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Previous
Lectures
Previous Lecture Series:
Spring 2011
Tuesdays 12:00-12:50; Stevenson 1002
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
2/8 Shannon Price Minter, “Do Transsexuals Dream of Gay Rights?”
In the 1990s, many gay rights organizations opposed including transgender people in the LGB movement. Some responded that trans people should inspire an LGBT movement unified around the principle of gender non-conformity. While that strategy has been powerful, it also has made it harder to focus on race and class. Can we build a shared movement based on recognition of differences? Minter is the Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a leading LGBT advocacy group. He represented same-sex couples in the landmark California marriage equality case.
2/15 Francine Ramsey, “Black Lesbians Matter”
Ramsey is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Zuna Institute, a national advocacy organization for Black Lesbians, and the co-creator of the National Black Lesbian Conference. She has worked for over 20 years with civil rights organizations and LGBT organizations of color. Ramsey will discuss the Zuna Institute’s report, “Black Lesbians Matter: An Examination of the Unique Experiences, Perspectives, and Priorities of the Black Lesbian Community.”
2/22 Raquel Gutiérrez, “Performing Community the Queer, Brown Way”
Gutiérrez, a community-based performance artist, playwright, and organizer, will discuss Los Angeles-based Chicana/o and Latina/o art interventions that explore queer lives in working-class neighborhoods. Gutiérrez is a co-founder of the performance ensemble, Butchlalis de Panochtitlan, a group aimed at creating a visual vernacular around queer LA Latinidad. At 7 PM in Ives Hall, Gutiérrez will perform MALATHION: LOW HUMAN TOXICITY, a one-person show.
3/1 Carolyn Laub, “The Safe Schools Movement: How We Can ‘Make It Better’ for LGBTQ Youth”
Laub, Founder and Executive Director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network, will discuss the history of California’s LGBTQ safe schools movement and GSA Network's Make It Better Project, launched as a response to fall 2010 suicides related to anti-LGBTQ bullying. The GSA Network empowers youth to fight homophobia and transphobia through GSA clubs.
3/8 Shane Windmeyer, “Campus Pride”
Windmeyer will lead a program that destroys stereotypes and compels participants to come out as visible allies and leaders for all, including LGBT people. He is founder and executive director of Campus Pride, a national organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students.
3/15 Susan Stryker, “Cross-Dressing for Empire: Gender and Sexuality at the Bohemian Grove”
Stryker, Associate Professor of Gender Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, will explore how late-19th and early-20th-century cross-dressing at the Bohemian Grove—the exclusive Sonoma County retreat of the ultra-exclusive, all-male Bohemian Club—was integral to how members functioned as masters of the U.S. empire. Stryker is director of the Emmy-winning documentary Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria and author of Transgender History.
3/22 Martin Manalansan, “The House We Live In: Queer Habitations in the 21st Century”
Manalansan, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, will discuss the lives of a household of unrelated queer immigrants in New York City. He argues that their lives illustrate the workings of ongoing gentrification, xenophobia and national economic crises.
4/5 Amanda Littauer, “’We had the world by the tail!’: Teen Girls and Lesbian Desire in the 1950s”
Littauer, an assistant professor of History and Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University, will describe how, in the 1950s, same-sex desiring girls were isolated and punished, but some recall the era as dynamic and pleasurable. Discerning, naming, and acting on their desires, young women created a place for themselves.
SPECIAL SCREENING—7PM FRI 4/8 & 2 PM SUN 4/10: La Mission (2009) Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) is respected in San Francisco’s Mission barrio for his masculinity, strength, and hobby building lowriders. As a reformed inmate, Che's path to redemption is tested when he discovers his only son, Jes (Jeremy Ray Valdez), is gay. To evolve, Che will have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown. Co-sponsored with the Sonoma Film Institute (Ives Hall).
4/12 Ryan Conrad, “Marriage = Death”
Conrad, founder of the Against Equality digital archives, dissects the affective rhetoric and rights-based discourse mobilized by national gay marriage campaigns. He examines how this collapses queer political imagination into narrow contemporary gay pragmatism. Conrad is an outlaw artist, terrorist academic and petty thief from a small Maine town.
4/26 Juanita MORE! and Family, “Three Generations of Drag”
Miss Juanita MORE! has been involved with the HIV/AIDS community in San Francisco since the mid 80’s and remains a tireless activist, fundraiser, DJ, and community builder, continuing to break ground with style and generosity. She will share her drag family and the support, activism, and community in this powerful alternative form of belonging.
5/3 Coyote Grace, “Folkstastic Trans”
Watch sparks fly between this acoustic down-home duo, combining guitarist Joe Stevens, a transman from Northern California, with upright bassist Ingrid Elizabeth, a sassy femme originally hailing from Southeastern Ohio. They capture the hearts of audiences nationwide with bluesy folkroots, sweet harmonies, and poignant songwriting.
5/10 Marilyn Wann, “Another Scary F-word: Confronting Weight-Based Prejudice and Health Messages”
This talk encourages people of all sizes and sexualities to recognize the impact weight-based messages and beliefs have on our lives, and how fat oppression connects to homophobia, sexism, racism, and the gender binary. Wann has been a fat activist since the mid-1990s, when she was denied health insurance based on weight and created the FAT!SO? 'zine and book. In 2000, Wann helped convince San Francisco to add height and weight to anti-discrimination laws.
The Queer Studies Lecture Series is made possible by the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Queer Studies Minor, and the SSU Instructionally Related Activities Program.
Questions? Contact Professor Don Romesburg, WGS, romesbur@sonoma.edu, 707.664.2574
All lectures are free and open to all
Stevenson 1002
Thursdays, 12:00-12:50 pm
2/9 BeBe Sweetbriar, “The Next Gay Generation: Are They Listening?”
Through music, films and outreach, Ms. Sweetbriar dedicates her time and talent to fundraising for many AIDS service organizations. With progressive HIV/AIDS medication, gay-straight school services, and a resurgence in the LGBT equality movement, what role do drag queens play in preparing the next generation for the battles ahead?
2/16 Joey Plaster and Rev. Megan Rohrer, “Queer Public Histories of the Tenderloin”
Plaster and Rohrer give a multimedia presentation on queer public history engaging San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. These projects probe the intersections of poverty and social stigma, the role of theology in the GLBT movement, and parallels with current social and activist work. Plaster is an independent oral historian and Director of the GLBT Historical Society’s Oral History Program. Rev. Rohrer is Executive Director of Welcome Ministries.
2/23 Trystan Cotten, “Figuring Female Masculinity in Transsexual Autobiography”
Cotten, a CSU-Stanislaus teacher in the Department of Ethnic and Gender Studies, will discuss his current research project, Second Thoughts: Exploring the Transition Narratives of Ex-Lesbians, on the autobiography of female-to-male transmen who lived once lived as lesbians and embraced lesbian feminism.
3/2 Michael Nava, “The Marriage Equality Struggle in California”
Nava will trace the history of the marriage equality struggle in California from the 1970s—when the legislature passed the law declaring marriage to be a union between a man and a woman—through the recent Proposition 8 decision. Nava is an attorney at the California Supreme Court for Justice Carlos Moreno and a novelist.
3/9 Katastrophe, “Sub-lebrity and Hip Hop: On Being Gaymous”
San Francisco-based rapper/producer Katastrophe weaves dense tales of lives lived outside the mainstreams. He was crowned Producer of the Year by Out Music Awards for his debut album Let's Fuck, Then Talk About My Problems 2004). His most recent and finest release, The Worst Amazing, came out in October.
3/16 E. Patrick Johnson, “‘Scatter the Pigeons’: Baldness & the Performance of Black Hyper-Masculinity” Johnson, Northwestern University professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies, describes how the bald hairstyle adorned by black men evokes desire and fear that create ambivalence around the ways race and gender are read onto the black male body. Black homosexual men have appropriated this hairstyle to recoup their black masculine identity and to disavow black community homophobia. In the evening, Johnson will perform his one-man show, Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell their Tales.
