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Scholars Gather to Discuss Queer Studies, Activism By Laurie Fenlason The relationship between politics and the academy is among the hot topics in queer studies, the emerging academic discipline that focuses on analyses of sexuality and gender. In early November, 13 leading activists, artists and academics-including independent historian Allan Bérubé, activist Urvashi Vaid, author Lauren Berlant and cartoonist Allison Bechdel-gathered at Smith for a three-day symposium titled "Queer Activism/Queer Studies," a groundbreaking event organized to bridge the gap between advocacy and scholarship. More than 750 people-students, faculty, staff, community members, and area activists-attended the conference, described by organizer Marilyn Schuster, professor of women's studies and of French, as "the first event to bring together activists and academics, to try to find the ways in which we're connected and also the things that separate us." Or, as panelist Lisa Duggan put it: "Lawyers and activists need to work within the strategic limits of union halls, courtrooms, and legislatures-strategic limits that academics are relatively unaware of. But activists also need a place where they can think beyond those limits." The symposium opened with a panel discussion designed to define the issues in queer studies. The panelists-Bérubé, author of Coming Out Under Fire: Lesbian and Gay Americans and the Military During World War II; Vaid, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Policy Institute; and Michael Lucey, author of Gide's Bent and founder of the University of California, Berkeley's gay studies program-addressed such topics as "Queer Studies in the Factory Town" and "The Future of Queer Activism." A discussion titled "Art and/as Activism" featured filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, director of The Watermelon Woman; poet Carl Phillips, author of In the Blood, Cortege and From the Devotions; and media critic Sasha Torres, editor of Living Color: Race and Television in the United States. "The Science Debates and Citizenship," another panel, examined the significance of considering sexuality as being either genetically determined or a lifestyle choice. Later, panelists considered "The History of Politics and the Politics of History." Lauren Berlant, professor of English at the University of Chicago and author of The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship, presented the symposium's keynote address, titled "Queer Knowledge, Anger, and the Politics of Optimism." A number of Smith faculty joined Schuster in organizing the event. Martha Ackelsberg, professor of government; John Davis, Priscilla van der Poel Associate Professor of Art; Gary Lehring, assistant professor of government; Nancy Whittier, assistant professor of sociology; and Cornelia Pearsall, assistant professor of English, moderated discussions and introduced speakers. On the concluding night of the conference, President Ruth Simmons commended participants for tackling such "issues of critical urgency and importance" and emphasized her pride at Smith's hosting of this "extraordinary gathering. "I cannot tell you how pleased I am," she said, "that you have come to Smith to discuss these matters. The questions you have raised, the minds you have brought together, are exciting examples of the role colleges and universities should be playing in the key social issues of our time. "Tonight I have heard many people saying they have thought anew about something, or thought differently, and that is precisely what our work in the academy is all about." |
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