The Queer Does NOT End Here

Photo of post-inauguration protest by Johanna Resnick Rosen

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:00:27 -0400

Photo of post-inauguration protest by Johanna Resnick Rosen

Queer beached whales at the Inauguration of Jonathan Lash,...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:41:00 -0400

Queer beached whales at the Inauguration of Jonathan Lash, washed ashore by the waves of uncertain divisional committees. Does Al Gore care about these whales? Or are we just An Inconvenient Queer?

April 27th, 2012

LISTEN TO THE YURT 12-MIDNIGHT!

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:59:00 -0400

Noon to Midnight! Students of color will be talking about race, racial profiling, ethnic studies, and other issues that are happening on Hampshire College Campus.

http://yurt.hampshire.edu/Site/production.html

Email from Dean Alan Goodman, April 23

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:36:00 -0400

Dear “The Queer Does Not End Here,”

Thank you for writing about your concerns regarding the future of Queer Studies at Hampshire. As you know, we have finally begun to build up a Queer Studies program in the last years. We will continue to do so.

We made a number of advances over the past two years. Two hires are worth noting. Recognizing the emergence of Queer Studies over a year ago, and eager to experiment, the deans and I crafted a visiting position during a very tight budget year. We hired Professor Jaclyn Pryor as a half time visiting faculty member in Queer Studies and Public Practice for 2011-2012. The year before, The Five College Deans approved funding for a new position in Feminist Science Studies. Professor Angela Willey also started in this position this AY (2011-2012) and is a recognized expert in Queer Studies. Professor Willey’s permanent position is shared by Hampshire, Mt Holyoke, and UMASS. I worked to make sure that Hampshire shared this permanent faculty position.

This year we have had NYU Law Professor Gabriel Arkles to campus twice to conduct sessions to educate the faculty and administration about gender identity, we have reviewed bathroom signage policy campus wide, and we are currently working on a college policy regarding preferred names and pronoun usage. These efforts are a start and will continue in years to come. I deeply appreciate the collaborative work of the students, staff and faculty on the Transworking Group on the bathroom signage policy and the preferred names and pronoun. Last, the Five College Deans/Chief Academic Officers and Hampshire’s Education Policy Committee recommended and the Hampshire Faculty passed the Five College Queer and Sexuality Studies Certificate.

Next year I also expect the following.

First, Hampshire will continue to explore academic aspects of Queer Studies. I hope that we can use the beginning of the year to continue to educate the community about the diverse intersections of Queer Studies and about the field itself. This exploration might take the form of a series of workshops and lectures. In addition to Professor Willey, many of you have heard that we have hired a Five College Pre-doctoral Fellow, Aniruddha Maitra. Mr. Maitra’s background is in Feminist and Queer Studies, based in a number of fields and theoretical orientations including but not limited to media studies and critical theory within diasporic and transnational frameworks. He will be teach one course, most likely in HACU, offer some public presentations and will be additional full time resource on campus. I do not want to overburden him with committee work, since the main goal is to finish writing his dissertation (a second goal is to familiarize a scholar who would add diversity with teaching at Hampshire). Mr. Maitra may serve on some Division II and Division III committees. He will enrich us and I hope you will warmly welcome him.

Second, the deans are deeply concerned about finding good committees for every student. Each semester, this is one of our greatest challenges in many areas of study. Visiting faculty leave, regular faculty retire, go on leaves and sabbaticals, and sometimes unpredictable life events make it impossible for them to maintain their committee obligations. In each case, CASA, usually by following the leaving faculty member’s recommendations, and in consultation with school deans, helps students to find other advisors and committee members. The process is often upsetting, but it is part of the way Hampshire functions and has been successful. The institution is firmly committed to placing all students who are losing faculty committee members with new members.

