Coming out of the closet and announcing your sexual orientation is a process that affects and impacts individuals in very different and specific ways. This process of coming out can be both positive and negative depending greatly on the circumstances and the audience. For some professors who are teaching in the classroom, one constant stressor can be the continual struggle of the repetitive sharing and opening of one’s sexual orientation with new students. This process may change with the content being taught by the professor, however, it is a process that can have very specific repercussions depending on the space and time occupied by that individual who chooses or is forced to “come out” in the classroom.
But what if you were a faculty member? Should coming out to students even be a choice? Is there a place for coming out to ones students at all? What are some possible repercussions/responses/attitudes to faculty members coming out in the classroom? Is an individual's choice to come out one that has to take into account college/university policies, the institution's denominational affiliation, and/or the communities surrounding and being served by the institution? What about the discipline in which you teach - how can what you teach students lead to a 'need' to come out in the classroom? Should coming out to students be legislated by the administration, departments, or even colleagues? Is the experience different and more complicated as you consider racial/ethnic, class background, and gender composition of students and faculty?
We are seeking ethnographic essays that focus on the experience(s) of LGBTQ faculty of color coming out, or choosing not to come out, in the classroom. While you are the subject of the essays, you should also be able to engage academic approaches to the analysis of your own experiences. Submissions are opened to all disciplines and types of institutions.
If interested, please send a 250 word abstract and short bio. A 15-20 page essay should be sent electronically by October 1, 2011 to emoralesdiaz@wsc.ma.edu
Dr. Enrique Morales-Díaz
Associate Professor of Spanish, Ethnic & Gender Studies
Chair, Liberal Studies
Westfield State University
Westfield, MA 01086
413-572-8193
Contact Information:
For inquiries: emoralesdiaz@wsc.ma.edu
For submissions: emoralesdiaz@wsc.ma.edu
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