3/23 Cael Keegan, “Feeling Your Anatomy: Transmasculine Heroics and Phallic Mourning”
The Cliks, The L Word, and media incarnations of Brandon Teena present transmale bodies as heroically mournful in our male-dominated culture. These bodies initiate modes of masculine identification and privilege while deconstructing normative male subjectivity. Keegan, a University of Buffalo Ph.D. graduate in American Studies, argues that they transform mourning into a space for new forms of desire and violence.
4/13 Glenne McElhinney, “Making On These Shoulders We Stand”
Los Angeles' place in the LGBT rights movement is largely unknown. McElhinney’s On These Shoulders We Stand counters the popular belief that the early gay rights movement was limited to New York and San Francisco. Gay and lesbian seniors recall the trials and triumphs of the city's gay past, including the brutal collaboration between city fathers, the LA Times and the LAPD to make life miserable for LGBT people between the ‘50s and early ‘80s. In the late afternoon, there will be a campus screening of the film.
4/20 Josh Sides, “Erotic City: Sexual Revolutions and the Making of Modern San Francisco”
Josh Sides, Whitsett Professor of California History and Director of the Center for Southern California Studies at CSU-Northridge, will discuss his newly published book Erotic City: Sexual Revoutions and the Making of Modern San Francisco (Oxford University Press, 2009).
4/27 Roberta Achtenberg, “30 Years & Counting: Everything Changes & Some Things Remain the Same” Achtenberg, a founder of the National Center of Lesbian Rights and the immediate past Chair of the California State University Board of Trustees, works as an economic and workforce development consultant to Lennar Corporation. Achtenberg was a San Francisco Supervisors and she served as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. She will provide insider reflections from decades in the LGBT political movement.
5/4 Jeffrey Escoffier, “Beefcake to Hardcore: Gay Pornography and the Sexual Revolution” Drawing from his Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore (Running Press, 2009), Escoffier argues that hardcore porn entered mainstream culture in the 1970s as the sexual revolution swept away many of the inhibitions and legal restraints on explicit sexual expression. The acceptance of pornography played a significant role in the sexual lives of gay men.
5/11 Emilie Roy, “'The Personal Is Historical: Lesbian Identity & the Sonoma Women's Movement”
Presenting from her prize-winning 2009 SSU History M.A. thesis, Roy explores the role that lesbians played in Sonoma County’s women’s movement, focusing on moments where their definitions, articulations, and negotiations of identity fueled the movement.
The Queer Studies Lecture Series is made possible by the Women’s and Gender Studies Department and the SSU Instructionally Related Activities Program.
All lectures are free and open to all
Rachel Carson Hall 68
Tuesdays, 12:00-12:50 pm
2/3 Garza, “Crossing Borders"
Garza, a Latino gay immigrant exploring sexuality as a “T girl”
in the USA, will discuss how drag performance can work across borders
of care, belonging, and transformation and highlight personal experiences
crossing borders of culture and gender in the San Francisco Bay Area.
2/10 Paula Pilecki, “Some of My Best Friends are Gay: Creating
a Queer-Friendly Community”
Paula Pilecki is the Executive Director of Spectrum LGBT Center in Marin
County. Paula will discuss the assumptions, myths, and stereotypes that
are behind resistance in schools, social service organizations, and communities
of faith to the active inclusion of LGBT people. She will offer suggestions
on how to create a successful grassroots campaign to inspire institutional
and community change.
2/17 Amy Sueyoshi, “Homo-coming: Yone Noguchi's Closet
and Transnationalism”
SFSU Ethnic Studies and Sexuality Studies Associate Professor Amy Sueyoshi
will explore how immigrant poet Yone Noguchi wrote openly about the beauty
of male same-sex love at the turn of the century only to declare heterosexuality
in later writings. Sueyoshi argues that his life suggests limits and liberations
of transnationalism and the power of personal will.
2/24 Stephanie Brill, “Beyond Binaries: Gender Spectrums”
Stephanie Brill is the co-founder and Director of Gender Spectrum Education
and Training, a featured speaker on issues of the developmental stages
of gender variance in children, and co-author of The Transgender Child:
A Handbook for Families and Professionals. She will introduce a multi-dimensional
framework that seeks to counter the prevailing binary gender system. She
will explore how children frequently experience the interrelated notions
of biological sex, gender expression, and gender identity.
3/3 Andrea Shorter, “Marriage for All: Race Challenges
and Marriage Equality”
Andrea Shorter is the Campaign Director of And Marriage For All, a public
education campaign connecting issues of race and marriage equality and
the Co-Chair of the Bayard LGBT Rustin Coalition, Northern California’s
largest Black LGBT political organization. She will speak on the ways
in which race related to Proposition 8 and its aftermath.
3/10 Kyriell Noon, “Only Six Degrees? Sexual Networks and
HIV Prevention in Queer Male Communities”
Scholar-activist Kyriell Noon is the Executive Director of STOP AIDS Project,
a community-based non-profit that works to prevent HIV transmission in
the queer community. This talk will describe how even in major metropolitan
areas, queer men are more closely connected to each other through sexual
networks than previously thought. Working these networks to guide HIV
prevention allows agencies to support existing friend groups, maximize
community assets, and shape healthy community norms.
3/17 Jon Ginoli, “My Life in Pansy Division”
Jon Ginoli founded the band Pansy Division in 1991 as a way to combine
the two big interests in his life: being a rock musician and being gay.
Through eight albums and worldwide touring, it has combined unapologetic
lyrics with catchy pop-punk rock. In March, Pansy Division will release
their new CD That's So Gay and the DVD of the documentary Pansy Division:
Life in a Gay Rock Band. Jon has just published a memoir titled Deflowered:
My Life in Pansy Division. He will talk about the history of Pansy Division,
why to form such a band, and its relevance today.
3/24 Steve Toby, “What Does Transition Have to Do with
Belonging?”
Steve Toby, an openly female-to-male transgender psychotherapist, will
discuss the unique role that belonging plays in compelling compels those
of us who identify as transgender to seek hormonal and surgical treatment.
4/7 Jeffery Schwarz, “Adding Value: The World of DVD Extras
and How They Can Sometimes be Queer”
Jeffrey Schwarz is the President & CEO of Automat Pictures, a multi-award
winning entertainment company widely recognized as one of the industry¹s
leading producers of studio EPKs (electronic press kits), DVD content,
original television programming, and feature films. He will give a behind-the-scenes
talk on content produced for DVD releases of Hollywood films, with an
emphasis on titles with queer content.
4/21 Felice Newman, “The Politics of Being Heard: Book
Publishing & Queer Literature in the 21st Century"
Felice Newman is a founding publisher of Cleis Press. Her discussion reveals
the “pay-to-play democracy” of the U.S. publishing industry
and suggests how diverse queer voices break through the barriers of the
marketplace.
4/28 Julian Carter, “Birds, Bees, and Venereal Disease”
Julian Carter, a queer theorist and historian, is currently Chair of the
Critical Studies Program at California College for the Arts. Carter describes
the ways in which modern U.S. sex education, from its early 20th-century
roots, promoted cultural heteronormativity and whiteness through claims
to “development” based in ecology and zoology coupled with
claims of “contagion” spread by so-called “perverse”
sexualities.
5/5 Shine Louise Houston, “Taking Power in Creating Images:
Crash Pad Porn”
As the pioneering producer and director of Pink and White Productions,
Shine Houston is dedicated to producing sexy and exciting images that
reflect today’s blurred gender lines and fluid sexualities. Houston
will discuss how Pink and White Productions creates porn that exposes
the complexities of queer sexual desire, inviting viewers into a world
of butches, bois, femmes, transfolk and more, with a focus unlike any
other in the adult industry, focusing on the authentic passion between
two (or more) bodies.
