CMLT 132
Sexuality and Textuality
The course serves as an introduction to gay and lesbian studies and queer theory from the perspective of literature in an international and intercultural context.
Clark University values and supports its LGBTQIA+ community members — students, faculty, and staff. On this page, you will find information and resources to help you navigate your Clark experience, on campus and beyond. Stay tuned for more information regarding future programming and other initiatives.
University Policies
RLH Gender-Inclusive Policy
All students in University housing may select to live with a roommate of a different gender in accordance with the gender-inclusive housing policy. Additionally, all gendered spaces are assigned based on students’ self-identified gender.
Want to know more? Contact Drew Melendez, Assistant Director of Housing Operations, at DMelendez@clarku.edu.
Gender-Neutral Bathroom List
View a list of gender-neutral bathrooms on Clark’s campus. The Gender-Neutral Bathroom (GNB) Project s spearheaded by Oliver McCormick ’24, the founder and president of Queer Students for Education and Liberation (QSEL).
Name Change Process
Clark recognizes that some community members wish to use a first name other than a legal first name to identify themselves. We will display a preferred first name in place of your legal first name in many, but not all, internal systems and reports.
Student Groups
QTSOC (Queer and Trans Students of Color)
QTSOC supports students in exploring the intersectionality in their lives with a particular focus on race, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Some examples of activities include discussing power and privilege through current events or the Clark context; identifying resources, community members, and events that allow support; story sharing to build community; and learning about our histories. Contact aa_ace@clarku.edu for more information.
Prism
Prism serves the lesbian, gay, transgender, intersex, and queer students of Clark University and their partners. Prism members are dedicated to improving support and awareness in both the Clark community and all over the globe, holding events throughout the school year such as Coming Out Stories, Pride Prom, and our Week of Awareness. Community-building is central to our group, and we serve as a resource center with information, a queer library, clothing swap, and a binder exchange.
Queer History at Clark
Clark University was on the forefront of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s. A course on the subject, one of the first in the country, was offered in 1975; a student group also was active that year, and the University hosted a major conference in gay studies in 1976. “Queering Clark,” a 2019 exhibit, highlighted Clark’s LGBTQIA+ heritage from the 1970s to the present. Moving forward in 2021, Screen Studies Professor Rox Samer brought micha cárdenas, Zackary Drucker, and Chris E. Vargas to campus for the Higgins School of Humanities event on “Trans Media and Its Futures.”
Angela Bowen, M.A. ’94, Ph.D. ’97, a well-known Black American lesbian, feminist, activist, and dancer, earned the first doctorate in women’s studies at Clark.
“Gay at Clark,” an illustration published in May 1986 in The Alternative, a Clark student newspaper.
William Koelsch, M.A. ’59, professor emeritus in Clark University’s Graduate School of Geography and author of “Clark University, 1887-1987: A Narrative History,” returned to campus in 2019 to deliver a talk, “The Revenant Returns: A Tale of Gay Liberation.”
Professor Robert Deam Tobin was awarded a Key to the City of Worcester for his work on “LGBTQ+ Worcester — For the Record,” a 2019 Worcester Historical Museum exhibit that documented and celebrated the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Worcester County.
Professor Robert Tobin (seated, center) receives the Key to the City of Worcester at the MB Lounge on Jan. 26 with Stephanie Yuhl of Holy Cross, left, and Joseph Cullon of WPI. Standing at left: Worcester City Councilor Khrystian King.
Professor Robert Deam Tobin (standing, back left) and his students in Goddard Library’s Rare Book Room, conducting research for “LGBTQ+ Worcester - For the Record.”
Professor Emeritus William Koelsch, who founded the University’s Archives, shown in the stacks of Goddard Library during his time at Clark.
English Professor Elizabeth Blake publishes in the field of queer studies and teaches classes on gender and sexuality, including Queer Literature. Her current book project, In the Mouth: Modernism and the Queering of Eating, demonstrates that scenes of eating in modernist literature are sites of queerness, depicting and enacting a kind of pleasure that exceeds normative models.
Screen Studies Professor Rox Samer has published transgender media studies, and their book, Lesbian Potentiality and Feminist Media in the 1970s, is forthcoming with Duke University Press. In addition to teaching courses on trans and queer media studies, they have brought numerous trans and queer guest speakers to campus, including the lesbian filmmaker Su Friedrich, transgender media studies scholars Cáel M. Keegan and Laura Horak, and, for the spring 2021 Trans Media and Its Futures Higgins event, micha cárdenas, Zackary Drucker, and Chris E. Vargas. (Photo by Stephen DiRado)
Stories of LGBTQIA+ Community and Research at Clark
Clark Holds Lavender Celebration
Class of 2021 Senior Week activities include Clark’s second annual Lavender Celebration
The State of Transgender Media
Higgins School event includes nationally renowned guests for panel discussion on present and future state of transgender media
Bill Koelsch recalls his youth, and his truth
Professor emeritus discusses his journey as a gay man in the 1950s, ’60s
First-of-its-kind trans studies encyclopedia
Professor Goldberg’s work takes interdisciplinary, intersectional approach
Robert Tobin awarded Key to the City of Worcester
Professor honored for preserving stories of ‘marginalized and unrecognized’ communities
Exploring the meanings of modernism
Professor Elizabeth Blake’s research and teaching focuses on modernism, also specializes in food, gender, and sexuality studies
Related Courses
SCRN 288
Gender and Film
This course will explore how cinema has participated in the construction, deconstruction, and reimagining of gender across its history, reading examples of early feminist film theory.
HIST 212
History of Sexuality
Covers the history of sexuality from 1750-present focusing on Western Europe. Examine how different societies and times determined what was licit and illicit sexual behavior.
ENG 139
Queer Literature
From the coded sighs of “the love that dare not speak its name” to the out and proud writers of the present moment, this course traces a non-linear history of literary engagement with queerness.
GERM 230
The German Discovery of Sex
In this course, we will investigate the emergence of modern sexual discourses in the nineteenth-century German-speaking world.
PSYC 143
Human Sexuality
This course examines contemporary knowledge and attitudes towards human sexuality, relying on theoretical and empirical psychological research.
ENG 264
Queer Victorians
The Victorian period was full of writers addressing what we now consider themes of “queer” sexuality and gender. Often, however, these themes have gone unrecognized.
CMLT 233
Sexuality and Human Rights
What happens when we think of sexuality, with all of its transgressive and individualistic energies, in terms of rationally established universal human rights?
Local Partners
Queer Coalition for Greater Worcester
Founded by Love Your Labels, the Queer Coalition for Greater Worcester represents the best interests of the LGBTQIA+ community and recognizes the need for support, visibility, and representation for queer and trans people to realize a vision for the region that is diverse, inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and prosperous.
History and Design of Pride Flags
Original Rainbow Flag
First unfurled at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978, the flag was designed by Gilbert Baker.
Progress Pride Flag
Designed in 2018 by Daniel Quasar, a five-colored chevron places a greater emphasis on inclusion and progression.
Intersex-Inclusive Pride Flag
Created by media personality Valentino Vecchietti, this flag includes yellow and purple to represent intersex communities.
Celebrate Pride
Join the Clark community in celebrating Pride throughout the year! Download virtual backgrounds or pick a frame to add to your social media profile.
Contact Information
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Office Location
-
Dana Commons
1st floor, Suite 2 - 1-508-793-7350
- odi[at]clarku[dot]edu