TO PRAISE OR TO BLAME:
Not so queer happenings
at Kean University
by Nick Mirzoeff
I was called by a Dr. Dennis Klein of Kean University and asked to come and give a talk in his Jewish Studies series on diaspora. The invitation was a result of my edited collection Diaspora and Visual Culture: Representing Africans and Jews. A date was arranged and a contract was sent to me. At this point, Klein asked for a title, which I sent: “Strange Attractors, Strange Perspectives: African-Jewish-Queer Diasporas 1900/2000.” I immediately received an email that announced Kean’s intention of dropping “queer” from the title. I replied that the talk depended upon a tri-partite interaction between these diasporas, as indicated in my book where I published an essay by Alan Sinfield on queer diaspora and myself emphasized RB Kitaj’s inclusion of sexual minorities as a central part of my understanding of diaspora. However, Klein replied that while I could “get away with” mentioning queer issues in the faculty seminar they were not to be brought up in the lecture. When I refused this arrangement he withdrew the invitation on the grounds that I had been invited solely to speak on connections between the African and Jewish diasporas. It should be noted that this was not the case and, in any event, one of the many intersections between these diasporas is of course issues of sexuality. The President of Kean University backed Klein and in a letter to me argued that because I intended to make queer issues “a primary focus” of my talk, it was inappropriate for the series. The most cursory reading of my title suggests that queer is a tri-partite element of my presentation, not the primary one (can there be *a* primary focus?). So it seems very clear to me that the fear of student homophobia at an event that was intended to attract African-American students was the motive for this withdrawn invitation. I myself have no interest in going to Kean University and I encourage others to refuse invitations to speak there, especially in the well funded Jewish Studies program.
(This description of an incident relating to queer studies in academia is intended to become a regular “praise/blame” feature of the newsletter, as part of the political consciousness raising efforts of the Caucus. Submissions should be sent to Jonathan Katz on behalf of the committee.)
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