The Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality Turned 20 in 2016!
To commemorate its 20th Anniversary, the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality (CSGS) planned number of events to celebrate and assess the past 20 years of scholarship at UChicago and in the study of gender and sexuality. We welcome UChicago students, alumni, faculty, staff and other community members to participate.
This fall, we kicked off the celebrations with a visit by Hanna Holborn Gray, former University president and professor of history emeritus discussing the reissue of “More than Lore: Reminiscences of Marion Talbot,” originally published in 1936. And in partnership with UChicago’s Chicago Women’s Alliance and LGBT Alumni Network, the CSGS hosted a screening of the film Regarding Susan Sontag followed by a discussion led by Professor Deborah Nelson.
This spring, our 2016 Distinguished Alumni Lecture was delivered Esther Newton, AM ’66, PhD ’68: "How a Chicago Grad Student Survived the Closet: 1962-1968" from her forthcoming memoir, My Butch Career: A Queer Life in Anthropology (New York: St. Martin's Press). On May 19-20, we hosted our 20th Anniversary Symposium - a look at the past, present, and future of gender and sexuality studies at the University of Chicago. A Thursday evening panel opened the symposium looking at the organization and founding of the Center and reflecting on the political moment in 1996 when the Center was established and the current political moments in feminism and queer theory. Friday Panels included Transformative Texts panel of UChicago faculty about work they generated while at UChicago, Program alumni on how gender and sexuality studies impacted their education and how it has informed what they are doing now and Intersections and Intersectionality and Future Directions for work in gender and sexuality. On June 3, 25 former CSGS fellows and current graduate students gathered for the CSGS at 20 Graduate Fellows Reunion, which included a lively networking lunch, a panel on new directions of research and activism and a discussion of the history of the CSGS and our close partner, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC). And on June 4, we welcomed alumni, students, faculty, staff and other community members for a celebration for CSGS @ 20 with delicious cocktails and snacks, dancing and cake.
Thank you to all who participated in celebrating the past 20 years of scholarship at the Center!