Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons^™

Written In Blood: The Cultural Work Of Family, Sexuality, And Race In Adaptations Of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire, Ariana Alvarado

Undergraduate Theses

Anne Rice’s gothic novel “Interview with the Vampire” (1976) has not only stood the test of time as a cult classic, but has continued to be told and retold through a film adaptation (1994) and recent AMC television production (2022). Looking through the lens of adaptation theory and the ideas of Nina Auerbach in Our Vampires, Ourselves, this presentation highlights how both the original novel and subsequent adaptations use the figure of the vampire to represent the social changes of the era of its creation, particularly in regards to queerness and sexuality.

Woman, Queer, Jewish: The Sociopolitical Importance And Impact Of Identity Labels, Megan Polun

Honors Projects in English and Cultural Studies

In this thesis, I trace and analyze the historical, social, and political uses of three identity labels: woman, queer, and Jewish. These three identity categories are personally important to me because I identify as a queer, Jewish woman. The questions motivating this analysis are as follows: How have these words been defined and who gets to define them? What has it meant historically to move through the world with one of these labels, and what does it look like today? What qualifies someone to identify with one of these labels, and what experiences or qualities do we share? What challenges …

Introduction To Gender Studies (Circa 2002-2008) (Whitman College), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course was taught by Robert Tobin at Whitman College. Professor Tobin worked at Whitman for 18 years as associate dean of the faculty and chair of the humanities, and was named Cushing Eells Professor of the Humanities. Several of the courses he developed at Whitman would make the transition to Clark, where they continued to evolve.

"'Introduction to Gender Studies' provides students with the intellectual framework to understand and analyze gender. Using a variety of sources from theory, literature, and other media, we will study femininity, masculinity, and some of the steps inbetween."

Michelangelo Buonarroti And Homophobia In The Renaissance, Grace T. O. Ray

The Confluence

Tommaso de’ Cavalieri was a young man with an aristocratic background when he first met famous artist Michelangelo Buonarroti in Rome. Tommaso was known to be an incomparable physical beauty, with intelligence and elegant manners, as well as being a member of one of the most illustrious families of Rome—the Orsini. Some have said this is what drew the artist to Cavalieri from the start. Though not much is known about their encounter, it is confirmed that Cavalieri remained a close and loyal companion to Michelangelo for thirty-two years until the artist’s death in 1564. Furthermore, throughout their years together …

Making Meaning Of The Shared Experience Of Participants In An Undergraduate Lgbtq+ Mentorship Program, Brendan Corbett Csaposs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the ways in which LGBTQ+ students at the University of Miami make meaning of their shared experiences in the LGBTQ+ Mentorship Program that the university offers, in order to explore ways in which higher education institutions might consider better supporting this key group of students. This study draws upon a variety of theories of sexual identity development, building on the work of Rosario et al. (2011) in looking at the ways that students make meaning of their sexual identity based on self-identification, association with the larger community, and engagement in a …

Analyzing Alternative Spaces: Queer Social Networks And Notions Of Belonging In Morocco, Adam Griffin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Because of the presence of both legal and cultural discrimination in Morocco, the Moroccan queer community operates largely in secret and is unable to occupy public space. Additionally, the patriarchal structure of Moroccan society creates a culture of toxic masculinity that limits queer expression. This paper examines how queer Moroccans operate in the face of this discrimination. It also explores the extent to which alternative spaces, or spaces that subvert the norms and practices of mainstream society, contribute to the creation of LGBTQ+ social networks. Alternative spaces can be physical spaces—such as bars, cafes, and live music venues—or virtual spaces—such …

Imagining The Trans Symphony: Integrating Transgender Composer Identity In Music Analysis, Penrose M. Allphin

