SAMUEL R. DELANY Mumbi Kanyago Thesis Pete Sigal on the Right and Samuel R
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DUKE Summer 2019 Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies www.gendersexualityfeminist.duke.edu Inside Director’s Column PAGE 2–3 Tribute to Retiring Professor Elizabeth Grosz Feminist Philosopher and Legendary Teacher PAGE 4–5 The Annual Queer Theory Lecture Congratulations to the Gender, Sexuality & Feminist in honor of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Studies Class of 2019 PAGE 7 BIRTHDAY AND CONVERSATION WITH Remembering Margaret Taylor Smith PAGE 8 SAMUEL R. DELANY Mumbi Kanyago Thesis Pete Sigal on the right and Samuel R. Delany on the left. “Tweeting Freedom” PAGE 9 by: Maggie McDowell Senior Stories PhD Candidate, Department of English PAGE 10–12 Duke University Where in the world are 2018 Travel Awardees PAGE 13–15 During this year’s Annual Queer Theory experience, are in conversation with and a Duke on Gender Colloquium Lecture in Honor of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, provocation to Sedgwick’s initial contributions PAGE 16 Samuel R. Delany generously shared his to the field. birthday with a full house. Before “Chip” Certificate in Feminist Studies Delany and Professor Peter Sigal took to Professor Sigal noted the importance of Graduates Dissertation Abstracts inviting Delany given recent tendencies in PAGE 17–21 the stage, Professor Gabriel Rosenberg reminded those assembled that the event queer theory to move beyond explicitly sexual Restored honors Sedgwick’s “incisive and provocative” discourse. Delany’s life and work bring us back PAGE 22–23 contribution to queer theory. Chip and Dr. to the heart of the questions the field initially Fall 2019 Courses Sigal’s conversation, fluidly moving from asked. His readers will know that Delany’s PAGE 24 a retrospective analysis of Times Square fiction and nonfiction alike foreground queer Red, Times Square Blue, to nail biting, to a sex as a political act. Specifically,Times frank assessment of contemporary politics, Square Red, Times Square Blue centralizes reminded us of the extent to which Delany’s open discussion of those practices that literary and academic work, and his lived continued on page 6 The GSF faculty is an exceptionally talented and dedicated group of Director’s teachers and scholars, from whom COLUMN I have learned so much. Looking back on my four-year term as Emerging out of activist challenges to Margaret Taylor Smith Director of the the knowledge produced in traditional Program in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist disciplines that perpetuated the Studies reminds me of looking back at the subordination of women, the field quickly trail after a beautiful mountain hike. I think of developed its own multi-disciplinary the magnificent spots I have passed through methods of inquiry and theories about the or rested in along the way, of the challenging world focusing on how normalized gender patches without that added richness, and roles and sexuality reproduce masculinist the terrific companions who made the power structures. The late Ernestine Friedl, journey so rewarding. The GSF faculty is the first female Dean of Arts and Sciences an exceptionally talented and dedicated and Trinity College (1980-85), instigated group of teachers and scholars, from whom Duke’s Program in Women’s Studies under I have learned so much. I also had the great the brilliant leadership of Jean O’Barr, privilege of getting to know the amazing who inspired faculty across the campus to philanthropist Margaret Taylor Smith, who develop an exciting interdisciplinary field endowed the directorship of GSF. From our and transform the curriculum campus-wide. conversations, I learned about the history Bringing her expertise in feminist and queer of the program and the spirit in which it theory, Robyn Wiegman inaugurated the was founded, but also had the opportunity only annual event featuring work specifically to engage a rare and exquisitely observant in feminist theory—the Feminist Theory by: Priscilla Wald mind. Margaret died in November, and I am Workshop, now in its thirteenth year— Margaret Taylor Smith grateful to have known her, to have been thereby establishing Duke as a leader in that Director of Gender, Sexuality touched by her wisdom and the inspiration burgeoning field. Ranjana Khanna enhanced and Feminist Studies of her generous spirit the intellectual culture of the field both on campus and beyond with such programs as The program I joined as chair in the summer Inprint and Preprint, featuring the published of 2015 was not GSF, but Women’s Studies. and in-progress work of Duke faculty in The name change reflects the dynamism of the field, and themed years including an evolving field of study and represents post-doctoral fellows and short-term the work being done by the GSF faculty and distinguished visitors. students. It is in keeping with similar changes in the names of programs and departments I inherited a thriving program with an worldwide, and it’s exciting to consider how international reputation and deeply both the field and GSF have evolved. committed core and secondary faculty. 