For this programme, we have invited comics artist and academic Sinine Nakhle to present us their work at the intersection of comics and academia. Nakhle started drawing comics when they created Beirut By Dyke on Instagram in 2018. Beirut By Dyke is a project where they tackle the queer experience through the perspective of sexuality, politics and mental health; with care, intelligence and sensitivity, empowering not only themselves but also the communities following their stories.

Currently, Nakhle is pursuing their Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam, where they are tracing the embodied shift from urban to digital activism in contemporary Beirut. During this event at Perdu, Nakhle will focus on the question of what there is to be studied in comics, and what space should be made for the creation of comics and its cultural interpretation within the academic world. They will attempt to answer this question by using Beirut By Dyke as a case study to consider the genre of comics and the possibilities that digital platforms provide in Lebanon, and what this consequently means for research.

Nakhle will be joined on the Perdu stage by writer, philosopher and academic Michiel Leezenberg (University of Amsterdam). Together, they will examine why comics matter and how they can help academics, students, writers, readers and artists tell stories, contribute to research and create and/or challenge discourses by looking at complex topics through a pluridisciplinary way. The audience will also have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the speakers.

Sinine Nakhle - Beirut By Dyke

Sinine Nakhle is a researcher, storyteller, and illustrator. In 2018, they created Beirut By Dyke a web-comic series featuring short stories about being queer in Beirut. Their multi-media page, which tackles intersectional topics around gender, sexuality, and mental health, grew from a small autobiographical project edited on Paint to a case study of visual activism taught in media and gender courses at the American University of Beirut, Leiden University, SOAS University of London, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania. Sinine wrote their second MA thesis at Leiden University, entitled “The Platformization of Queer Solidarity: Re-defining Space in Post-Protest Lebanon”. The project was inspired by their comics in part and received the third place LOVA Marjan Rens MA Thesis Award. Currently, Sinine is pursuing their Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam, where they are tracing the embodied shift from urban to digital activism in contemporary Beirut.

Michiel Leezenberg

Michiel Leezenberg teaches in the Philosophy and Ancient Studies departments at the University of Amsterdam. As a visiting professor, he also taught at INALCO-Sorbonne (Paris), the University of Gent and the Leiden University. His research is focused on the history of culture and ideas in the Islamic world; the history and philosophy of the humanities; and Kurdish language and culture. He is the author of, among others: Islamitische filosofie: een geschiedenis (second edition 2008; awarded the Socrates-wisselbeker); De vloek van Oedipus: Taal, democratie en geweld in de Griekse tragedie (2006); De minaret van Bagdad: Seks en politiek in de islam (2017) and Foucault (2021).