Jonathan Alexander

On February 8, 2010, Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, stepped onto a stage at the University of California-Irvine (UCI) to deliver a speech sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the School of Law. A few minutes into the presentation, Oren was interrupted by an audience member who stood and yelled, "Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech."1 The protestor, a member of the UCI Muslim Student Union (MSU), then voluntarily left the meeting and was arrested by local police. More disruptions followed, as MSU members and supporters stood and loudly declaimed a mix of prepared and spontaneously composed sentences that challenged Israel's role in the occupation of Palestine and the legality of Oren's own participation in military actions. The protestors, labeled the "Irvine 11," were arrested, the organization was disciplined by the university, and months later, ten of the group were prosecuted...

The article describes and analyzes the exclusion of LGBT content in composition courses by reporting on a study of how queerness is (and is not) incorporated into first-year writing courses. The authors critically examine the presence or absence of LGBT issues in ...

In this interview for the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Kinsey Male report, Kinsey Institute director emeritus Dr. John Bancroft answers questions about Alfred C. Kinsey's research on bisexuality, compares the Kinsey Scale and Klein Grid and considers Kinsey's continued ...

The article describes and analyzes the exclusion of LGBT content in composition courses by reporting on a study of how queerness is (and is not) incorporated into first-year writing courses. The authors critically examine the presence or absence of LGBT issues in ...

... productively from the emerging fields of sexuality studies and even queer theory, paying particu-lar attention to the experiences of gays, lesbians, and even bisexuals as writers and subjects of writing, only minimal attention has been paid to transgendered or transsexual ...

ABSTRACT In this personal essay, the authors reflect on their work as activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trangender rights and their attempts to nourish such activism through a Buddhist understanding of mindfulness about the suffering of self and other. Although many figure activism as a kind of ‘combat’ and ‘fight’ for equality, the authors want to understand the potential cost of vengeful and poisonous thinking about the other, even when having to show those others how they inflict suffering through prejudice. The authors conclude with some strategies for mindful activism that places the care of the self and mindfulness about all of our suffering at the center of activist practice.

ABSTRACT SUMMARY Lesbian, gay, lesbian-identified bisexual-what do we call women who have sex with other women? What about the character "Ellen," played by actor/comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who identifies as gay but has not (yet?) slept with a woman? Can she legitimately call herself gay? More significantly, what exactly is a "legitimate" lesbian? Further, what does the Ellen show tell the millions who viewed the "coming out episodes" about lesbianism? Ellen provides an interesting, and highly public, test-case for these questions. This essay will examine three texts: (1) the three "coming-out" episodes, (2) the coverage in the popular press, and (3) the coverage in the queer press. We critique the ways in which the straight and gay communities interpret lesbian identity via their representation of the character "Ellen."

ABSTRACT SUMMARY Lesbian, gay, lesbian-identified bisexual-what do we call women who have sex with other women? What about the character "Ellen," played by actor/comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who identifies as gay but has not (yet?) slept with a woman? Can she legitimately call herself gay? More significantly, what exactly is a "legitimate" lesbian? Further, what does the Ellen show tell the millions who viewed the "coming out episodes" about lesbianism? Ellen provides an interesting, and highly public, test-case for these questions. This essay will examine three texts: (1) the three "coming-out" episodes, (2) the coverage in the popular press, and (3) the coverage in the queer press. We critique the ways in which the straight and gay communities interpret lesbian identity via their representation of the character "Ellen."

Drawing on the work of Didier Eribon and his theorization of the construction of gay male subjectivity, this article examines different "texts," broadly defined, that grapple specifically with straight men attempting to represent male homosexuality: Norman Mailer's essay, "The Homosexual Villain"; the Bravo reality television series Boy Meets Boy, and Michael Griffith's short story, "Hooper Gets a Perm." These texts represent attempts by straight authors to grapple with queer experience in ways that move the imagination of queers beyond simple stereotypes or uncritical explorations of the sexual "other." In the process of examining these texts, the following questions are addressed: What happens when a straight man attempts to represent a gay man? Does he "get it right," and is such a question even useful? More specifically, what is the value in having straights imagine queerness? Is such an imagining possible? Is such desirable? And, if so, what are the contours of such an imagining-as well as its possibilities and limitations, pedagogically, personally, and politically? Ultimately, I contend that the straight imagining of queerness offers rich potential for mutual understanding; furthermore, attempting to understand what goes into the making of those representations tells us much about how queerness circulates in our culture as a subject, a figure of discussion, contention, and representation.