Finally, as the deans have written in March, 2012, we are going forward with a permanent position in Queer Studies through an open national search under affirmative action guidelines. A position description will be drafted in the next few weeks. The regular position, pending budget and board approval in May, would allow us to search for the position in 2012-13 with the hope of the successful candidate beginning as our first permanent, full time faculty member in Queer Studies on July 1, 2013.

Warm regards,

Alan

Response to Dean Alan Goodman, April 24

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:36:00 -0400

This was presented to at the end of the student meeting with Alan Goodman on April 24th.

Dear Dean Alan Goodman,

Thank you for your prompt response to our e-mail regarding the status of Queer Studies at Hampshire. We sincerely appreciate the advances the school has made thus far in building up a Queer Studies program. In response to your letter, we have a few specific points we would like to raise.

First, we appreciate your work in securing a permanent position in Feminist Science Studies. However, Professor Willey has expressed that she is a 25% Hampshire faculty, and does not have the capacity take on any new students in the coming year; she was already in full demand her first year working in the Five Colleges (her Hampshire class had a waitlist of 36, she has served on a few Div 2 & 3 committees, as well as advising several independent studies) and therefore should not be expected to take on Professor Pryor’s students.

Second, although we certainly look forward to working with Mr. Maitra and what he has to offer us, he can in no way fill the role of a Queer Studies professor and advisor, capable of examining students in Queer Studies. From our understanding, it is not within the job description of the Five College Pre-doctoral Fellow to serve on committees. Since he cannot replace Professor Pryor on our Div II and III committees, the most pressing concern we have, that of having a chair or member who can examine and advise us in Queer Studies, will not be addressed by his presence.

Third, you assert the institution’s commitment to finding good committee members and chairs for all students. We argue the only feasible way this can be guaranteed for the next academic year is by keeping Professor Pryor on so that her Division III advisees can graduate on time and her Division II students can pass Div II or be passed directly from her hands to the capable hands of the new permanent Queer Studies professor to be hired in July 2013. Several faculty members have expressed that they are already overworked in their formal areas of training, and will not and can not advise the committees that Professor Pryor will be leaving.

Finally, we are ecstatic about the national search process and look forward to participating in any way we can to find the best candidate to fill the permanent Queer Studies position. However, leaving us without a Queer Studies professor or advisor who is capable of serving on our committees for the next year would create a huge rupture in our academic and personal lives.

After weighing our options and engaging with faculty and staff throughout this process, we sincerely believe that offering Professor Jaclyn Pryor a new contract as Visiting Assistant Professor in Queer Studies and Public Practice is the only way for us to seriously continue our Division 2 concentrations and Division 3 projects in Queer Studies. Professor Pryor’s presence on campus has been intellectually stimulating and life transforming for many students who have her on their committees or have taken one of her innovative and immersive classes.

Thank you for your ongoing receptivity, your willingness to hear our voices and your commitment to taking our concerns seriously.

The Queer Does Not End Here

YURT RADIO TAKE OVER BY STUDENTS OF COLOR

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:33:38 -0400

YURT RADIO TAKE OVER BY STUDENTS OF COLOR:

lookatthisfuckinghampster:

Noon to Midnight! Students of color will be talking about race, racial profiling, ethnic studies, and other issues that are happening on Hampshire College Campus.

In Solidarity!

The 10 Most Unique College Majors from March 2011 #9: Queer Studies at Hampshire College

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:49:00 -0400

The 10 Most Unique College Majors from March 2011 #9: Queer Studies at Hampshire College

Letter of Support!

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:47:00 -0400

Thank you to Hamlet for drafting this template!!

CREATE YOUR OWN LETTER FROM A PARENT/GUARDIAN/YOURSELF TO DEAN

Please personalize this to your hearts content…

To whom it may concern:

It has come to my attention that a change in the faculty at Hampshire College may endanger my child’s education. My child, ______________, a Div I/II/III student at Hampshire, is interested in/currently studying Queer Theory/Performance Studies under Dr. Jaclyn Pryor. Dr. Pryor is a member/the chair of my child’s Div II/III committee/My child intends to have Professor Pryor on their Div II/III committee.