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All lectures
are open to the public
Location: Rachel Carson Hall 68
Time:
Tuesday, 12-12:50 pm
September 4: Understanding Our Bodies: A Self-Help
Approach Women's Health Specialists' (WHS)
Jenny Mourgos, SSU alumna and health worker, and Lisa DeMartini, clinic
manager, will share fertility awareness techniques through a cervix
slide show and discuss the politics of pharmaceutical companies in an
open forum -- bring questions and an open mind! WHS was founded in 1975
in Chico by nine laywomen dedicated to helping other women obtain health
services that were otherwise unavailable to them. Currently, WHS has
sites in Chico, Redding, Sacramento and Santa Rosa. By understanding
women's ever-changing health care needs and the obstacles that prevent
women from obtaining care, WHS provides women-centered, women-controlled
care. WHS is a feminist clinic dedicated to serving women by vowing
to inspire and empower all of those whom they encounter in their work.
September 11: HIV 101: A Gendered Perspective
Christopher Bowers, a local Outreach Specialist with Face to Face/The
Sonoma County AIDS network, will be discussing HIV prevention. The
presentation will include the basic components of HIV prevention including
transmission, risk factors and testing, but with a more nuanced gender
analysis. Find out why women and people of color have an increased
risk of getting HIV as well as why HIV is of particular concern to
the transgender community. Mr. Bowers will also discuss and debunk
persistent myths around HIV, giving a more clear and realistic view
of the current epidemic. Christopher Bowers has a B.A. in Liberal
Arts from Evergreen State College where he majored in Community Social
Services and Gender Studies.
September 18: Eating Disorders: How to Recognize
Them and Get Support
The presentation will cover the types of eating disorders, statistics
regarding prevalence rates, etiology, and how to get the proper support
for yourself or a friend. Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores, MA, MFT, is a psychotherapist
currently working with the PsychStrategies, Inc., group practice in
Santa Rosa. Her areas of specialization include eating disorders,
grief and loss, life transitions, women's issues, and issues surrounding
pregnancy and postpartum.
September 25: You Can Be Proactive About Your
Breast Health Breast Thermography:
The only preventive, non-invasive, 100% safe breast screening for
women 20 years and older. Join Renee Russo and Jenna Montgomery, as
they empower you with practical actions you can take TODAY, to maintain
or improve your breast health. Mammograms can be too late... breast
thermography can find unhealthy conditions up to 12 years before a
mass is detected using any other technology. Renee and Jenna are Board
Certified Thermographic Technicians, and currently offer breast screenings
in Ukiah, Sebastopol, Napa and Novato.
October 2: Acupressure for Women's Health
Acupressure is a safe and effective way to help balance all stages
of women's health. Stephanie Halderman will cover self-help acupressure
& therapeutic massage techniques for hormonal balance, PMS, menopause,
pain, emotional balancing and more. Stephanie Halderman, Dipl. ABT,
EMT, CMT is a diplomate in Asian Bodywork Therapy through the National
Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine.
She is the founder of Eastern Holistic Center in Sebastopol offering
private sessions, classes and certification programs.
October 9: You First: The Art and Science of
Eating
Najine Shariat, Clinical Dietitian/Nutritionist, has an unparalleled
approach to nutrition and the "art of living" which links
nutrition to how we live, to helping prevent and treat major diseases,
and making eating a pleasure. Ms. Shariat graduated from McGill University
School of Nutrition/Dietetics in Canada. In October 2005, Najine traveled
to Paris to finish her training in bringing the latest (and oldest)
ideas from Europe to her patients! Ms. Shariat is also the founder
of IT'S YOU! Nutrition clinic, which is located in Santa Rosa and
has recently opened a second establishment in San Diego.
October 16 & 23: The Intimate Relationship
The way we discuss intimate relationships, domestic violence, and
victim services impacts our lives on a personal and political level.
This "talk", or discourse, influences how we form and navigate
intimate relationships and shapes the ways in which we respond, as
an individual and/or as a society, to abuse within relationships.
Is domestic violence a "human rights" issue? What are the
necessary components of a healthy relationship? Join Michelle Doyel,
Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Victim Advocate from the Petaluma
Police Department to explore how positive communication in our relationships
can be a powerful catalyst in social change. The second half of this
presentation (held on 10/23) will examine sex, sexual assault and
the importance of sexual health within intimate relationships. Ms.
Doyel will be returning to help us explore how setting healthy boundaries,
communicating about sex and speaking out against sexual assault can
change the world!
October 30: Bridging the Gap: Health Care Obstacles
for Transgendered and Lesbian/Bisexual Women
Dawn Hartbatkin, M.D., from Lyon Martin Health Services in San Francisco
will address the obstacles faced by women and transgender people in
obtaining quality health services. Lyon-Martin Health Services is
the only free-standing community clinic in California with a specific
emphasis on lesbian/bisexual women and transgender health care. Founded
in 1979 by a group of medical providers and health activists, Lyon-Martin
bridges the gap in sensitive health services available to low-income,
uninsured women (primarily lesbians and bisexual women) and transgender
people, who have often tended to go longer without routine care because
of the difficulty in finding culturally sensitive health providers.
November 6: Chemical Rites of Passage in College-Age
Populations: When Is Too Much Enough?
Phyllis Haig, MFT, will present compelling information from current
trends in substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment and
harm reduction methods as well as local resources and a quiz to self-assess
personal use and function. Ms. Haig, an SSU alumna, is a frequent
college presenter, and an expert in substance abuse and mental health
treatment fields. Please join us as she offers a humorous, non-shaming,
feminist approach to the topic of substance abuse.
November 13: A Force of Nature: Revealing the
Strength of Your Nature Through Yoga
Barbra Brady is a certified yoga teacher who holds an MA in Liberal
Studies in Museum Exhibition Theory and Religious Studies. As a student
of Rod Stryker’s Parayoga teacher training, Barbra's teachings
in Tantric Hatha Yoga focus on creating a personal practice of yoga
postures, breathing techniques and meditation that are aligned with
the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, or "The Science of Life."
These practices are the most authentic to yoga as it was first formulated
5,000+ years ago. Far more than physical exercise, Tantric Hatha Yoga's
techniques hold particular power for women, as they increase our capacity
to live our lives to the fullest and attune to and manifest our destiny
while remaining balanced in our intuitive nature.
November 20: Rebuilding Lives: The Feminization
of Poverty and its Impact on the Homeless Population
Please join Tanya Wulff, Case Manager and Annie Nicol, FNP, from the
Committee On The Shelterless (COTS) to explore the feminization of
poverty and its impact on the homeless population. Both Ms. Wulff
and Ms. Nicol work at the Mary Isaak Center (MIC), which provides
a transformative program designed to support individuals while they
put their shattered lives back together again. In addition to providing
basic human needs, the MIC also offers, and in fact, requires, residents
to address the core issues of their homelessness. Often homelessness
is a direct result of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) as well
as substance abuse and health issues. We will explore how ACES, along
with substance abuse and health issues, directly attribute to homelessness.
December 4 & 11: Film Viewing: “The
Business of Being Born”
Danielle Ronshausen, doula and SSU alumna will join us with the highly
acclaimed documentary, "The Business of Being Born." The
makers of the film depict both sides of the childbirth debate: have
your baby in hospital or at home with a midwife? The first half of
the film will be shown on 12/4, and the second half on 12/11. Ms.
Ronshausen will answer any burning questions at the end of this highly
controversial video.
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WGS
301 Spring 2008 (pdf)
February 12: Ben Peacock, The Private Lives
of Dead Bodies: Mourning Homeless Young Queers
Peacock is a Resident Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Social
Change at UC Berkeley. His talk traces the death of a collective home
for some homeless young queers and the death of Green, a 23-year-old
man.
