Shelley Pryde (she / they)

Shelley Pryde is a PhD Feminist Studies student at the University of Washington. Her research revolves around queer nightlife practices in non-Western spaces, in particular examining how drag and related queer performative traditions intersect with globalisation, spatial politics, and colonial dominance. Her masters study investigated the art of drag in Shanghai, China. More recently, she is focused on drag and underground nightlife performances and spaces in her home city of Cape Town, South Africa.

Shelley’s a background in visual arts and education. They have worked as an educator in China and in South Africa, as well as volunteered as a facilitator and workshop designer for various activist collectives throughout their career, including UnAshamed, the Social Justice Collective (CT), HeforShe Stellenbosch, and QueerUS. They also completed an internship at the District Six museum in Cape Town,  producing visual communication materials and assisting with facilitation for the museum’s public education programme. These experiences inform a commitment to social justice pedagogies and anti-colonial teaching and learning practices in higher education.