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

The Morphology Of Sex: Tracking Change In The Sex Discourse At Augustana College, Robert E. Burke

Women's and Gender Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

ere, I track how the criteria for deeming sex as acceptable or unacceptable have changed over time at Augustana College. To do so, I apply two critical lenses to archived issues of the Augustana Observer. The first lens involves Rubin's concept of the "sex hierarchy," a variety of categories by which we may judge sex as good or bad. The second lens is related to Berlant and Warner's "national heterosexuality," a concept that claims that sexual norms are intrinsically elastic but politically, culturally, and economically firm under capitalism. Making use of a localized "snapshot" approach, I use recent Augustana history …

The Morphology Of Sex: Tracking Change In The Sex Discourse At Augustana College, Robert E. Burke

Audre Lorde Prize

Here, I track how the criteria for deeming sex as acceptable or unacceptable have changed over time at Augustana College. To do so, I apply two critical lenses to archived issues of the Augustana Observer. The first lens involves Rubin's concept of the "sex hierarchy," a variety of categories by which we may judge sex as good or bad. The second lens is related to Berlant and Warner's "national heterosexuality," a concept that claims that sexual norms are intrinsically elastic but politically, culturally, and economically firm under capitalism. Making use of a localized "snapshot" approach, I use recent Augustana history …

Rethinking Early Modern Sexuality Through Race, Mario Digangi

Publications and Research

When English Literary Renaissance launched in 1971, early modern sexuality studies did not exist. Then again, neither did the feminist, new historicist, post-colonialist, or other “political” approaches that have significantly reshaped early modern literary studies (and the humanities) over the last forty years. Yet whereas feminist and new historicist essays began thickly to populate the pages of Renaissance journals in the early 1980s, studies of sexuality—and of lesbian, gay, or queer sexualities in particular—were slow to arrive. During the 1980s, ELR published only a handful of essays that centered on sex or eroticism. The first explicit treatment of homoeroticism in …

Getting Located: Queer Semiotics In Dress, Callen Zimmerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The body, a long contested site of identity construction, has been used by historically by queers to convey desire, build affinity and transgress norms. Looking at the fashioned queer body, this capstone takes the form of a proposal for an art exhibition at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Seeking to engage with objects, performance and film which approximate, provide proxy for or depart from the body as a site, it explores the social and political quagmire of getting dressed. Comprised of contemporary art that looks at the rupture of legible bodily semiotics, this show wonders what …

Translation Of "Three Jewish Men Are Accused Of Sodomy (Rome, 1624)", Shira Klein

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

A translation of "Three Jewish Men Are Accused of Sodomy (Rome, 1624)", testimony of captain Jacobus Spellatus. Dr. Klein is responsible for the translation, but did not author the editor's note at the top of the first page.

Wish You Were Here, Janie Stamm, Janie I. Stamm

Graduate School of Art Theses

The State of Florida is under threat from the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels are creeping up on to Florida’s coast, eroding the beaches and encroaching on heavily populated cities. Over my lifetime I will watch the water spill over the streets of my home town. I will watch the water flood the Everglades, pushing saltwater into freshwater habitats. I will watch the water begin to drown the state, taking Florida’s many little known histories along with it. This thesis serves as a document of Floridian life during the Anthropocene.

Within this thesis, I tell the story of …

Unraveling Ethos: The Commodification Of Ethical Clothing, Oliva Hanson

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

In the last decade there has been a noticeable attempt to subvert traditional modes of clothing production. The recent emergence of “ethical consumption” in the fashion industry is a case in point. This project argues that these new formations and practices around ethical consumption are mere appropriations of anti-corporate politics and sentiments for consumers in the West. Signification of ethical consumption through language and cultural capital give more value to individual articles of clothing and branded entities. This reformation of the clothing industry towards an ethical attitude is a rebranding tactic that avoids the source-issue altogether. Through advertising and normalization …

Everything I Know About Gender I Learned From A Little Golden Book!, Chandler Clifford