2 Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Newsletter | SUMMER 2019 With the graduate certificate in feminist of a Sexuality Studies board and speakers studies—the largest graduate certificate in series and a year-long collaboration with Arts and Sciences—flourishing under the the Franklin Humanities Institute to develop directorship of Ara Wilson, we set the further programming in Trans studies, co-run by development of undergraduate, community, Gabriel Rosenberg and Ara Wilson as part of and campus outreach as goals for the the FHI’s Humanities Futures series. coming years. We established a bi-monthly lunch meeting—Gender Wednesday, the I’ve loved seeing the marvelous creative brainchild of then Director of Undergraduate research of our undergraduate majors, Studies Kathy Rudy—featuring invited evident in their portfolios (a delight to speakers from Duke, Durham, and beyond read!) and in the excellent presentations of discussing how feminism inflects their honors theses, including such topics as the work. Each year starts with a wonderful regulation of black women’s reproduction, (and always very well attended) panel medical decision making, reproductive of graduating seniors from the Baldwin surrogacy in India, women and coding, Scholars Program who share what they wish fast tail girls, Latinx poetics, tweeting and they had known as first year students. I have politics, feminism and birth control, feminist enjoyed hearing about how feminism has storytelling and political change, breast inspired rich professional, political, and cancer science and stories, and women cultural work on and off campus from the and Santeria. Two undergraduate majors— owner of a local meadery, career political Lauren Bunce and Mumbi Kanyogo— organizers and alternative educators, received Faculty Scholars Awards (in 2017 feminist lawyers and medical professionals, and 2018 respectively), the highest award dancers, choreographers and filmmakers, given by faculty to Duke undergraduates at the mayor and mayor pro tem of Durham the end of their junior year. (a former Duke Women’s Studies minor), The past four years witnessed exciting and many more. It has been exciting to see faculty developments as well, with the the outreach of this program, now run by promotions to tenure of Kimberly Lamm Juliette Duara, to the Duke and Durham and Gabriel Rosenberg and to Full Professor communities. of Kathi Weeks. Kim and Kathi were also Elizabeth Grosz and Anna Krylova started both awarded the prestigious Robert B. the Duke on Gender Colloquium to Cox Award for excellent in teaching, in 2018 showcase the innovative research in the and 2017, respectively. We are delighted field happening across the campus. Now to welcome Patrice Douglass to the faculty run by Anna and Frances Hasso, the series, following a search in Black Feminism. which features one or more Duke faculty It has been a joy and a privilege to have members and their chosen interlocutors, directed GSF, and I am eager to participate has built intellectual community around the in the continuing development of the multi-disciplinary and transnational study of Program under the leadership of Jolie gender, sexuality, and feminism. Olcott. The incorporation of sexuality studies into the major brought a number of innovations, including the development www.gendersexualityfeminist.duke.edu 3 Tribute to Retiring Professor ELIZABETH GROSZ FEMINIST PHILOSOPHER AND LEGENDARY TEACHER Faculty and students wish a happy retirement at Rutgers University, where she worked in the to our Jean Fox O’Barr Professor, Elizabeth Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Grosz who joined Duke’s Gender, Sexuality and an illustrious career teaching at Monash and Feminist Studies Program, formerly the University, the University of Bergen, Norway, Women’s Studies Program in Spring 2010. the University of Technology, Sydney, Known for her study of French philosophers Australia, the University of California-Santa and feminists, and her writings on the Cruz, Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard body, science, sexuality, space, time, and University. materiality, Liz came to Duke after ten years Elizabeth Grosz is a poet. She would be surprised to hear that, I suspect, and I don’t mean she has published poetry (although I would not be surprised). A feminist philosopher with one of the most expansive and incisive minds I have yet encountered, she has an extraordinary capacity for synthesis and breadth, but she approaches the grand ideas of philosophy with a poet’s attention to detail: the word, the image, the nuance. She is fluent in the language of the cosmos. Priscilla Wald As much as my schedule would permit, I attended her classes, watching her move seamlessly from the Margaret Taylor Smith microscopic to the telescopic, from the detail to the structure, from the tangible to the ethereal. Students Director of Gender, Sexuality were invariably captivated, but not intimidated. She welcomed as she inspired: her class was a place to and Feminist Studies discover one’s passions through the contagious example of someone who wants nothing more than to work Duke University toward insight.