What does “seeing” tell us about the subjective experiences of those whose life stories we are invested in knowing? And how does the visual presence of the speaking subject of auto/biography complicate narratives of their lives? Professor Rodriguez considers two books of photography that document the lives of the residents of a home for retired … Read more
A queer and anti-war activist, Peter Drucker has published extensively on socialist theory and history and LGBT studies. He is the author of Warped: Gay Normality and Queer Anti-Capitalism (2015). Drucker earned his Ph.D. (1994) in political science from Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the International Institute for Research and Education in Amsterdam. Sponsors: Institute for Research on Women & … Read more
A curious figure stalks the pages of a distinct subset of mass-market romance novels, aptly called “desert romances.” Animalistic yet sensitive, dark and attractive, the desert prince or sheikh emanates manliness and raw, sexual power. In the years since September 11, 2001, the sheikh character has steadily risen in popularity in romance novels, even while … Read more
Uri McMillan zeroes in on Nicki Minaj’s canny manipulation of her voice in her zesty cameo on Kanye West’s single “Monster”; her thrilling scream in that song recalling antebellum circus exhibit Joice Heth’s earlier outburst, indexes their shared wielding of grotesque aesthetics. Building off of art historian Kobena Mercer’s scholarship, McMillan restages this term in … Read more
This presentation explores methodological questions for the interdisciplinary scholar who interprets archival documents and material culture for the recovery of transhemispheric links between Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Lisa Lowe is Professor of English and American Studies at Tufts University and author of the recent book, The Intimacies of Four … Read more
This talk traces a genealogy of a familiar state practice – the naturalization ceremony — through an unexpected site: the Indian reservation. I explore a ritual that is not typically considered part of U.S. naturalization history, but that was carried out by federal officials in the early twentieth century to confer citizenship on American Indians … Read more
Grace Kyungwon Hong, Professor, Gender Studies and Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles Chandan Reddy, Associate Professor, Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and English, University of Washington, Seattle This mini symposium on Women of Color Feminism and Queer-of-Color Critique will feature 50-minute talks by Grace Hong and Chandan Reddy, followed by Q&A with the audience. Paper Presentations: … Read more
Cathy J. Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science, The University of Chicago Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman, Associate Professor of African and Afro-American Studies, English & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University Jafari S. Allen, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Miami Marlon M. Bailey, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies, Arizona … Read more
The Department of Theatre and Drama presents the play 14, written and directed, by Assistant Professor José Casas. 14 is inspired by a true-life event in which a smuggler abandoned 30 Mexicans crossing the desert near Yuma, AZ, resulting in 14 dying of dehydration. The play is based on interviews and public accounts of Arizonans … Read more
Dr. González-Rivera’s research on western Nicaragua’s pre-1979 LGBTQ histories reveals a complex story. She documents a long-standing Indigenous “transgender” tradition in open-air markets, which rests on pre-colonial economic opportunities for women in tiangues and Nicaragua’s unique association between commerce and femininity. Dr. González-Rivera further contends that contemporary Nicaraguan negative attitudes towards trans women, while less … Read more