February 19: Mel Y. Chen, Queer Animality in Cultural Imagination
Chen, a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University
of California, Berkeley, will describe the sometimes constructed,
sometimes incidental, relationship of queerness to animality.
February 26: Robert McRuer, National Fantasies & Queer
Anti-National Sexual Positions
McRuer is Associate Professor of English at The George Washington
University in Washington, D.C., where he teaches queer theory, disability
studies, and critical theory. His paper argues that the playful gender
trouble and foregrounding of sexual pleasures in Murderball (2005)
allow for the contingent unraveling of aspects of conventional masculinity.
March 4: State Senator Carole Migden in Conversation
Carole Migden represents the 3rd District in the California State
Senate. She will discuss her groundbreaking role as an out lesbian
politician over decades of political advocacy and activism.
March 11: Holly Near, Storytelling, Activism and Music
For the past 40 years, Near has participated in many major social
change movements. She cut her teeth in the peace movement of the early
seventies and learned her early feminism from women living in war
zones. Through her storytelling, Holly remembers the lessons with
grace and humor.
March 18: Cecilia Chung, United ENDA
Transgender Law Center Deputy Director Cecilia Chung will speak on
the recent struggle to prevent the Congressional Democratic leadership
from excluding gender identity from workplace protection laws.
April 8: Lesbians on Ecstasy, Re-Constituting Lesbian Concentrate
Thirty years ago Olivia Records released Lesbian Concentrate, rumored
to be the first album ever released with the word “lesbian”
in the title. In 2007 the Lesbians On Ecstasy released the album We
Know You Know using Lesbian Concentrate as inspiration for exploring
second wave feminism and womyn’s music.
April 15: Andrew Sean Greer, Tales from a Queer Novelist
Andrew Sean Greer, author of three books of fiction, including the
national bestseller The Confessions of Max Tivoli (2004), will speak
about the craft of fiction writing and the ways in which queerness
informs his processes and content.
April 22: S. Lochlann Jain, Cancer Butch
Jain, a professor of anthropology at Stanford University, will speak
on the challenges for gender nonnormative people confronting breast
cancer and its feminine-gendered meanings within a cultural context
saturated by “pinkwashed” corporate care and advocacy
marketing.
April 29: T. Kebo Drew, Reels of Resistance: Film IS Social
Justice Activism
Development & Events Manager for the Queer Women of Color Media
Arts Project (QWOCMAP) T. Kebo Drew manages the Queer Women of Color
Film Festival and develops partnerships with community organizations.
She will discuss how QWOCMAP counters the lack of representative images
for queer women of color in traditional media by making film accessible
as an art form for creative expression and an activist tool for social
justice.
May 6: Joshua Grannell (aka “Peaches Christ”),
An Unlikely Career
As an underground drag performer and filmmaker best known for his
character Peaches Christ, Grannell created the outrageously popular
multi-city midnight movie event Midnight Mass and has screened his
short films at festivals internationally. He will share clips from
his films and television show to illustrate the evolution of what
was once a queer, transgressive, underground performance scene that
eventually ended up (perhaps accidentally) becoming phenomenon.
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WGS
301 Fall 2007 (pdf)
August 28: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Loss, Transition
to Parenthood: Overlooked Issues
Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores, MFT, is the Bereavement Services Manager
at Hospice By The Bay. She has been a hospice worker for twelve years,
specializing in issues of grief and loss, including pregnancy and
neonatal loss. She also has a private practice in Santa Rosa, where
she specializes in issues related to pregnancy and new parenthood.
Ms. Hirshfeld-Flores is also a trained doula (birth companion). She
will discuss the emotional processes women and their partners may
encounter as they move through pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood
as well as neonatal loss.
September 4: Risky Business: STI's, HIV, and
the Vulnerability of Women
Join us for a discussion of the biological and social factors contributing
to women's vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections. Learn
why women are one of the fastest-growing groups of new HIV infections
in the United States, and discuss strategies for empowerment, protection,
and the enhancement of sexual health. Presented by Nicole Cushman,
Bilingual Health Educator at Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo. Ms.
Cushman has taught comprehensive sex education throughout Napa County
and worked as an HIV Test Counselor at Stanford University. She presented
at NARAL Pro-Choice California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys Roe v. Wade
Action Summit in 2007 and is a member of the Association of Planned
Parenthood Leaders in Education's HPV Curriculum Development Team.
September 11: Five Ways to Keep Your Spirit Healthy
Sarah Dole will present practical ways to enhance your spiritual vitality
as well as your physical health. These suggestions are drawn from
almost forty years of spiritual practice that include meditation,
law of attraction and shamanic empowerment tools. Ms. Dole is a shamanic
practitioner and spiritual life mentor with a practice in Sebastopol.
She is a minister of The Circle of the Sacred Earth and has studied
extensively with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
September 18: Societal Influences on Women’s
Bodies: Abortion Rights and Choices
Shannen Farrell-Fraley, MA, MFT Intern, will discuss the current status
of American sexuality. What are the influences on our sexual rights,
respect and responsibility? Does our highly sexualized media empower
or oppress women? Ms. Farrell-Fraley has been employed by the Sonoma
County Public Health Department for thirteen years and works in the
STD and Family Planning Clinic. She is also an instructor of Human
Sexuality at Santa Rosa Junior College.
October 2: You First: The Art and Science of
Eating
Najine Shariat, Clinical Dietitian/Nutritionist, has an unparalleled
approach to nutrition and the "art of living" which links
nutrition to how we live, to helping prevent and treat major diseases,
and making eating a pleasure. Ms. Shariat graduated from McGill University
School of Nutrition/Dietetics in Canada. In October 2005, Najine traveled
to Paris to finish her training in bringing the latest (and oldest)
ideas from Europe to her patients! Ms. Shariat is also the founder
of IT'S YOU! Nutrition clinic which is located in Santa Rosa and has
recently opened a second establishment in San Diego.
October 9: The Effects of Sexual Assault: Prevention,
Intervention, and Counseling Options
Sexual violence affects women, children, and men of all ages and cultural
groups. In 2006 there were 139 counts of adult forcible rape reported
to law enforcement in Sonoma County; however approximately 84% of
rapes go unreported. Join Rebecca Plachte-Zuieback to examine the
history of violence against women, the definitions of sexual assault,
common myths and facts, and how to help a survivor. We will examine
the effects of sexual assault, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
and find avenues and techniques for healing. Ms. Plachte-Zuieback
has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from University of California Santa
Cruz, and is a California State Certified Rape Crisis Counselor. She
has been working as the Sexual Assault Prevention Education Coordinator
since 2006, educating thousands of Sonoma County youth, professionals,
and community members.
October 16: From a Holistic Gynecologist: Women’s Health
during Three Major Life Stages
Andrea Bialek, M.D. outlines important health issues of the three
major life stages of adult women: menarche/late teens, the reproductive
years, and the perimenopause/menopause transition. She will discuss
basic female hormonal functioning and her holistic approach to women’s
preventive health. Dr. Bialek has been a board-certified Gynecologist
for 18 years, and has a private solo practice in Santa Rosa. She specializes
in holistic women’s health and menopause counseling.
October 23: Process of Change: Implementation of Smoking
Cessation Program
Cheryle Stanley, an alumna of SSU’s Sociology Department, has
worked in the fields of mental health and substance abuse for more
than twenty-five years as an Administrator and Executive Director.
