UC's 2007 Ropes Lecture Series Theme Writing Sex'

For UC's Department of English and Comparative Literature, the annual Ropes Lecture Series is the highlight of winter quarter. Named after Cincinnati industrialist Nathaniel Ropes, whose endowment to the University of Cincinnati funds the program, the Ropes Lecture Series brings a collection of prominent writers and scholars to campus to present public lectures, take part in panel discussions, and participate in graduate classes on both the master’s and doctoral levels, all focused on a unifying theme.

Writing Sex
This year’s theme is “Writing Sex” — an introduction to the study of the representation of sexuality in a wide variety of literary forms. Drawing energy from lesbian and gay studies and from queer theory, “Writing Sex” casts a critical gaze over the construction and representation of all sexualities, not just queer ones. In the process of studying the representation of sex and sexuality, the hope is to learn more about one of the most important dimensions of how contemporary Western individuals define themselves, both individually and collectively.

Public Lectures
Jan. 9: David Halperin, whose lecture is titled “What Do Gay Men Want? Sex, Risk and the Subjective Life of Homosexuality.”
Jan. 16: Scott Heim, “When Personal is Too Personal: Confessing in Fiction Without Alienating the Audience”
Jan. 30: David Román, “Archival Drag”
Feb. 7: Judith Halberstam, “Transbiology: Penguin Love, Doll Sex and the Spectacle of the Non-Reproductive Body”
Feb. 27: Mary Gaitskill, “The Nasty Bits: A Last Dab of Color.”

All the lectures, which are free and open to the public, begin at 8 p.m. in ERC 427.  For more information, contact Jonathan Alexander at (513) 556-6173.

About the Ropes Lecture Series
Organized around a unifying theme, the Ropes Lectures focus on each year’s Ropes theme, in which students focus on readings around the series topic. The series supports the modern and contemporary literature graduate programs and provides a unique opportunity for students to interact with leading figures in certain areas of study. Past topics have included “Science, Technology, and the Future of Literature,” “Literature and the Public Intellectual,” “Race and Culture,” and “Stowe and Twain: Repressing America.” Featured speakers and classroom guests have included Andrew Ross, Richard Powers, Robert Coover, E.L. Doctorow, Christopher Hitchens, Francine Prose, Noel Ignatiev, Caryl Phillips, Bharati Mukherjee, Michael Cunningham, and Shelley Fisher Fishkin. For information regarding upcoming speakers and events, please visit the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences' Web site.
 
The Ropes 2007 Lecture Series is sponsored by the Nathaniel P. Ropes Endowment and the Department of English and Comparative Literature, McMicken College of Arts & Sciences.