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

This feminist cultural intervention examines the power children’s literature has in its ability to interpellate its readers and normalize dominant gendered identities for them. It draws on the work of feminist theorists, such as bell hooks, Judith Butler, and Sandra Bem to interrogate the politics of gender and sexuality in The Little Golden Book series and to examine how the latter has actively worked to create specific cisnormative gender identities for its readers. In this project, Chandler Clifford shows how children’s literature is used as an ideological tool to teach children how gender is performed in the outside world and …

Uncovering Alice Bag: An Alternative Punk History, Emily Macune

Scripps Senior Theses

The intention of this thesis is to provide an alternative counter-narrative to the mainstream histories of punk that center white men. By focusing on the contributions of fem queer and POC punks, I aim to legitimize punk music as a form of resistance against systems of oppression that are oppositional to the commodified forms of mainstream punk. Using Alice Bag, as my central case study as a fem queer punk that is often left out of punk historical narratives, I contextualize her work through feminist, queer, and media studies lenses to bridge the gap between academia and forgotten personal experience.

Toward Culturally Competent Archival (Re)Description Of Marginalized Histories, Annie Tang, Dorothy Berry, Kelly Bolding, Rachel E. Winston

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

Influenced by the radical archives movement, panelists discuss their (re)processing projects for which they wrote or rewrote descriptions in culturally competent approaches. Their case studies include materials regarding underrepresented peoples and historically oppressed groups who are marginalized from or maligned in the archival record. Targeted to processors, this session aims to teach participants to apply their cultural competencies in writing finding aids through an introduction to cultural competency framework, the case study examples, and a short audience-participation exercise.

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Boys, Balls, And The Blues: The Erasure Of Genderqueer Bodies, Austin Mcgrath

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

The goal of this essay is to re-explore the concept of gender in its relation to genderqueer and nonbinary identities. Before its examination of the gender reveal party, this essay examines male and female, masculine and feminine, and man and woman, carefully critiquing and distinguishing biological sex from gender expression and gender identity using a Queer theoretical framework to contextualize these distinctions in relation to queer identities. Through a modern contextualization, linguistic analysis, and a critical media examination of gender reveal images and footage, this essay acknowledges and analyzes the heteronormative structures that reinforce gender binaries. It challenges the deployment …

Hip-Hop And Poetry: Listen To The Words, Jordan Dingle

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Hip-hop is a subculture that has become a major part of popular culture and heavily affects contemporary music, clothing, and media. The subculture initially started as a way for the historically oppressed to voice themselves and have a dialogue for social dilemmas that were relevant to them. Maintaining this voice of authenticity will become more difficult the larger and more commercialized Hip-hop becomes, thus it is important to identify mediums that are being used to express authenticity through discussion of social dilemmas in Hip-hop culture. This project identifies poetry as a medium that is used to display authenticity in Hip-hop …

Misrepresenting Climate Change: Deconstructing New Media Discourse Through The Case Study Of Hurricane Irma, Amy Dickens

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

This project uses critical discourse analysis to understand the relationship between U.S. news media coverage on natural disasters like Hurricane Irma and the ideological implications of that coverage. More specifically, in news media discourse, personification of natural disasters alienates humans from their actions, many of which are actively aiding in the advancement of anthropogenic climate change. By taking an in-depth look at how various factors come into play, like the humans vs. nature binary, the polarization of American politics around climate change, and various news media framings, the essay demonstrates that the personification of Irma is both the result of …

Nonbinary Identities And The Self: A Contemporary Analysis Of Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Gender Identity, And Existentialism, Emily "Soren" Hodshire

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Although there has been extensive discourse about gender and the performativity of gender from scholars, there is little room for the language and existence for Non-binary identities in the material world. Through a reading and discourse analysis informed by both queer theory and existentialism, this project demonstrates that the film, Hedwig and The Angry Inch (2001) goes beyond disrupting gender binaries to giving up on gender binaries altogether, postulating the existence of a creative identity beyond male and female. This film is used as a case study to analyze and deconstruct gender on screen and how people read gender non-conforming …

Lg Ms 045 Howard Solomon Collection, Anthony Marvullo

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The Howard Solomon Collection documents the art, activism, and scholarship of Howard Solomon, spanning the late 1960s to 2017.