Since 1995 she has been the Director of Women’s Recovery Services
(WRS), Sonoma County’s only State-licensed residential perinatal
substance abuse program. The capacity of the program is twenty women
and twelve young children and annually treats approximately eighty
women and sixty children. In 1999, after seeing the damages that tobacco
addiction causes for mothers and their children, she developed a Smoking
Cessation Program for both clients and staff and integrated it into
substance abuse treatment. Ms. Stanley was instrumental in WRS receiving
a $10,000 Espiritu Award for the Protection of Women from the Isabel
Allende Foundation in Marin County. Join us to learn more about Ms.
Stanley's work and leadership to bring the first smoking cessation
program to an alcohol and drug recovery center for women.
October 30: Beyond the Wicked Witch: Re-visioning the Older
Woman
Susan Stewart is a Professor of Psychology at SSU, where she teaches
a variety of classes from “Life Span Development” to the
“Psychology of Yoga” to “Myths, Dreams and Symbols.”
Through a series of synchronistic events a few years ago she became
fascinated by the grandmother/crone as a figure in world myth and
folklore, as a dimension of the sacred feminine, and as a latent archetype
of wholeness within each woman. Dr. Stewart will address the personal,
collective and sacred dimensions of the old woman drawing from poetry,
narrative, image, and story, as well as recent cross-cultural research
in gerontology, medicine and other fields that likewise highlight
the potential gifts of age.
November 13: A Guide to Building Healthy Relationships
Relationships take time, energy and care to make them healthy. Unhealthy
relationships may have negative consequences on one’s physical
and mental health. Learn how to create and maintain healthy dating
and intimate relationships, and explore the dynamics and warning signs
of intimate partner violence. Presented by Yuka Kamiishi, SSU alumna
and Domestic Violence Victim Advocate from the YWCA of Sonoma County.
November 27: Understanding Our Bodies: A Self-Help Approach
Lisa DeMartini of the Women's Health Specialists (WHS) will explain
the self-help approach to women's gynecological care and how this
movement radically changed the direction of women’s health care
as we know it today. WHS was founded in 1975 in Chico by nine laywomen
dedicated to helping other women obtain services that were otherwise
unavailable to them. The agency understands women's current and ever-changing
health care needs, the obstacles that prevent women from getting care,
and provides support to women in accessing necessary treatment. Ms.
DeMartini has been with WHS for nearly five years and spent two of
those years working with clients learning hands on care and advocacy.
Today she is the Santa Rosa Clinic Manager. Ms. DeMartini and the
Women's Health Specialists are dedicated to serving women, vowing
to inspire and empower all those whom they encounter in their work.
December 4: The Real Truth About Having Babies: A Doula’s
Perspective
Danielle Ronshausen, doula, childbirth educator in training, and SSU
alumna speaks on the subject of childbirth and how doulas offer a
helping hand to mothers through pregnancy and delivery. In an open-question
forum, Ms. Ronshausen will discuss what really happens as a woman
approaches labor, the childbirth process and finally, what women can
expect after delivery. The audience will also have the opportunity
to see an actual birth on video.
February 6
Steven Cozza: "Become the
Change You Want to See in the World"
When he was 12 years old, Steven Cozza took a stand against the discrimination
of gay youth and adults in the Boy Scouts of America. He and his father,
Scott Cozza, founded an organization "Scouting for All."
Scouting for All is now an educational and advocacy organization,
reaching out to GLBT youth in its attempt to get the BSA to stop its
bigoted policies. Steven Cozza will discuss his continued activism
in Scouting for All. Steven Cozza is a youth activist and a founder
of Scouting for All.
February 13
Susan Stryker "Christine and the Cutting
Room: Transsexual Celebrity Christine Jorgensen's Cinematic Sense
of Self"
In 1952, news of American ex-GI Christine Jorgensen's sex-change surgery
in Denmark made headlines around the world. Jorgensen spent the next
twenty years in the limelight as the first international transsexual
celebrity. Her relationship with the camera was complex, however,
because Jorgensen had dreamed of becoming a filmmaker and had worked
in an editorial "cutting room." Her cinematic sensibility,
as much as her surgeon's scalpel, shaped the image that she presented
to the world. Drawing on rare archival clips of Jorgensen's own film
work, home movies, and commercial media appearances, this lecture
recounts how Jorgensen moved from one sort of "cutting room"
to another.
Susan Stryker, Ph.D., is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
and independent scholar
February 20
Daisy Hernández: "Queer and
Colored"
ColorLines, the national newsmagazine on race and politics, regularly
features stories on issues from queer communities of color. This presentation
looks at the reporting, writing and editing behind the stories. Learn
about reporting on a story or two queer teens of color who were brutally
murdered and the activism that's grown in New York City as queer people
of color fight to keep public space.
Daisy Hernández is an editor at ColorLines Magazine and the
author of Colonize This!
February 27
Frederick Hertz: ”California's Domestic Partnership
Law, Or, Are We Ready for Same-Sex Marriage?"
The political fight for same-sex marriage often obscures the important
legal issues that face lesbian and gay couples trying to organize
their lives amidst extraordinary social and legal changes. This lecture
will summarize the background of marital “status” law,
as compared to the “contract” law previously controlling
the lives of unmarried couples. From this background the lecture will
explain the emergence of marriage-like systems for gay couples, especially
California’s domestic partnership law. In addition to reviewing
the legal implications of the new statutes, the lecture will also
explore the social consequences of grafting a heterosexual marriage
model on to LGBT families.
Frederick Hertz is an attorney and the author of Legal Affairs: Essential
Advice for Same-Sex Couples
March 6
Jewelle Gomez: ”Vampires, Feminism and Our
Future"
Fantasy fiction has long been relegated to literature lite, just as
television is dismissed as popular culture. But how does culture shape
our politics? What do we say with mass entertainment about the LGBT
community and social justice? In the creation of any cultural piece,
whether a vampire novel or the sculpture of Venus de Milo, the creator
is informed by the sociopolitical context – poverty, conservatism,
privilege, war, Puritanism, capitalism, or tradition. Most of us have
knowledge of these contexts and the inequities that threaten the fabric
of society; but we rarely see ourselves as activists for social change
in our everyday lives. But we can be and still have fun.
Jewelle Gomez is an activists, award-winning novelist, and the author
of The Gilda Stories
March 13
Michelle Tea: ”Queer Memoir and Autobiography"
Michelle Tea is the co-founder of the Sister Spit spoken word tour,
Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their views into the riot
grrrl and queercore communities. She has toured with the Sex Worker's
Art Show and is a contributor to The Believer magazine. She is also
the co-writer for the weekly astrology column, Double Team Psychic
Dream, in San Francisco's Bay Guardian newspaper. In this presentation,
Michelle Tea will read from one of her memoirs and speak about the
relationship between queer memoir and autobiography.
Michelle Tea is a writer, poet, performer, and the award-winning author
of Valencia..
March 27
Johnny Symons: "Daddy & Papa: Gay Fathers
and the Changing Landscape of the American Family”
Since its release five years ago, the Emmy-nominated film Daddy &
Papa has given millions of viewers a glimpse of something most have
never seen: the inner working of families headed by gay men. Director/Producer
Johnny Symons will discuss the making and distribution of the film,
the ways in which gay families navigate through schools, neighborhoods,
and extended families, and his own experience as a gay parent.
Johnny Symons is the director and producer of Daddy & Papa
April 3
Marcia Gallo: "Lifting the Mask: The Daughters
of Bilitis, "the Ladder," and the Conscious Normalization
of Lesbian Images in 1950s and 1960s America"
The notion of invisibility, of "wearing the mask," was much
more prevalent than "being in the closet" for the lesbians
who first organized Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) meetings in U.S. cities
in the 1950s and 1960s. They knew that the popular image of "the
Lesbian" was distorted and unreal, and they set about to reshape
it by using whatever cultural forms they could find or create. This
talk will focus on the ways the leaders of the DOB consciously reconstructed
media images of lesbians in order to normalize them. "Lifting
the mask" was a vital part of their strategy for securing lesbian
rights.
