Lesbian and Queer Historiography

This symposium will highlight the range of methodological approaches currently being devised for writing the history of same-sex love and desire in periods before the emergence of a widely-perceived, distinct homosexual identity. Featuring the scholarship of Laura Doan, professor of cultural history and sexuality studies at Manchester University, England, and Susan Lanser, professor of Women’s Studies, English and Comparative Studies at Brandeis University, along with that of Professor Traub, English and Women’s Studies, the symposium will cross historical periods in an effort to think comparatively about the methodological issues involved in writing a non-identitarian history of sexuality. This event is coordinated by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Lesbian-Gay-Queer Research Initiative, and co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature’s “Year of Comparison.”