The Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality Turned 25 in 2021!
To commemorate its 25th Anniversary, the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality (CSGS) has organized a series of events that amplify the work of our affiliates and students, and look to the future of gender and sexuality research at the University of Chicago.
One of our signature events has long been the annual faculty affiliates book party. We have created a speaker series this year to highlight faculty books: NORC Research Scientist Stefan Vogler, who joined the University of Chicago last Spring, will present from his new book, Sorting Sexualities: Expertise and the Politics of Legal Classification, on Wednesday, October 13. On Friday, January 21, Martha Nussbaum (Law School) will be in conversation about her new book, Citadels of Pride: Sexual Abuse, Accountability, and Reconciliation, with Linda Zerilli (Political Science/Gender and Sexuality Studies). Gabriel Winant (History) will discuss his new book, The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America, on Thursday, April 14 (originally scheduled for Thursday, March 24 but moved due to delayed start of Spring Quarter).
On Wednesday, February 16, we will host a virtual alumni panel titled “The Pleasures and Perils of Doing Radical Sexuality Work in the Academy.” This panel will feature three Ph.D. Center alums Joseph Fischel (Yale University), Sarah Luna (Tufts University), and Red Vaughan Tremmel (Tulane University). All three speakers held Hormel fellowships, which we offered from 1998-2012 at the Center - our first formal dissertation fellowships for LGBTQ Studies.
In Spring quarter, we will host the inaugural event of the new annual OutStanding Speakers Series. The series was created and endowed in collaboration with UChicago Alumni Pride. Each year, we will invite a prominent scholar, professional or public figure who has made significant contributions to the LGBTQI+ community for a multi-day visit to campus to deliver a lecture and meet with students. Additionally, a student will be selected each year to receive the New OUTstanding Leader Award for their impact on the LGBTQI+ community, whether it be on campus or more broadly.
Lastly, in celebration of the 25th anniversary, we are launching a funding campaign to secure the future of cutting-edge gender and sexuality research at the University of Chicago. The Unfundable Fund for Gender & Sexuality Research, Theory, and Practice will prioritize the work of emerging scholars in humanistic areas of inquiry that are centered in gender and/or sexuality studies that are not easily fundable through existing grant mechanisms. Today, this might be critical sexuality research, affect theory and aesthetics, hybrid artistic practice, or community-based research and engagement. Tomorrow this might be a form or genre for which we do not currently have a vocabulary. You can read more about the inspiration for the fund here: https://gendersexuality.uchicago.edu/unfundable/