Masters Theses

Contemporary music analysts have generally downplayed the relevance of composer intent, a dismissal which ignores the potential for an enhanced expressive context afforded by composers' own assessments and also contributes to the silencing of already othered voices, such as in the case of queer and trans composers. Allowing the trans composer a voice in the reading of their work affirms the integral part of the trans experience that is self-determination. Over time, this project to tell trans stories evolved into a series of vignette-like analyses of trans composers’ works in which I use a methodology that incorporates the voices of …

Scenes Of Subversion: How Monstrous Subjectivities Affect Futurity In Gothic Horror, Salvatore S. Dibono

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen begins his conclusory section of his influential essay “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” stating, “Monsters are our children. They can be pushed to the farthest margins of geography and discourse, hidden away at the edges of the world and in the forbidden recesses of our mind, but they always return” (52). Yet, Lee Edelman in No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive makes a statement which complicates the idea of the monster being “our child” when discussing that the normative (conservative) movement will “recurrently frame their political struggle…as a ‘fight for our children—for our daughters and our …

Rethinking The Monstrous: Gender, Otherness, And Space In The Cinematic Storytelling Of Arrival And The Shape Of Water, Edward Chamberlain

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Through comparing the Hollywood films Arrival and The Shape of Water, this article explicates the films’ similar portrayals of gender, social collaboration, and monstrosity. Although the mainstream media in the United States has linked the idea of the monstrous to larger global forces, the two films suggest that “the monster” exists much closer to home. Hence, this article makes the case that monstrosity occurs in a variety of formulations such as the actions of national authorities like governmental officials that oppress and endanger a myriad of American citizens as well as newcomers. Further, this article makes the case that …

Embodied Desire: Establishing The Transmasculine Viewer, Bel Simek

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

The Notions Of The "Closet" And The "Secret" In Oscar Wilde's, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Jessica Maria Oliveira

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will discuss the notions of the “closet” and “secret” within Oscar Wilde’s, The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as offer a clear and precise definition of queer theory to assist in elucidating many of the concepts being discussed. Close reading techniques will be utilized to further uncover the metaphoric, symbolic, and otherwise figurative importance of certain aspects of The Picture of Dorian Gray and supporting texts. Through Judith Butler’s conceptualization of sex and gender, as well as Jacques Derrida’s interpretation of the “secret”, this paper will explicate the intricacies of Wilde’s work and unveil queered aspects …

Subverting Transnormativity: Rage And Resilience In Kim Fu’S For Today I Am A Boy, Andrea Ruthven

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article analyzes the affective politics of rage and resilience in the novel For Today I Am a Boy (2014) by Kim Fu. The novel explores the dis-identification (Muñoz 1999) of gender identity through the protagonist, focusing on the rage, sadness, fear, and secrecy that function as the glue holding the body together, but that also work to constrain the process of self-identification. The novel is not the celebration of self-realization, nor is it the lamentation of a traumatized protagonist. Instead, the narrative pays attention to the various ways in which non-binary, or non-normative gender identities are marginalized, and to …

Growing A Garden Of Healthy Masculinities: Combating Homophobia In The Imagine Project Workshops, Mia Lloyd

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research study examines how peer educators can combat homophobia within the Imagine Project workshops. The Imagine Project is a three country initiative which aims to engage young men to work against sexual violence and sexual harassment through peer education. Combating homophobia is not stated as an official goal of the Imagine Project, and consequently it has not received that much attention within the workshop curriculum and preparation. A literature review and six interviews were conducted to gather information about homophobia, it’s role within the Imagine Project workshops, and how it can be combated in that context. Relevant literature …

Performing, Sensing, Being: Queer Identity In Everyday Life, Justin J. Rudnick

Communication Studies Department Publications

Drawing from performance, affect, and queer theories, I explore how queer identity is storied, performed, and sensed in everyday life. I access performance and sensory ethnographic practices to examine how queer persons “do” their identities on a daily basis. I draw from data collected through ethnographic participation in a queer-friendly district of Columbus, Ohio in addition to in-depth interviews with fourteen self-identified queer persons I met through my fieldwork. My approach privileges observations and reflections of mundane moments of everyday life to position queer identity as a routine, repetitive, habitual, and otherwise performative practice. I question the emphasis on verbal …

