To mark the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ studies at the university, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of English is sponsoring a series of events, beginning at 5 p.m., Sept. 30, with a staged reading titled, “Proseminar in Homophile Studies: A Portrait in Academic Freedom,” in the Swanson Auditorium in the Nebraska Union.
In 1970, only a year after the Stonewall Riots, the English Department at Nebraska offered “Proseminar in Homophile Studies,” a course that was challenged by members of the Board of Regents, attacked in legislative hearings by state senators, and defended by university administration. The course paved the way for the development of LGBTQ Studies around the world.
English faculty past and present will read excerpts from the archives of Louis Crompton, the professor who developed the nation’s first LGBTQ Studies course to ever be offered as part of a university’s regular course catalog, and the first LGBTQ course to be taught by an openly gay scholar. This historic course, and Crompton’s activism, led the way for UNL’s distinction today: the university with the longest continuously running LGBTQ Studies programming in the United States.
The reading will be followed by a question and answer with Barbara DiBernard, author of the evening’s script.
This event is part of 50 Years of LGBTQ Studies at UNL, a program recognizing UNL’s historic role in the development and promotion of LGBTQ literature and scholarship.
