Durba Mitra, Harvard University
Monday, Sept. 26, 4 pm
WLH 309
Mitra shows how ideas of deviant female sexuality, often named as the “prostitute,” became foundational to modern social thought in and about colonial India. She analyzes a dangerous civilizational logic built on the control and erasure of women’s sexuality.
Sponsored by WGSS
“Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed”
Lisa Duggan, New York University
Thursday, Oct. 24, 5 pm
The massive popularity of Ayn Rand’s cult novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) soared again in the 21st century. Rand fans deployed her work to prescribe more and better neoliberalism. This talk analyzes Rand’s influence among Trump administration officials, Silicon Valley tech moguls, and others.
“The Cruising Project: Conjuring Historical Glimpses of Street Hustling in Rio de Janeiro”
Greg Mitchell, Princeton
Thursday, Feb. 13, 4 p.m.
WLH 309
Using newly found archival records of interviews with street-based male sex workers in Rio de Janeiro conducted in 1990, Professor Mitchell offers rare glimpses of hustling at that time. The interviews illuminate how male hustlers encountered and thought about the spectre of HIV/AIDS as primarily a threat to masculinity rather than health.
Sponsored by WGSS
“From Cradle to Grave: Histories of the Life Course, Histories of Sexuality”
Julie Livingston, NYU
Scott De Orio, Northwestern University
Devin McGeehan Muchmore, Harvard University
February 20, 2020 5pm