Language matters. It mattered 50 years ago at the advent of Cornell University’s Women’s Studies program and in 1995 when its LGBT Studies program was established. How we — both as citizens and academics — articulate the categories on which these programs are built drives what we study and how we advocate.

In this webinar, four generations of trailblazing scholars and students from Cornell’s Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS) program will tackle how evolving characterizations of gender shape and affect the pursuit of social justice. Our intergenerational panel will consider these crucial questions: What do sexuality and gender mean today, for whom, and under what conditions? How have these meanings shifted over time and space? And what are the implications — for academia as well as activism — of how we define feminism and queer studies?
What You'll Learn:

The history of Cornell's LGBT Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS) programsHow positionality — our personal views, values, and location in time and space — shape how we conceptualize gender and sexuality, and how those subjectivities intersect with race, religion, class, and other aspects of identityThe effects of queer and feminist activism on the continued pursuit of social justice
Guest Speakers:
Biddy Martin, founding member of the Cornell LGBT studies program, former provost at Cornell, and currently president of Amherst College

Ezra Young ‘09, visiting assistant professor at Cornell Law School, and founding board member of the National Trans Bar Association

Naiara Bezarra-Gastesi ‘21, Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies major

Ximena Sanchez ‘22, Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies minor and author of "Transpropaganda"

The discussion will be moderated by Durba Ghosh, professor of history at Cornell and former director of FGSS.

The event will be hosted on the Ithaca Cornell University campus in room 401, Physical Sciences Building.

In-person participation is invited; virtual attendance is also welcome. Registration is required to attend.

REGISTER NOW to gain access to this free event.