The Families, Identities, and Gender Research Network (FIG) is a Cardiff-based interdisciplinary research group. The group was founded in 2010 by members of ENCAP, PSYCH, SHARE and WELSH, and has since added a Convenor from SOCSI. Cardiff University is home to scholars working on the rich and complex topics of families, identities and gender from many different disciplinary perspectives. As a research group, we have four main aims:

  1. To further understanding of the changing experiences, representations, and roles of families, identities, and gender in past and present societies;
  2. To provide a meeting point for scholars working in apparently divergent disciplines to explore the connections between their approaches to these topics, as researchers and teachers;
  3. To bring together scholars at different levels of university life, and to bridge the gap between the research environments of postgraduates and established scholars;
  4. To make links between FIG and research groups working on similar areas within and beyond the UK.

 

We are particularly interested in research which explores the following areas:

  • different disciplinary definitions, concepts, and approaches to the study of family, identity, and gender;
  • subjective experiences of family, identity and gender, including bodily, emotional, and psychological dimensions;
  • modes of representation of family, identity, and gender, and their social, political, and historical influence;
  • the relation of gender and family to other central organising concepts and aspects of identity such as race, class, age, and place.

 

If you would like to become an Affiliate member of FIG , or to join the mailing list, please contact Dr. Tracey Loughran: LoughranTL@cardiff.ac.uk.