2008 Woodie Awards
In continued support of Professor Scott Morgensen and queer studies
By: Tinbete Ermyas, Alexandra Douglas, Bobbi Gass
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Opinion
Since last semester, students have been organizing around Dr. Scott Morgensen's tenure denial. As the timeline for the appeals process comes to a close, we once again want to bring the significance of this decision into the spotlight.
To do so, we would like to respond to the concerns voiced to us that we have organized just because "we like Dr. Morgensen," and that this alone is not reason enough to protest a tenure denial. We do not agree with these statements. The significance of Dr. Morgensen's tenure denial goes beyond his (wonderful) person; a fact which we feel can be demonstrated through a deeper understanding of what "Queer Studies" is and how it relates to the general academy.
Queer studies as a discipline utilizes many frameworks and methods to explore how gender, sexuality, culture, and politics shape the lived experiences of people around the world, meaning ultimately that queer studies is an examination and analysis of systems of power. The discipline goes beyond just the study of sexuality (in the sociological sense), but observes the social practices and norms that construct sexuality as normal or as stagnant. Utilizing frameworks from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences, queer and gender studies have gained prominence on college campuses around the country.
At Macalester, queer studies has found its home in the Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, which included the term "sexuality" in its title beginning in the 2005-2006 school year as a way to bring stronger attention to the ways in which sexuality informs the world in which we live. Since then, the department has cross-listed with many departments and has created an interdisciplinary approach to the study of marginal sexual identities within a transnational framework.
Especially given the nature of queer studies' critique of normative structures/institutions, however, many activists and scholars are concerned about how colleges and universities are valuing interdisciplinary programs such as queer studies, due to the number of recent tenure denials.
To do so, we would like to respond to the concerns voiced to us that we have organized just because "we like Dr. Morgensen," and that this alone is not reason enough to protest a tenure denial. We do not agree with these statements. The significance of Dr. Morgensen's tenure denial goes beyond his (wonderful) person; a fact which we feel can be demonstrated through a deeper understanding of what "Queer Studies" is and how it relates to the general academy.
Queer studies as a discipline utilizes many frameworks and methods to explore how gender, sexuality, culture, and politics shape the lived experiences of people around the world, meaning ultimately that queer studies is an examination and analysis of systems of power. The discipline goes beyond just the study of sexuality (in the sociological sense), but observes the social practices and norms that construct sexuality as normal or as stagnant. Utilizing frameworks from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences, queer and gender studies have gained prominence on college campuses around the country.
At Macalester, queer studies has found its home in the Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, which included the term "sexuality" in its title beginning in the 2005-2006 school year as a way to bring stronger attention to the ways in which sexuality informs the world in which we live. Since then, the department has cross-listed with many departments and has created an interdisciplinary approach to the study of marginal sexual identities within a transnational framework.
Especially given the nature of queer studies' critique of normative structures/institutions, however, many activists and scholars are concerned about how colleges and universities are valuing interdisciplinary programs such as queer studies, due to the number of recent tenure denials.
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Daniel
posted 4/11/08 @ 11:23 AM CST
Yay!!!! Thank you Tinbete, Alex and Bobbi!!!!
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