their collaborative projects emphasize open-access publishing through the scholar-led.network initiative and interdisciplinary dialogues on gender, media, and aesthetics.

Scientific awards include:

• Fulbright-Promotions- & Reisestipendium
• Promotionsstipendium
• Dr. h.c. Waskönig-Stipendium
• PROMOS-Stipendium
• Deutschlandstipendium

Klaassen’s teaching experience includes part-time lecturing at Goethe University Frankfurt, JLU Gießen, and Phillips University Marburg. They employ methods of art studies in their Queere Zustände radikaler Ambiguität workshops and have contributed to conferences like Territories that Matter: Gender, Art and Ecology and Digital:Gender – de:mapping politics.