University Programs Research

Prepared by: Cassidy C Browning

This research investigates the names of academic programs, campus resources and groups, recent course titles, and recent events (conferences, speakers, festivals, etc.) on campuses across the United States and Canada.

Many major universities in metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and L.A., have academic programs specifically dedicated to the investigation of sexuality. Universities with programs addressing gender are much more common, a likely result of the creation - and recent reconfiguring - of Women's Studies programs. Hence, many of these academic programs addressing sexuality are housed within Women's/Gender/Women's and Gender Studies departments and programs. Most of these programs use acronyms including "L," "G," "B," "T," and "Q," while a good amount use only "L" and "G," though their stated foci include bisexual and transgender studies and individuals.

Overall, it seems that institutionally created and/or supported programs and groups use various forms of the ever-expanding acronym (LGBT, GLBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQQ, LGBTQQI . . . ), and student- and faculty-initiated groups (Queer Union, Jewish Queers, Queer People of Color and Allies), classes (Queerly Canadian, Queer Ethnographies, Postcolonial Queer), and events (Reel Queer Film Festival, UCLA Queer Studies Conference) use the term, "Queer." It makes sense that the vast majority of course titles surveyed use "Queer," as this follows the nomenclature of the academic discipline of Queer Studies. Another likely factor informing its use is the charged political (and activist) connotations of the word "queer," especially when compared to the more clinical (and less radical) acronym choices. Finally, it is important to take into account the difference between programs and resources specifically designed to serve LGBT/Queer individuals, and those designed to facilitate the study of LGBT/Queer individuals, cultures, methodologies, etc. The "top-down" programs and groups tend to be support systems created specifically for LGBT/Queer students, faculty, staff and allies, while the "bottom-up" classes and events seem to focus less on the identities and politics of the participants and more on the identities and methodologies being explored, studied, and discussed. As demonstrated with the rampant renaming of Women's Studies programs to Gender Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, etc., a name reflects the subjects, participants, and methodologies. In addition, the growing trend of interdisciplinarity situates queerness as one aspect of identity among many, as one lens within a large collection to be utilized in scholarship and pedagogy.

Note: There also seems to be some slippage between "Q" as "Queer" and "Q" as "Questioning," along with occasional separation of "Intersex," "Transsexual," and "Two Spirit" from the umbrella term, "Transgender."