Marcia Gallo is the author of Different Daughters: A History of the
Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement.
April 17
Cedric Brown: ”The Hard Evidence of Existence:
Creating Black Gay Arts in Down Low Times"
This presentation will discuss the challenges of creating work that
reflects the experiences of Black gay men during an era when a public
identity as a gay man of color is too often shunned. Cedric Brown
will present a brief retrospective of his influences and the rich
artistic history of Black gay art and performance born in the Bay
Area. He will also talk about his creative process and future projects,
and how Black gay men's stories epitomize the deeply-examined human
condition.
Cedric Brown is a performer, writer, and the founder of B/GLAM..
April 24
”In My Shoes: Stories of Youth with LGBT Parents"
Join a panel of young adults who have LGBT parents for a screening
and discussion of "In My Shoes: Stories of Youth with LGBT Parents."
This 30-minute film was produced by COLAGE Youth Leadership and Action
Program during a 10-month activism training program in San Francisco,
CA. The film debuted at the 2005 Frameline Film Festival, where it
earned the Audience Award for Best Short. The film depicts five young
people who give you a chance to walk in their shoes – to hear
their own views on marriage, making change, and what it means to be
a family.
COLAGE is a support and advocacy program for children of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender parents.
May 1
Dean Spade: ”Consolidating the Gendered Citizen:
Trans Survival, Bureaucratic Power, and the War on Terror"
This presentation discusses the impact of the War on Terror on transgender
rights, the bureaucratization of trans identities, and models of non-profit
governance in social movements. It invites questions about whether
and where the state should use gender as a category of identity, and
what consequences might result from a reduced reliance on gender in
state programs and processes. It will include a discussion of how
these issues are increasingly emerging under War on Terror policies
and practices of the administrative state that seek to rigidify national
identity surveillance.
Dean Spade is a UCLA Law Teaching Fellow and the founder of the Sylvia
Rivera Law Project.
May 8
Daniel Winunwe Rivers: ”From Parents in Hiding
to the Lesbian Baby Boom: A History of Lesbian Motherhood 1945-1980"
This lecture will cover the changing social, political, and legal
realities of lesbian motherhood from the Second World War to the beginning
of the 1980s. Topics covered will include: the experiences of lesbians
raising children in butch/fem working-class communities in the 1950s,
custody cases fought by lesbian mothers in the 1970s, the emergence
of a lesbian mother activist movement in reaction to the homophobia
faced by a generation of lesbian mothers fighting for their right
to be parents, and changes in lesbian parenthood in the 1980s, brought
about by increased availability of insemination technologies and changes
in custody and adoption law.
Daniel Winunwe Rivers is a Ph.D. candidate and Feminist Studies Instructor
at Stanford University.
*There is still plenty of enrollment space available for this
class. Come listen to fantastic speakers and increase your knowledge.
Sign up today!
-
WGS
301 Fall 2006 (pdf)
Aug. 29: Two Steps Forward, One
Step Back: Women’s Health Care During the Last 50 Years.
Jeanette Koshar, RN, NP, Ph.D., SSU
Nursing Department, examines social and health care events that
have impacted women’s health in the U.S. over the past 50
years. Jeanette has been a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner
for over 27 years, beginning her career as a Labor and Delivery
room nurse and completing research projects on domestic violence
and high risk adolescent behavior.
Sept. 5: Addressing the Physical
and Mental Needs of Incarcerated Women. Join Dr. Barbara
Bloom as she provides in-depth information about
the critical gaps in the essential health care services provided
to incarcerated women and explains the need for a community-based
continuum of services for women offenders. Dr. Bloom is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
at SSU. She is the Co-Director of the Center for Gender and Justice
and her research and policy interests include women and girls
under criminal justice supervision and gender-responsive interventions
and services.
Sept. 12: The Cultural Influences
on Women’s Bodies: Abortion Rights and Choices.
Shannen Farrell Fraley, MA, discusses the current
status of American Sexuality. What are the influences of our sexual
rights, respect, and responsibility? Does our highly sexualized
media empower or oppress women? Ms. Fraley has been employed by
Sonoma County Public Health Department for twelve years and works
in the STD and Family Planning Clinic. She is also an instructor
of Human Sexuality at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Sept. 19: Women and Heart Health.
Dr. Richard McCarthy, Chief of Neurology,
Kaiser Permanente San Rafael and Kaiser Permanente San Francisco,
speaks on the topic of women and heart health. Dr. McCarthy is
on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association where
he works to increase stroke awareness and prevention. Dr. McCarthy
also trains neurology residents at UCSF Medical Center.
Sept. 26: Seven Steps to Intuitive
Eating and Natural Weight. How do women learn to eat healthfully?
Barbara Birsinger’s presentation
will be a practical guide to knowing what, when and how much to
eat for your individual needs, and to decoding the symbolic meanings
in eating, food cravings, and body language. Barbara is a Registered
Dietitian with a Master's Degree in Public Health Nutrition from
UC Berkeley with over 25 years of experience in the psychology
of eating and weight issues, intuitive nutrition and health promotion.
Oct. 3: Standing in Front of
a Run-Away Train: One Woman's Work to Influence Medical Practice
Related to Dying Newborns. Dr. Anita Catlin,
Nursing Department, SSU and Ethics Consultant. Dr. Catlin will
discuss her twelve-year journey to influence the care of dying
newborns, including the technological imperative in the United
States which has demanded that all newborns be resuscitated and
the significant effect that this has had on nurses, physicians,
families, public health, education, and society.
Oct. 10: Healing Through Story,
Listening, and Legacy. Linda Blachman,
MPH, MA, shares her book, Another Morning: Voices of Truth and
Hope from Mothers with Cancer (Seal Press, 2006) which addresses
the plight of ill mothers in an unsupportive culture and presents
their hard-won wisdom for living with courage and hope in the
face of uncertainty. Linda Blachman is a personal historian, life
coach, and consultant in private practice, specializing in the
mental health of women, mothers, and communities. In 1995 she
founded the Mothers’ Living Stories (MLS), a nonprofit project
that helps mothers with cancer record life stories and legacies
for their children.
Oct. 17: Class Discussion: Another
Morning. Come and discuss Linda Blachman’s
book and lecture. Breast cancer affects women of all ages, including
those with young children. What are the cultural barriers mothers
with cancer are challenged with? What changes could be made in
services for mother’s facing cancer?
Oct. 24: Choices in Childbirth.
Constance Sinclair, MSN, CNM, Chief
Nurse-Midwife, Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa will discuss the current
options available to women giving birth and recent trends in the
childbirth services in medical and home settings. Ms. Sinclair
began her career as a midwife in 1985 and has also worked in public
health, emergency care, labor and delivery and as a clinical nursing
instructor. She is also the author of The Midwife’s Handbook,
among many publications.
Oct. 31: What You Need to Know
About Sexually Transmitted Infections. Join us to learn more about
sexually transmitted infections and also learn about the controversial
new vaccination for HPV. Presented by Nichole Cushman
of Planned Parenthood. Nichole is a Bilingual Health Educator
at Planned Parenthood, Shasta-Diablo. Nichole has taught abroad
in Spain and was also given the opportunity to speak at the 2006
Stanford Women’s Leadership Program.
Nov. 7: Positive Aging for Women.
This lecture will deal with some of the latest research in the
field of gerontology that addresses who ages well and why. What
can women do now to prepare for their senior years and make the
most out of them? Shirlee Zane, M.A.,
MFCC, is the Executive Director for the Sonoma County Council
on Aging. Ms. Zane recently received a Leadership Award from the
Sonoma County Medical Association (2005) and the Reverend Coffee
Human Rights Award in December 2005.
