Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 14, 2003|Volume 31, Number 18

Jonathan D. Katz (standing), executive coordinator of the Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies, is pictured with Jonathan Ned Katz, who this spring is teaching a course on "Lesbian and Gay American History" at Yale.

Katz and Katz bringing talents to Kramer Initiative programs

The Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies (LKI) has moved into high gear under the guidance of its executive coordinator, Jonathan D. Katz.

LKI was founded last year with a $1 million gift in honor of author and activist Larry Kramer, which was donated by his brother, Arthur. At the same time, Larry Kramer donated his papers to the University, and they are housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Established to promote the development of Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, it is one of only a handful of such programs at major research universities.

Katz, who also has appointments in the Program in Women's and Gender Studies and the Department of the History of Art, has launched a number of initiatives since arriving on campus in August. These include a Lesbian and Gay Studies reading group, a bi-weekly lecture series (see related story, below) and a monthly works-in-progress writing group. Currently, Katz is working with the American Studies Program to sponsor a joint conference to be held in the fall of 2003 -- the first of many such joint academic endeavors Katz expects to develop between the initiative and other, more traditional Yale academic programs and departments. Katz is also leading the effort to organize student lesbian and gay organizations into a single campus administrative body.

In addition, LKI very soon will launch a comprehensive lesbian and gay website and publish a booklet delineating lesbian and gay student life at Yale. The initiative -- through its work with the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, the umbrella organization under which LKI is housed, and in conjunction with the Program in Women's and Gender Studies, the academic home for Lesbian and Gay Studies -- is currently in the middle of searches for two visiting teaching positions, a one-year senior visiting professorship and a two-year junior position, for the fall of 2003.

Katz was the first tenured Lesbian and Gay Studies professor in the United States in his capacity as founding chair of the Department of Lesbian and Gay studies at City College of San Francisco. He is founder and former chair of the Queer Caucus of the College Art Association, a professional association of artists and art historians. He also founded the Harvey Milk Institute, now the largest arts and culture institute of its kind in the world, and co-founded the activist group Queer Nation. A former fellow in the Sexuality Research Fellowship program of the Social Science Research Council, Katz is the author of numerous accounts of such artists as John Cage, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Keith Haring and Robert Rauschenberg, and has served as a curator for shows of their works. His new book, "The Homosexualization of American Art During the Cold War," is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.

LKI visiting professor

This spring LKI, with the guidance of the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, has hired Jonathan Ned Katz, an independent scholar and historian of sexuality, to teach a new class called "Lesbian and Gay American History: Introduction to Research and Analysis." Research from the class, which will focus primarily on Yale's own history, will later be used for an exhibition.

Widely considered one of the founders of the field of Lesbian and Gay Studies, Jonathan Ned Katz is author of "Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality," "The Invention of Heterosexuality" and "Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A." He has won international prizes for these works, including this year's Yale Brudner Prize for outstanding work in Lesbian and Gay Studies.

LKI sponsoring spring lecture series

The Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies (LKI) is sponsoring a series of talks this spring, which are free and open to the public.

The series began with talks by film director David Weissman, LKI director Jonathan D. Katz and artist Robert Gober.

A listing of upcoming talk titles and speakers in the series follows. Unless otherwise indicated, talks will be held in Rm. 309 of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St.

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 4 p.m. -- "Writing 'Lesbian Nation.'" Jill Johnston, one of the leading architects of lesbian liberation in the 1970s, will discuss her book. Co-sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program.

Thursday, March 6, 4 p.m. -- "In Bed with Proust." Princeton professor Diana Fuss will discuss what the novelist's bed chamber might reveal about him.

Wednesday, March 26, 7:30 p.m. -- "The Gay Question in France: The Struggle for Domestic Partnership." Writer and journalist Frédéric Martel will speak about the controversy over domestic partnerships in France. Co-sponsored by the French Department and Outlaws.

Thursday, March 27, 4 p.m. -- "Globalizing Literary Studies and Women's Sexuality." Santa Clara University professor Linda Garber looks at whether women are adequately represented in the field of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature.

Wednesday, April 2, 5 p.m. -- The Annual Brudner Prize Lecture: "Our Struggle for a History of Sexualities." Visiting professor Jonathan Ned Katz will talk about the fight during the last quarter-century against an ahistorical idea of sexuality.

Tuesday, April 15, 4:30 p.m. -- "Homosexuality after Fascism." Michigan State University professor Dagmar Herzog will offer an analysis of the rapid development of post Nazi gay and lesbian liberation, culminating in Germany's decision to authorize lesbian and gay marriage. Co-sponsored by the German Department.

For more information about the lecture series, contact the LKI at (203) 432-7737 or by e-mail at lgs@yale.edu.

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