Because Howard was the scholar-in-residence from 2002 to 2008, much of the material acts as a survey of the larger LGBTQ+ Collection. See Appendix C for a full list of cross-referenced papers, archives, and collections.

Lg Ms 035 Ryan Conrad Collection Finding Aid, Katharine Renolds Thomas

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Description:

Ryan Conrad is a radical queer activist. He is co-founder of Naughty North, an inter-generational radical queer/trans direct action collective in Maine. He participates as a volunteer, board member, and/or advisor for a number of community organizing groups, including EquityFund (board member 2008-present), Outright Lewiston/Auburn (Special Projects Coordinator and volunteer advisor, 2006-present), Maine HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (2009-present), and Maine Video Activist Network (co-founder and volunteer, 2006-present), among others. Conrad curated the June 2009 exhibition "Future of the Past: Reviving the Queer Archives" at Maine College of Art. The Collection contains materials related to radical queers in Maine …

Lg Ms 013 Equalitymaine Archives Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Description:

The Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA) was formed in 1984 to advocate for LGBT issues and to educate the public, media, and politicians about them. Now known as EqualityMaine, over the last twenty-five years, the organization has worked to secure civil rights legislation, pass hate crimes protection laws, promote workplace equality and ensure responsible HIV/AIDS policies. The Archives contains organizational records of MLGPA and EqualityMaine, and other materials.

Date Range:

1984-2009

Size of Collection:

14.5 ft.

Lg Ms 024 Lgbt Rights Legislation Collection Finding Aid, Julie Cismoski

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Description:

The Collection contains materials related to LGBT rights legislation from 1978 to 1995, gathered by Prof. Erica Rand of Bates College. The bulk of the Collection is copies of press articles, with a press kit and campaign materials from Equal Protection Lewiston. The legislation covered includes Proposition 6, also known as The Briggs Initiative, in California in 1978; the 1992 Human Rights Ordinance in Portland, Maine; the Lewiston Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in 1993; and the statewide referendum, Question 1, in 1995. Some articles on LGBT issues other than rights legislation are included.

Date Range:

1978-1995

Size of Collection:

0.5 ft.

Lg Ms 023 Roland Blais Papers Finding Aid, Julie Cismoski

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Description:

Roland Blais was born in Rumford, Maine in 1939, and knew by the time he was in high school that he was "different". He saved money and moved to Los Angeles in 1958, where he got a job with Broadway Department Store, and went to gay bars for the first time. He joined the Navy and served from 1959 to 1963, leaving with an honorable discharge. He then enlisted in the Army, serving 1963-1966, stationed at Walsrode, Germany, working with missiles. He returned to the United States, retrieving the car he bought in Germany from Newark Port, New Jersey, …

Race, Sexuality, And Masculinity On The Down Low, Stephen Kochenash

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a so-called post-racial America, a new gay identity has flourished and come into the limelight. However, in recent years, researchers have concluded that not all men who have sex with other men (MSM) self-identify as gay, most noticeably a large population of Black men. It is possible that a tainted history of Black enslavement in this country that is inextricably linked with ideas of space, surveillance, subversion, and survival inform a Black male’s self-identification as being “on the down low” (DL). This begs the question: What does mainstream society view as gay-ness and how is the DL constructed …

Inversion And The Third Sex: Gender Variance And Queer Expression In Anti-Suffrage Rhetoric, Anthony Pankuch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In the early decades of the 20^th century, critics of the women’s suffrage movement commonly denounced their opponents’ perceived disregard for the gendered norms of the era. Given the clear delineation of rights provided to either sex at that time, any expansion of women’s liberties meant an incursion into what was seen as a predominantly masculine realm. Countless arguments put forth by anti-suffragists suggested a complete breakdown of what is today contextualized as a predominantly cisgender, heterosexual society. Simultaneously, the development of psychology and sexology as fields of study lent moralizing voices a highly pathologized foundation upon which to …

Tracing Writer/Reader Identity In, And In Response To, Queer Latinx Autohistoria-Teorìa, Corrina Wells