Nov. 14: Human Trafficking in
California. Human trafficking is becoming an increasing problem
in the state of California and many of the victims are women and
children. Dr. Amanda Noble will discuss
the Task Force that has been designed to discuss the problems
of human trafficking; report on survey data; and emphasize the
physical and mental health consequences of the victims. Dr. Noble
has a Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Davis and is a researcher for
the Attorney General’s Crime and Violence Prevention Center,
where she specializes in domestic violence and human trafficking
in California.
Nov. 21: Women Serving Women:
Doulas Helping Teen Mothers. Danielle Moreno,
doula, childbirth educator in training, and WGS student at Sonoma
State speaks on the subject of doulas and how doulas offer teen
mothers a helping hand through pregnancy and childbirth. The documentary,
A Doula Story, will be shown after a discussion on doulas.
Nov. 28: TBA
Dec. 5: The Education of Shelby
Knox: A Film Viewing. Shelby Knox, of
Lubbock, TX, is a devout Christian who makes a vow to remain celibate
until marriage, but becomes an unlikely advocate for comprehensive-sex
education, in a town where abstinence-only sex education is highly
praised.
WGS
301 Spring 2006 (pdf)
February 7
Carolyn Laub: "How to Start a
Gay-Straight Alliance"
GSA Network was founded in 1998 to empower youth activists to
start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs and fight homophobia and transphobia
in schools. GSA Network began working with 40 GSA clubs in the
Bay Area during the 1998-99 school year, but the organization
quickly expanded and by 2001 GSA Network became a statewide organization.
In this talk, Carolyn Laub discusses the history and future of
the GSA Network.
Carolyn Laub is the Executive Director of the Gay-Straight Alliance
Network.
February 14
Jim Van Buskirk: "Reversing Vandalism:
Community Responses to a Hate Crime"
In 2001 over 600 vandalized books—on gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender topics, women’s issues, and HIV/AIDS—were
found hidden throughout the San Francisco Public Library. Deemed
beyond repair and withdrawn from the library’s collection,
they were distributed to interested artists and community members.
The wide variety of responses resulted in an exhibition of over
200 original works of art displayed in the main library
Jim Van Buskirk is the Program Manager for the James T. Hormel
Gay & Lesbian Center at San Francisco Public Library.
February 21
Ann Bannon: "From 'Sleaze' to
Classics: The Beebo Brinker Chronicles"
The Beebo Brinker Chronicles take their title from the most famous
of Ann Bannon's characters, the legendary swashbuckling butch,
Beebo Brinker. Bannon’s novels, part of the infamous lesbian
“pulp fiction” genre, reveal the intensity and courage
of gay love in a world that was then unrelentingly hostile. Even
today, the books continue to exert a pull on the heart with their
universal themes and beguiling characters.
Ann Bannon, Ph.D., is the author of several novels including the
classic Odd Girl Out.
February 28
Horacio N. Roque Ramirez: “Gay Latino
Histories/Dying to Be Done”
This lecture will address the state of gay Latino history in the
U.S., the teaching of this history, and the underused strategies
and lack of research projects to document and archive this multigender
social, cultural, and political history.
Horacio N. Roque Ramirez, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of
Chicana and Chicano Studies at UC Santa Barbara.
March 7
Cathy Cade: “The San Francisco Dyke March:
Radical Politics and Our Community Event”
What is the San Francisco Dyke March? For thirteen years this
annual march has occurred without a permit and has become an important
part of San Francisco’s gay pride events. Along with a 15
minute documentary video of the San Francisco Dyke March, Cathy
Cade will talk about the progressive political origins of the
event.
Cathy Cade, Ph.D.,is a photographer and documentary filmmaker.
March 14
James Dean: “Racial Heterosexual Identities:
Black and White Heterosexualities”
Based on 60 in-depth interviews with heterosexual Black and White
men and women, this lecture will examine the ways in which gay
visibility is shaping the lives of Black and White heterosexuals
to both bring attention to the dominant status of their heterosexual
identities as well as how dominant racial codings mark homosexuality
as White and heterosexuality as Black.
James Dean, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at SSU.
March 28
Dora Dome: “Jennifer’s
Complaint: Homophobia and Sports”Last December, the National
Center for Lesbian Rights filed suit on behalf of Penn State basketball
star Jennifer Harris against her former coach because of homophobic
harassment. In this presentation, attorney Dora Dome will discuss
this case as well as her own experiences in the competitive world
of women’s college basketball.
Dora Dome is an attorney and a Board Member of the National Center
for Lesbian Rights.
April 4
LeiLani Nishime: “Queer Theory, Racial
Outing, and Keanu Reeves”
This presentation will analyze the publicity and gossip surrounding
the star persona of Reeves. The furor over Reeves’ sexual
orientation serves to obscure and suppress Reeves’ racial
background. On the other hand, Reeves race refuses to remain hidden
and forgotten, surfacing through the language and rhetoric of
“queer" culture. Ultimately, Reeves provides a prime
example of the intersection of race and sexuality.
LeiLani Nishime, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of American
Multicultural Studies at SSU.
April 11
Loren Cameron: “Transwork – The
Photography of Loren Cameron” Loren Cameron’s photographs
and self-portraits have become beautiful icons of a burgeoning
transgender movement. Heralded as groundbreaking and stunning,
his book Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits has been critically
acclaimed worldwide, receiving numerous awards, including two
Lambda Literary awards. Loren Cameron is the author of multiple
photography books about transgender identity.
April 25
Joshua Gamson: “Be Fabulous: Some Lessons
From the Life of Sylvester, Queen of Disco”
Like very few before him, and quite a few after, Sylvester rode
his marginality right into the mainstream: a star not despite
the boundaries of race, gender, and sexuality he eagerly crossed
but because of them. He embodied a cultural impulse and a simple
set of diva-driven inspirational imperatives; be free; be fabulous;
be real.
Joshua Gamson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology at
the University of San Francisco.
May 2
Ada Jaarsma: “Religious Faith and Perversity:
When Kierkegaard meets Freud”
It is commonplace in queer studies to reject religious questions
as either irrelevant or irredeemably prejudiced towards heterosexist
fundamentalism. Within the current U.S. American climate, this
rejection is understandable and perhaps inevitable. This lecture
will argue for the political and existential importance of reclaiming
religious faith in the name of queer ethics.
Ada Jaarsma, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at
SSU.
May 9
Shannon Minter: “Transgender Rights: Past,
Present & Future” A look at the evolving relationship
of transgender people to the larger gay rights movement and the
emergence of transgender law, including disagreements about who
is transgender, how to define transgender, and how best to advocate
for transgender people. For example, should our goal be to enable
transgender people to fit into existing gender categories or to
challenge the categories themselves?
Shannon Minter is an attorney and the Legal Director for the National
Center for Lesbian Rights.
Return to top
WGS
301 Spring 2005
Queer Lecture
Series schedule for Spring 2004:
Thursdays, 12-12:50 in Carson
20
| Date |
Topic
and Speaker |
| Feb
5 |
The
Emergence of Representational Politics in the Golden Age of the
Lesbian Paperback, 1955-1965. The sexual politics of representation
emerged in a very specific historical context, the 1950s, and
coincided with the two important developments, the birth of the
lesbian paperback novel and the founding of the first lesbian
organization. Dr. Meeker's presentation explores the key personalities
and published works through which the representational politics
of sexuality first were articulated. Martin Meeker, Ph.D.,
is a historian who currently works at UC Berkeley in the Oral
History Program at the Bancroft Library. |
| Feb
12 |
"The
Pull": Successfully Managing the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity,
Gender, and Sexual Orientation People with multiple aspects
of identity often feel a "pull"-am I more this than
that? Experiential and didactic in nature, this workshop will
focus on identity issues for LGBT of color and focus on identity
management strategies, validating the whole person. Richard
A. Rodriguez, Ph.D., is Director of Counseling & Psychological
Services at SSU. |
| Feb
19 |
Having
the Last Laugh: Humor in Lesbian Fiction Examination of the
uses of humor in lesbian novels and short stories, will demonstrate
the ways in which irony, satire, parody, and hyperbole serve as
alternative means of persuasion.Julie Allen, Ph.D., is Professor
of English at Sonoma State University. She is currently teaching
Humor in Lesbian Fiction. |
| March
5 |
The
Gay Vote and Gay Issues in U.S. Politics The public's views
on gay issues have become more and more tied to whether they are
Democrats or Republicans. More than ever, gay voters identify
with the Democratic party, and the Democratic Party with gay rights.
