Dr. Stephen Vider, “The Queerness of Home: Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of Domesticity after World War II”
Tues. Feb. 22, 7-8:30 pm, EST
From the Stonewall riots to the protests of ACT UP, histories of queer and trans politics have almost exclusively centered on public activism. In his new book, The Queerness of Home, Stephen Vider turns the focus inward, showing that the intimacy of domestic space has been equally crucial to the history of postwar LGBTQ life. Beginning in the 1940s, LGBTQ activists looked increasingly to the home as a site of connection, care, and cultural inclusion. They struggled against the conventions of marriage, challenged the gendered codes of everyday labor, reimagined domestic architecture, and contested the racial and class boundaries of kinship and belonging. In this talk, Vider will explore some of the ways that LGBTQ activists have worked to rethink and remake home, and its significance for how scholars think about the politics of domesticity and everyday life.
To register and receive Zoom link: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WOCQ8xdzQTGYa-6flXix-g
Dr. Jennifer Brier speaking about her online exhibit I’m Still Surviving
Tues. Apr. 5, 7-8:30 pm, EST
Dr Brier works on the History of the American political response to the AIDS Crisis, something we find our students are curious about but have not often had the chance to learn about or discuss in their high school classes. Her book Infectious Ideas: US Political Response to the AIDS Crisis (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) argued that AIDS provides the perfect lens through which to see the complex social and political history of the 1980s and 1990s. As a public historian, she has also curated the award-winning exhibition Out in Chicago at the Chicago History Museum. She brings this expertise to a discussion of her ongoing oral history project about women’s experiences in the history of HIV/AIDS, I’m Still Surviving.
To register and receive Zoom link: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8Rc3bOOGTgSQfVJ_Bby3Bg
Note: the events are scheduled as webinars, but everyone attending will be able to appear in the Zoom and participate if they wish. Registration is required, but those wishing to attend may register any time, even as the event is starting, and will receive a Zoom link via email. The talks are part of Dr. Laura Lovett’s graduate seminar in GSWS, and we’ve been inviting alums for whom we have contact info.