University of Illinois at Chicago Office of Public Affairs (MC 288)
601 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607-7113, (312) 996-3456, www.uic.edu/depts/paff

March 14, 2001

Contact: Anne Dybek (312) 996-8279; adybek@uic.edu

LECTURE SERIES EXAMINES SEX IN THE CITY

The Gender and Women's Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago is hosting the "Sex in the City" lecture series. Over the next two months, three historians will explore the theme across time and space and from the perspective of different sexual orientations.

"Cities have long been sites of sexual excitement, novelty and stimulation, but they are also places of sexual mystery, danger and risk," said Sonya Michel, head of UIC's Gender and Women's Studies Program. "Cities are also places where the sex industry thrives and where people come to buy and sell sex services. We hope that people will come away from this series of talks with a better understanding of the nature of that exchange."

Lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jennifer Langdon-Teclaw, 413-7629 or 996-2441.

The event schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, March 21

"Across Racial Divides: Migrant Men, Sex, and Law in California and British Columbia, 1910-30." Nayan Shah, University of California at San Diego. Noon. White Oak Room, UIC's Chicago Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted St.

The presentation focuses on a series of sodomy cases in Sutter County, Calif., and Vancouver, British Columbia, in which Punjabi men were accused of sexually assaulting white men and boys.

Shah is an associate professor at the University of California at San Diego, specializing in the history of race, ethnicity, health and sexuality in the United States.

Friday, March 30

"Women on the Town: Sexual Geography in Modern Cities." Feminist scholar Christine Stansell, Princeton University. 2 p.m. Cardinal Room, UIC's Chicago Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted St.

This presentation examines a diverse group of New York "bohemian" women and the modern life they crafted-a group of salons, cafes, communal apartments, theater groups and magazines.

Stansell has taught American history at Princeton since 1982. She specializes in the history of gender in the 19th century, with particular interests in the history of women, art and culture.

Thursday, April 19

"Workhouse Nights: Homelessness and Homosexuality in Victorian London." Seth Koven, Villanova University. 3 p.m. Room 509-510, UIC's Chicago Circle Center, 750 South Halsted St.

This lecture examines how a mid-Victorian scandal about the nightly transformation of London's workhouses into male brothels sparked the cultural backlash that led to the legal definition of homosexual acts between men as a form of vagrancy in 1898.

Koven is an associate professor of history at Villanova University. A specialist in European social and cultural history, particularly the history of gender in Britain, he has written many articles on gender, sexuality and Victorian culture.

UIC's Gender and Women's Studies Program and other campus units sponsor the lecture series.

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