ABSTRACT In this personal essay, the authors reflect on their work as activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trangender rights and their attempts to nourish such activism through a Buddhist understanding of mindfulness about the suffering of self and other. Although many figure activism as a kind of ‘combat’ and ‘fight’ for equality, the authors want to understand the potential cost of vengeful and poisonous thinking about the other, even when having to show those others how they inflict suffering through prejudice. The authors conclude with some strategies for mindful activism that places the care of the self and mindfulness about all of our suffering at the center of activist practice.

In this interview for the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Kinsey Male report, Yale legal scholar Kenji Yoshino answers questions about his thesis on “The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure”; considers how bisexuality is distinguished legally and socially ...

... Just as Chase and Sea-brook speak about the multiplicity of their identities beyond being bi and trans, Stasia and Rosenberg highlight aspects of ... In this last section, Kailey, Drechsler, and Green each argue for an alternative, ie, queer, perspective in their provoca-tive pieces. ...

ABSTRACT Kevin Smith's film Chasing Amy met with a great diversity of response among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. Some lauded the film as an honest and complex exploration of sexuality, while others castigated it for portraying what they took to be stereotypical, even homophobic characters. Hoping to understand these diverse reactions better, we collected multiple viewer responses to the film for analysis and interpretation. Ultimately, we argue that the reactions we found bespeak both competing and shifting attitudes about the nature of sexuality and its relationship to identity in our culture. Further, we discuss how reactions to the film cluster around certain identifiable and significant categories; for instance, some responses trouble the gay/straight dichotomy, others reassert that dichotomy, and still others explore possible images of self beyond that dichotomy, such as a bisexual or bi-eroticidentity.

... field of alternative sexual experiences.” Interestingly, most viewers we interviewed were un-willing to see either male character as bisexual, even though (1) Holden proposes–without any ... (our emphasis) You had me thinking I was GAY, or some damn super freak!!” (quoted in ...

... re-vision some of the most important convergences – and relationships – of our teaching and composing ... so is not necessary just to “keep up” with our techno-savvy students; it is ... in which what passes as literate practice itself changes as relationships among media, producers of ...

This article recounts and analyzes how e-zines were used in first-year writing courses to enhance students' rhetorical sensitivity to considerations of audience. More specifically, by analyzing existing e-zines, submitting articles to those e-zines, and collaboratively assisting the writing ...

This essay examines ways that issues of sexual orientation can successfully be taught in the computer-assisted composition classroom. Beginning with Michel Foucault's understanding that sexuality in our culture is configured as identity, the essay asks how both gay and straight ...

Page 1. P1: LHE/GVT/HBP/HGI P2: GDR International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies [ijsg] PH111-370120 June 4, 2002 12:0 Style file version June 4th, 2002 International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies, Vol. 7, Nos. 2/3, July 2002 ( C 2002) ...

... 158 Questions for Discussion 164 References and Further Reading 164 Readings: Excerpts from the South African Constitution 167 Christopher Marquis, “Military Discharges of Gays Rise, and So Do Bias Incidents” 168 Larry Rohter, “Lesbian ... (Cruz-Malavé and Manalansan 4) ...

""This collection focues on the development of new theories and pedagogies of distance learning in the English class. It originally grew out of the editors' interest in how roles and performances change as English teachers, particularly writing instructors, become practitioners in distance learning classrooms and their desire to examine the impact such changing roles have on English instruction at the collegiate level. At present, few books address the pedagogy of distance learning. While many articles and portions of some books examine various features of the "cyber classroom" and its use in distance learning, most have been written by "trainers" from business backgrounds. Teachers are more likely to find discussions of what to wear on screen or how to develop an efficient PowerPoint presentation as opposed to serious discussion of the development of effective means of conveying information, developing knowledge, or perfecting skills. Role Play offers the latter, with thoughtful and often poignant scholarly analyses and meditations on how distance learning can prompt instructors of English to experiment with different roles in the performance of their duties. ""

... Sonya Armstrong University of Cincinnati While peer review is a common practice in collegecomposition courses, there is little consistency in approach and effectiveness within the field, owing in part to the dearth of empirical research that investigates peer-review processes. ...