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project examines how diverse representation changes the discourse around queer latinx identities. This project extends theories of representation that show how a text changes the imaginary of the reader through a two-part methodology. First, through explicating Spit & Passion and A Cup of Water Under My Bed, this project examines how these texts construct a readers’ imaginary. Then, through a corresponding qualitative assessment on readers’ responses to the texts, this project identifies the extent to which the texts change the beliefs and understandings of a small group of students. Articulating an ecology of identity using the texts under examination, …

Lg Ms 044 Lewiston-Auburn Gay Youth Collection, Naomi Hawkes

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Provenance: The Lewiston/Auburn Gay Youth Collection was donated in August, 2008 by Heidi Conn, a former Guidance Counselor at Edward Little High School. Additional materials were donated by Ryan Conrad, the Edward Little Gay Straight Alliance, Penny Sargent, and Sarah Holmes. The Lewiston Auburn Gay Youth Collection contains print material and photographs of activities of Outright Lewiston/ Auburn and the Edward Little High School Gay Straight Alliance between the years 2008 and 2011.

Ownership and Literary Rights: The Lewiston/ Auburn Gay Youth Collection are the physical property of the University of Southern Maine Libraries. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to …

Lg Ms 042 Am Chofshi Archives, Anthony Marvullo

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Administrative Information

Provenance:

The Am Chofshi Archives were donated by Gail Kass and Susan Horowitz in 2004. Kass was Am Chofshi’s treasurer and as such these archives contain financial documents and fundraising materials, some of which are restricted.

Total Boxes: 3

Linear Feet: 4.25

Lg Ms 043 Aids Lodging House Archives, Anthony Marvullo

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Provenance: The AIDS Lodging House Archives were donated by Shawn LeGrega on September 3, 2014.

Restrictions on Access: Some materials are restricted until 2081 to protect privacy rights.

Lg Ms 010 Rochow Papers Finding Aid, Bjorn Swenson, Susannah Clark, Anthony Marvullo

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Description:

Eugene Rochow was an early member and served on the board of the Matlovich Society, a Portland-based organization that provided an educational and cultural forum for the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community during the 1990s. The Papers document the Matlovich Society between 1991 and 1996 and other organizations and events in the LGBT community. The majority of the papers in this collection are records of the Matlovich Society which Rochow retained after the organization ceased in 1999. The collection also includes documents related to Equal Protection Portland, an initiative in 1992 to pass and protect a …

Literary Theories Of Circumcision, A. W. Strouse

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Literary Theories of Circumcision” investigates a school of thought in which the prepuce, as a conceptual metaphor, organizes literary experience. In every period of English literature, major authors have employed the penis’s hood as a figure for thinking about reading and writing. These authors belong to a tradition that defines textuality as a foreskin and interpretation as circumcision. In “Literary Theories of Circumcision,” I investigate the origins of this literary-theoretical formulation in the writings of Saint Paul, and then I trace this formulation’s formal applications among medieval, early modern, and modernist writers. My study lays the groundwork for an ambitious …

Lg Ms 007 Sturgis Haskins Papers Finding Aid, Siobain C. Monahan, Dani Y. Fazio, Anthony Marvullo

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Description:

Sturgis Haskins was a long-time activist in Gay and Lesbian communities, and was one of the organizers of the annual Maine Gay Symposium started in 1974 at University of Maine, Orono. Haskins was a co- founder in 1973 of the Wilde-Stein Club, the first openly Gay student organization at the University of Maine in Orono. The Papers contain material documenting Haskins’ personal life, pamphlets, correspondence, memorabilia, and information on organizations in which Haskins was interested, and clippings covering topics relating to the Gay and Lesbian communities and homosexuality.

Date Range:

1966-1999

Size of Collection:

24 ft.

Research And Study Of Fashion And Costume History Spanning From Ancient Egypt To Modern Day, Kaitlyn E. Dennis Miss

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Through a generous donation to Morehead State University, research has been conducted on thousands of slides containing images of artwork and artifacts of historical significance. These images span from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the inaugural dress of every first lady of the United States. The slides are in the process of being recorded and catalogued for future use by students in hopes of furthering academic comprehension and awareness of the influence of fashion and costume history through the ages. Special thanks to the family of Gretel Geist Rutledge, faculty mentor Denise Watkins, as well as the Department of Music, Theatre, and …