This talk will conclude with a discussion of the implications
of these findings for the gay rights movement in the United States.
Patrick Egan is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the
University of California, Berkeley. |
| March
11 |
Transforming
the Nation: Black History, Queer Politics, and Movement Building
A discussion of the history of conflicts and alliances between
the African American and LGBT movements for justice highlighting
LGBT African American activists in the Civil Rights Movement and
their role in fighting the scapegoating, wedge politics of the
Right in the post-civil rights era. N'Tanya Lee Director of
Youth Policy at Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth and Project
Director of Coleman's youth organizing project, Youth Making Change. |
| March
18 |
TRANSformative
Power: Transitioning from the Personal to the Political Drawing
from his undergraduate thesis on Judith Butler's theory of gender
performativity and his favorite essays by Susan Stryker, KC will
facilitate an exploration of the links between passing and what
it means to BE a gender. Bly is a San Francisco native and
recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz, where he also worked as the
country's the country's first Transgender Programs Coordinator. |
| March
25 |
Ending
Shame, Secrecy, & Unwanted Genital Surgeries for Children
Born with Intersex Conditions Discussing the origins and history
of the Intersexed Movement, Chase outlines some of the issues
associated with supporting intersexed people. Cheryl Chase
is the Executive Director of the Intersex Society of North America.
|
| April
15 |
The
Bradfords Tour America In The Bradfords Tour America, the
filmmakers become Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bradford, a seemingly nice
Christian married couple ... they set out on a cross-country motor
home sojourn, conducting research into what God-fearing, conservative-minded
churchgoers think and say about homosexuals. The unexpurgated
bile of those on the far right is laid out for all to see. Jann
Nunn, co-Writer and Director of The Bradfords Tour America, and
SSU Assistant Professor of Studio Art (Sculpture). |
| April
22 |
Gay
Men's Culture's of the 1970s: Memories, Regrets and Meanings
How did gay men of various races, classes, and locations form
identity and community during the period of 1973-1984? What role
did sex and sex cultures play in the lives of gay men during this
era? How did gay men relate to issues of health, safety, and care
during the decade before the onset of AIDS? Eric Rofes, Ph.D.,
is an Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University. |
Return to top
Women's
Health Lecture Series Fall 2003
Class Schedule & Schedule of Weekly Lectures
Wednesdays, Noon - 12:50 p.m, Rachel
Carson 20.
Sept. 9 Dynamics of Domestic Violence.
Domestic Violence is a persistent and significant problem. What is
the cycle of violence and how does it revolve around issues of power
and control? How can women recognize and flee abusive relationships?
Yuka Kamiishi is a Domestic Violence Family Advocate for YWCA stationed
at the Sonoma Police Department. She is an alumnus of the Women's
and Gender Studies Department at SSU.
Sept. 16 A Feminist Perspective on
Women and Disability. "Character cannot be developed in ease
and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the
soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
(Helen Keller) During this open discussion, we'll talk about what
it means to be a women with a disability and discuss the opportunities
and challenges. We'll also talk about how we can empower ourselves
to be an advocate, and find strength and courage within. Terilynn
Miller-Pennisi is a long-time activist and former board member of
Marin NOW, and is the Employee Relations Representative and ADA Coordinator
for SSU. She is also a Board Member for the Sonoma County Mayors'
Committee for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities.
Sept. 23 Positive Aging for Women.
In less than 15 years the number of seniors will double in the State
of California. How can women grow older, stay healthy, vital and connected
to life? This lecture will deal with some of the latest research in
the field of gerontology that addresses who ages well and why. What
can women do now to prepare for their senior years and make the most
out of them? Shirlee Zane, M.A., MFCC, is the Executive Director for
the Sonoma County Council on Aging. Ms. Zane was awarded the Community
Service Award in Education from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of
Sonoma County for her work in the Latino community.
Sept. 30 Birth Control Options, 2003.
What alternatives are available in birth control and how can we evaluate
which ones are best for each woman? SSU Health Center staff will discuss
the variety of birth control options available at the health center
as well as others.Toni Boracchia, RN and Cyndie Renfrew, FNP of the
SSU Health Center.
Oct. 7 Positively Speaking: Getting
real about HIV. What are the key issues in HIV/AIDS for women? This
presentation will provide up-to-date information regarding HIV and
AIDS prevention and treatment, as well as some personal connections.
Eric Acuna, Health Information Specialist, County of Sonoma Department
of Health Services.
Oct. 14 and 21 Seven Steps to Intuitive
Eating and Natural Weight. How do women learn to eat healthfully?
This two week presentation will be a practical guide to knowing what,
when and how much to eat for your individual needs, and to decoding
the symbolic meanings in eating, food cravings, and body language.
Barbara Birsinger is a Registered Dietitian with a Master's Degree
in Public Health Nutrition from UC Berkeley with over 24 years of
experience in the psychology of eating and weight issues, intuitive
nutrition and health promotion.
Oct. 28 Sour Sugar: Diabetes among
Dine (Navajo) Women. This presentation will explore how shifts in
domestic roles --specifically, who does the majority of the cooking
-- may afford a beneficial effect for Dine (Navajo) women living with
type II diabetes. The talk will include both first-person accounts
as well as survey findings.Carolyn Epple is an Assistant Professor
in the Anthropology Department at SSU.
Nov. 4 Breaking the Intimidation Game:
Self Defense and Survival. Like the Sword of Damocles, the fear of
rape hangs over women's heads their entire lifetime. A group of women
leaving a gathering at night going to their cars is reminiscent of
a flock of scared chickens. Why are women so fearful? Because they
have internalized their fear and do not know how to protect themselves
from violence-they lack power and control over their own lives. Breaking
the intimidation game gives women a very powerful gift-the gift of
personal power and freedom.Judith Fein, Ph.D., black belt in T'ae
k'won do and author of three books on self-defense has conducted self-defense
programs since 1975. Dr. Fein is the founder of The EVOLVE Institute
for Violence Prevention and conducts classes in self-defense at Sonoma
State University.
Nov. 11 Women, Alcohol and Drugs.
Women may have unique phsyiological responses to alcohol and drugs.
This lecture will describe how societal pressures influence the choices
women make. Tammy Cotter is Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention
Specialist at SSU.
Nov. 18 The Five Components of Successful Cancer Recovery. This lecture
will address utilizing a support network, traditional and non-traditional
treatments, attitude, faith based healing in community and goal setting
for optimal recovery. Deborah Corner Newell, MA, MFT, was diagnosed
with metastatic melanoma five years ago. During her third hospitalization
she decided to realize a dream and began granting wishes as "Glinda
the Good Witch" as a way to express gratitude for recovery. Glinda
lectures widely on the topic of cancer recovery in full costume and
grants wishes as part of her presentation.
Nov. 25 To Be Announced
Dec. 2 Choices in Childbirth. What
are the possibilities for a safe and meaningful childbirth experience?
Two doulas will discuss emotional, physical and informational support
during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as advocacy as needed with
hospital staff.Humm Berreyesa and Melanie Campbell are childbirth
educators, certified doulas and birth advocates in Sonoma County.
Dec. 9 Last Class. Discussion and
Evaluation.
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