Dr. Pryor’s class(es) In a Queer Time and Place/Performing Identity/Intro to Queer Theory/Devised Theatre was a transformative experience [insert more affirmative things here]. It concerns me greatly that the only professor specializing in my child’s area of study is being asked to leave. They are at college to study Queer Theory/Performance Studies, and if they cannot do that next year I may suggest that they transfer to a school that better supports its Queer Studies program and its students.
It is my understanding that Dr. Pryor is exceptionally beloved by her students, that she is actively invested in making Hampshire a safer space for queer and trans* students, and that she engages them academically, politically, and personally. It is upsetting that Hampshire would see such an astounding professor as disposable. I am deeply concerned and hope you reconsider your decision.

Yours/sincerely/gravely/queerly,
Parent name

Queer studies… is it an academic concentration or an...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:29:48 -0400

Queer studies… is it an academic concentration or an admissions marketing ploy?

Ways to get involved in 5 minutes or less

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:24:00 -0400

If you would like Professsor Jaclyn Pryor on your committee for next semester, list her on it on theHub and make the contract viewable by faculty so that the Dean of Faculty Alan Goodman will be able to see how much support she has.

Send e-mails to the Office of the Dean of Faculty. There is a create-your-own form letter, which can come from a parent or from yourself.

Create a 2-3 minute video about what Queer Studies means to you and submit it to thequeerdoesnotendhere.tumblr.com

Reblog this post and spread the word to other Hampshire queers that Professor Pryor MUST stay for next year

"Queer studies offers us one method for imagining, not some fantasy of an elsewhere, but existing..."

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:19:59 -0400

““Queer studies offers us one method for imagining, not some fantasy of an elsewhere, but existing alternatives to hegemonic systems.””

- Jack Halberstam, The Queer Art of Failure

Photo

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:43:56 -0400

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Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:36:24 -0400

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Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:25:04 -0400

Queer Studies Memorial // Zique // Opening Statement

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:09:37 -0400

Queer Studies Memorial // Zique // Opening Statement

More photos of chalking before the memorial by Devyn Manibo.

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:42:00 -0400

More photos of chalking before the memorial by Devyn Manibo.

Photos of chalking before the memorial by Devyn Manibo.

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:40:43 -0400

Photos of chalking before the memorial by Devyn Manibo.

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Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:28:18 -0400

Beautiful photos from the queer studies memorial/speakout...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:22:00 -0400

Beautiful photos from the queer studies memorial/speakout yesterday by the lovely Josh Sugiyama.

LOST: QUEER STUDIES COURSES AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 11:55:00 -0400

Who are these professors? Why have these classes never been taught again? Help us to recover the mystery of these lost courses. Tell us where they have gone.

Queer Fictions of Race (Spring, 2006)
with Keguro Macharia
Tina Turner famously asked, What’s love got to do with it? In the conflicted terrain where race meets sexuality, all too often it seems that love has very little to do with anything. Accusations of racial fetishism and historical erasure jostle against radical queer claims of inclusiveness and free- floating desire. This class attempts to understand how 20th century narratives of race and sexuality complicate one another. We range from personal ads to theoretical reflections on gender and space. Topics covered include exile and deracination, kinship and futurity, space and cruising, and the marketplace of desire. We will read selections from John D’Emilio, Dwight McBride, Judith Butler, and Robert Reid- Pharr; novels by James Baldwin, Lawrence Chua and Tahar Ben Jelloun.