Course Syllabus (W16 Online) Coli 331: "Pulp Fiction And Quentin Tarantino", Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty Scholarship

Course Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes:

Rejecting the standpoint of the passively entertained consumer, our shared objectives in this course will be (1) to bring our selected cinematic and written texts into interaction in such ways as to produce high-quality scholarly writing. It is hoped that, by the end of the semester, each student’s active engagement with our course material should have enabled him/her, (2) to deepen and broaden his/her knowledge base concerning the social problematics we will have treated in such ways as to inform and encourage constructive social action.

We will view Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Reservoir …

An Evil Threat To Marriage, Children And The Future: Queer Theory, "The Passion Of The Christ," And Evangelical Political Rhetoric, Richard Wolff

Journal of Religion & Film

This article employs queer theory to analyze Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ (2004) for its portrayal of queer characters (Satan and Herod) in contrast with non-queer (Pilate and Claudia, Seraphia, Simon the Cyrene, and Mary, Christ’s mother), and how it depicts the former as evil and the latter as good. In particular, these contrasts involve self-indulgent or predatory sexual expression versus a healthy marital relationship, and evil versus loving influences over children, who represent hope for the future. Finally, the article looks at the film’s heavy marketing to American evangelicals and how the symbolic representations in the …

Talking Mirrors: Experiences Of Older Transgender Adults And Culturally Competent Mental Healthcare Profes-Sionals With Talk Therapy In The Netherlands, Kate Cieplicki

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Historically, both the general population and mental healthcare providers specifically have misunderstood the transgender identity as pathological and unnatural. Despite persistent ignorance in the mental healthcare field about the background and needs of transgender adults, a psychoanalytic evaluation is required by the gender clinic for a transgender individual to begin the gender transition process in the Netherlands. This requirement creates a degree of tension and mistrust between the transgender individual and the mental healthcare field. Such discomfort is unfortunate because statistically transgender adults face more mental health problems than their cisgender peers, likely because of the stress that comes from …

Gender And Sexualities: An Inquiry, Jason Gary Damron, Vicki L. Reitenauer

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry was created to accompany UNST 231 Sophomore Inquiry: Gender and Sexualities at Portland State University.

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Sexuality And Textuality (Fall 2014), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

"Sexuality and Textuality" serves as an introduction to gay and lesbian literary studies and queer theory. It looks at questions of sexuality and literature in ancient and early modern texts (from the Hebrew, Greek and English traditions), as well as in modern texts (from German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and English traditions). In addition to literary texts, students will work with a number of cinematic representations of queer sexuality. Besides these primary texts, students will work with important secondary literature about sexuality."

A photo of this Fall 2014 class was taken as part of Professor Bob Tobin's ongoing class photo tradition.

Sexuality And Human Rights (Spring 2014), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

What happens when we think of sexuality, with all of its transgressive and individualistic energies, in terms of rationally established universal human rights? Literary texts that focus on individual cases in the context of larger cultural and social traditions with a particular attention to the power of language can help us sort through some of the complex ideas that emerge from a discussion of sexual rights.

In this class, we will focus on issues such as sadism, masochism, polygamy, prostitution, HIV/AIDS, and transsexuality that bring questions of rights to the forefront.

A photo of this Spring 2014 class was taken …

Robby : A Gay Short Story, Michael C. Vocino

Technical Services Department Faculty Publications

A gay short story dealing with gay life, culture in the 1970s and 1980s and how one reluctant individual deals with his sexuality.

"The German Discovery Of Sex", Gwen Walsh

Publications

News article by The Scarlet, Clark University's student-run newspaper on the symposium "German Discovery of Sex", held on April 16, 2011. This event was part of the Henry J. Leir Chair Programming for the 2010-2011 season, a position that Robert Tobin held from 2008 up until his passing in 2022.

