Queer Theory Lecture - Jules Gill-Peterson (2021)

Queer Theory Lecture is an annual event hosted by the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist (GSF) Studies at Duke University to honor and celebrate one of queer theories' most insightful scholars and foundational figures, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Sedgwick’s call for reparative work and for reading practices grounded in affect and performance have transformed our understandings of intimacy, identity, and politics. Her work helped establish Duke as an intellectual leader in the critical study of sexuality. We host this event every year as a tribute to Sedgwick and as a continuation of her legacy.
The 2021 Queer Theory Lecture was delivered by Dr. Jules Gill-Peterson who is a Research Associate Professor of History at the Johns Hopkins University. The topic of her talk was, "Queer Theory Killed Venus Xtravaganza: What's Trans About Queer Studies Now?" For decades, we've told ourselves a story of the relationship of queer studies to trans studies that takes the form of bad blood: "evil twins," queer siblings, rivals, or perhaps successorship and futurity. This talk returns to the alleged falling-out in the mid 1990s in Judith Butler's work, as well as contemporary trans critiques of Eve Sedgwick, to propose an alternative reading: that both fields were founded on the destruction of trans womanhood.
Check out our Annual Queer Theory Lectures at : gendersexualit...