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.
LGBTQIA+ Resources
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 Amanda Cefaratti, Assistant Director for Housing Operations, at ACefaratti@clarku.edu.
Gender-Neutral Bathroom List
View a list of gender-neutral bathrooms on Clark’s campus. The Gender-Neutral Bathroom (GNB) Project was spearheaded by Oliver McCormick ’24 and was a continuation of work started by previous student groups.
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.
Staff
E. Tejada III (they/them) serves in the dynamic new position of Associate Director for Gender and Sexuality in the Office for Identity, Student Engagement, and Access. Within their role, they seek to foster just and inclusive practices while advocating for equitable access and support for underrepresented communities. Additionally, their research around Trans inclusive practices on college campuses has shaped their training, presentations, and campus advocacy since 2016. Feel free to reach out to E. for questions, resources, or ways to get engaged with LGBTQIA+ efforts at Clark.
Student Groups and Affinity Spaces
Trans and Gender Diverse Support and Discussion Group
The Trans and Gender Diverse Support and Discussion Group provides an affinity space for those that are trans (binary or non-binary), gender diverse, and/or navigating or questioning aspects of their gender. Each session is co-facilitated by students and staff in seeking to provide access to a trans-inclusive community at Clark.
QTSOC (Queer and Trans Students of Color)
This group provides an affinity space for BIPOC students who are LGBTQIA+ or are questioning their gender and sexuality. We will engage in conversations around intersections of identity, support one another, and build community; each session is co-facilitated by students and staff.
Prism
Prism serves LGBTQIA+ students at Clark and is dedicated to improving support and awareness within the community. Prism holds annual events throughout the school year such as Coming Out Stories, Trans Day of Remembrance, and Pride Prom. Additionally, Prism provides services for students: 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.
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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?
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
Identity, Student Engagement, and Access
Office Location
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1st Floor - 1-508-421-3722
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