I Don't Remember Antwerp, But I Do Rome, Michael C. Vocino

Technical Services Department Faculty Publications

Brief short story of a fictional gay encounter in Antwerp, Belgium.

Transgressive Masculinities In Selected Sword And Sandal Films, Merle Kenneth Peirce

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Examines significant films in the ancient epic canon from a queer theoretical viewpoint to survey the extent of atypical gender formations within the genre. Uses the studies of Judith Butler and Michel Foucault, in the main, to establish the basis of these trangressive gender formations and to provide an explanation of their causes and appearances.

Gay And Lesbian Studies In Brazil: A Field In Construction, Berenice Bento

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Traditionally, sexuality studies in Brazil have been organized around ideas of normalization. Specialists in the field have been trained to observe and comment on behaviours that did not conform to the imperatives of heterosexuality. Gender was polarized and hierarchical, and gained meaning from the idea of separate, complementary sexes. Heterosexuality gave meaning to human existence and reproduction, and every other kind of sexual expression was measured according to the rule of heteronormativity.

Sexuality And Human Rights (Spring 2008) (Whitman College), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course was taught by Robert Tobin at Whitman College. Professor Tobin worked at Whitman for 18 years as associate dean of the faculty and chair of the humanities, and was named Cushing Eells Professor of the Humanities.

"Since the Enlightenment, a discourse of human rights has emerged that began to be codified in international law after the Second World War. In this course, we ask whether sexuality can be understood in terms of rights. Do people have a right to sexual expression? If so, what limits can be placed on that right? How does sexuality differ from race or …

Sexuality And Textuality (Fall 2008), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

“Sexuality and Textuality” serves as an introduction to gay and lesbian studies and queer theory in an international and intercultural context. As we study the representation of sexuality in a variety of cultural contexts, we will ask and begin to answer such questions as:

How does the sexuality of a writer expresses itself in his or her writings?
How does the sexuality of a reader affect his or her reading?
How do rhetoric and language themselves inform sexuality?
Is there such a thing as a sexual culture or subculture?
Is sexuality comparable to gender, race or religion as a marker …

Sexuality, Gender And Human Rights (Spring 2006) (Whitman College), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course was taught by Robert Tobin at Whitman College. Professor Tobin worked at Whitman for 18 years as associate dean of the faculty and chair of the humanities, and was named Cushing Eells Professor of the Humanities. Several of the courses he developed at Whitman would make the transition to Clark, where they continued to evolve.

"The goal of this course is to learn how to use gender as a critical category to think about sexuality, human rights, and the intersection between the two. We will operate interdisciplinarily, studying philosophical, historical, literary, and legal texts. We will be constantly …

Gender Issues In Hiv/Aids Epidemiology In Sub-Saharan Africa., Ben E. Wodi

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

"The patriarchal nature of African societies continues to shape women’s sexual behavior in the region. This in turn accounts for the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Of the several factors implicated in the unequal prevalence of the disease among women in Africa, economic dependency/feminization of poverty, unequal distribution of sexual power (sexual violence and coercion), limited educational opportunities and lack of political will continue to dominate the literature (Robinson, 2004; Dunkle, et al., 2004; Martin and Curtis, 2004; Eaton, et al., 2003; Mill and Anarfi, 2002). While programmatic and financial initiatives have increased significantly in the …

Can Women's Voices Be Recovered From The Past? Grappling With The Absence Of Women Voices In Pre-Colonial History Of Zimbabwe, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The question of whether women’s voices can be recovered from the past may sound very old-fashioned to some people, but in the Zimbabwean academic situation, it is still pertinent even after all the advances made in researching women history elsewhere. This is because there is no attempt by historians to grapple with the absence of women voices in mainstream narratives of pre-colonial history of Zimbabwe. Invisibility of women has been maintained even in the latest historical works on pre-colonial history of Zimbabwe. This means that the existing histories neglected the activities of half of the population of the pre-colonial Zimbabwean …