Queer Publics (Spring, 2006)
with Christina Hanhardt
This introductory class will look at queer publics as they have appeared in academic scholarship, social policy, grassroots activism, cultural production, and everyday life over the past fifty years. Central will be an analysis of the contested concepts of identity, community, and change. Topics will include early community histories of lesbians and gay men, the rise of queer theory, ideologies of third world/lesbian feminisms, social science on sexual minorities, experimental art and performance, transgender politics, multi-issue organizing, urban and rural subcultures, and grassroots strategies that ever-expand the terms (i.e. transgender, two-spirit, femme, gender-queer, stud, pan-sexual, butch, questioning, bisexual, gay, lesbian, queer, aggressive, gender non-conforming) of rights and recognition. Readings will be supplemented by discussion of interdisciplinary research methods, and students will be required to conduct semester-long independent research with primary sources or to produce a creative piece. At the end of the class, these works will be brought together to form a class archive of queer publics in history and today.

Queer in Culture (Spring, 2008)
with Kaitlin O’Shea
This course will provide an environment for critical thinking about the production of queer identities beginning at the Stonewall Riots and ending in present day. We will examine the impact of queer identities on social institutions (government & law, family, education, media, history, religion, etc.) and the changes that have occurred as a result of visibility and acknowledgment of queer issues. In addition, we will examine issues pertinent to youth-adolescents and young adults-in the process of defining, processing, and creating queer identities. Through qualitative interviews and analysis, we will come to understand how folks construct queer selves in varying contexts and how first sexual experiences, and the meanings given them, assist in the construction/denial of a queer self. This course is designed for the active participatory learner!

Queer Gender (Fall, 2009)
with Quinn Miller
This class will look at the recent political dimensions and historical emergence of queer gender through an examination of sexual minorities, queer publics, subcultural production, social policy, and the media industries. Asking how the ?gender studies? of transgender studies relates to the diverse ways in which feminist scholars and queer theorists study gender, the course focuses on developments and debates around gender within queer studies, with an additional focus on issues of power, representation, and difference in the study of queer gender. Reading widely in queer and transgender studies, as well as in the overlapping areas of critical race studies, crip theory, queer Marxism, and scholarship on citizenship, we will consider the concept of queer gender in relation to issues of sexual assignment, racism, sexism, political economy, and identity construction.

Introduction to Queer Studies (Spring, 2011)
with Jaclyn Pryor
This course will provide an introduction to queer studies, tracking its emergence and developments since the 1990s, as well as its relation to prior debates in lesbian and gay studies, feminism, and postcolonial theory. That is, we will focus on recent developments in queer theory, queer activism, and cultural production, and read them alongside background and foundational texts, debates, and social movements. We will consider both theory and culture to be our primary texts. We will begin by reading the recent issue of Social Text, “What’s Queer About Queer Theory Now?” (Eng, Halberstam, and Muqoz), move through central theories and debates in the field, and examine recent cultural production, including queer films, television, and performance as sites of resistance and critique. Topics covered include: mass culture and subcultures; representation and visibility; migration and diaspora; trauma; transgender theory; HIV/AIDS; grief and loss; religion and sexuality; queer temporalities; queer space/place; marriage; and human rights.

In a Queer Time and Place: Queer Theory and the Politics of Temporality (Spring, 2012)
with Jaclyn Pryor
In the last decade, the field of queer studies has made a turn towards re-thinking the politics of temporality. From Judith Halberstam’s In A Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives (2005) to Elizabeth Freeman’s Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories (2010), scholars are investigating the ways in which heteronormativity-and related dominant frameworks such as capitalism and colonialism-produce and reproduce an idealized sense of time that is linear and progress-oriented. At the same time, scholars are examing the ways in which LGBTQ subcultures “produce alternative temporalities by allowing their participants to believe that their futures can be imagined according to logics that lie outside of those paradigmatic markers of life experience-namely, birth, marriage, reproduction, and death” (Halberstam 1). How do queers queer time-through sex, art, gender, ritual, and kinship? Why do the politics of temporality matter at this historical moment? In this course, we will read recent scholarship in queer studies and look at case studies within queer subcultural practices and production. Attention will be paid to the politics of space/place as they relate to time, including notions of citizenship, migration, and diaspora.

EDIT: Quinn Miller’s name was changed in this document in order to respect his preferred name, which has been blatantly disregarded in official Hampshire College media.