How it started β> how itβs going
Fifteen years ago I was a queer kid from Kansas who loved history. Never did I imagine that Iβd someday author my own work of queer history
I canβt quite believe it, but my second book, a history of queer women in Nazi Germany, is under advance contract with Aevo UTP,
@utpress
βs trade imprint. So thankful to all my colleagues who have encouraged me to write this book and thrilled to be working again with
@ShapiroUTP
I am so excited to announce that I will be joining the Department of History and Art History at George Mason U this fall as an Assistant Professor of modern German history! I could not be more thrilled to be joining the
@GeorgeMasonU
faculty and to be moving to the DC area.
I'm so excited to be able finally to share the East German Poster Database, an online search tool that makes George Mason
@gmuscrc
's collection of around 7,000 posters from the GDR available to students and researchers.
States of Liberation, which is not only my first book but also the first comparative history of gay liberation in E + W Germany from 1945-present, is FINALLY available for pre-order!! AND itβs on sale at a 25% discount π
π³οΈβππ³οΈβπ Please share widely! π³οΈβππ³οΈβπ
Itβs officially publication day for A Queer Theory of the State π
You can pick up a copy from
@ColumbiaUP
, online bookshops or your favorite local bookstore
Thrilled that States of Liberation won the Smith Prize for the best book in European history from the European History Section of the
#SHA2022
π
@MichelleLKahn
@utpress
Absolutely blown away to have won
@TheGSA
David Barclay book prize for States of Liberation. So many thanks to the prize committee, to friends and mentors, to
@ShapiroUTP
and
@utpress
. Feeling very thankful to be part of such a marvelous academic community
#theGSA2023
Iβve noticed that folks are euphemistically referring to Lawrence v. Texas as protecting same-sex *relationships*. This isnβt what it protectsβitβs a right to *sex*. It was always a mistake to refer to bodily autonomy as being βpro-choice.β Letβs not make the same mistake here
My article βA Queer Wall in the Head: Using Oral Histories to Map Gay Desire Across Cold War Germanyβ is out in German Studies Review! It asks what queer oral history can tell us in a transnational context using the case of divided Germany. DM for a PDF!
It's officialβI just received a contract from U Toronto Press to publish States of Liberation!!! I can't wait to share my work with you. I'm so grateful to
@ShapiroUTP
at
@utpress
, who's been amazing to work with, and to my friends, family, and colleagues who helped me get here.
I think itβs also important that the more it is investigated now, the greater a paper trail it creates for historians when we do write about it. Historians are (obviously) reliant on sources and those sources determine what kinds of histories get written.
Just finished THE JAKARTA METHOD by
@Vinncent
. Itβs a remarkable, page-turning history of US-sponsored anti-communist mass murder around the developing world during the Cold War. If you read one book this summer, make it this one.
Ahhh itβs here, itβs happening, itβs real!!! I just got page proofs for States of Liberation!!! π³οΈβπ π π³οΈβπ π
As a queer person publishing a work of queer history I have so many emotions seeing these pages, but mostly just immense gratitude to everyone whoβs helped me get here.
So excited for when I'll be able to share this with all of you. I've been working with a great group of RAs and with Mason Library staff to get this database of GDR posters up and running. Fingers crossed it'll be operational by summer!
I canβt believe weβre witnessing this war of aggression and our leaders are still quibbling about whether or not to cut off Russian access to SWIFT or allow energy carve outs to sanctions. We should be doing everything to help Ukraine, even if it causes some economic pain at home
I just got page proofs for my forthcoming
@CentralEuropean
article βHeterogeneous Persecution: Lesbianism and the Nazi Stateβ!! Itβs big article Iβve been thinking about for a long time that draws on the work of
@L_Marhoefer
,
@ankahajkova
, and many many other amazing scholars.
My
@CentralEuropean
article βHeterogeneous Persecutionβ is out! It examines lesbian persecution in Nazi Germany, arguing that even in the absence of laws regulating female homosexuality, there were identifiable patterns in how the state treated lesbians.
Latest response from a German press: a book about gay men would arouse too much criticism from the public for them to publish States of Liberation π homophobia is truly alive and well across the Atlantic
Academia is a flawed profession to be sure, but itβs at its best when we nurture and support each other, when we seek opportunities to stand in solidarity with one another. This is one of the biggest problems with the myth of the lone scholar.
I was just asked by a prestigious fellowship that turned down my application last year to serve as a peer reviewer of some of their applications this year. Is this normal?
Canβt believe
@chinra4
and I just signed a contract to publish Reimaginging Citizenship in Postwar Europe with
@CornellPress
!
Much work remains, but thrilled to share the amazing work of our contributing authors
& huge thanks to
@BethanyWasik
for believing in this project!
I just got the full book cover design for States of Liberation from
@utpress
. It's absolutely gorgeous and full of kind words from
@Monica_Black_
, Dan Healey, and Jim Sheehanππ
If you haven't preordered yet, you still can with a 25% discount:
Well Iβve submitted all of the research portions of my tenure dossier, including 60 publications (!!) so it can be sent off to external reviewers. I canβt decide if I should be terrified or relieved. But in either event itβs time for a cocktail πΈ
This is horrifying. Iβd love to see everyone whoβs been harping on βcancel cultureβ take a stand here against a genuine repression of academic freedom.
BREAKING: The University of Mississippi fired Garrett Felber, a celebrated tenure-track history professor who spoke up on UM leaders' relationships with "powerful, racist donors" & whose work highlights anti-racism & mass incarceration. By
@middleton380
:
I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have gotten to review
@tnflorvil
's remarkable Mobilizing Black Germany for
@LAReviewofBooks
. It's a groundbreaking examination of West and reunified Germany's Black movement and I can't recommend it enough.
A day after SCOTUS took away womenβs right to choose and we still havenβt heard what Biden and the democratic party plans to do about it. They have lots of powers at their disposal. To quote
@AOC
it seems time to take off the kid gloves and govern.
It makes me so angry that our national organization is harassing archivists instead of vigorously advocating for contingent faculty and for graduate students whose hopes of a career in academia are rapidly evaporating.
The AHA has written a letter expressing concerns regarding the National Archives and Records Administrationβs planned research room capacity across its facilities, including presidential libraries, as the agency begins to reopen following pandemic closures.
It's hard to believe that it's been a year since States of Liberation was published. I'm so grateful to everyone who took the time to engage with it in some way, whether by reading it, reviewing it, or listening into one of my book talks/podcast interviews
Itβs off, itβs submitted, itβs coming out later this year with
@CornellPress
π
So grateful to my co-editor
@chinra4
, to
@BethanyWasik
and to all our brilliant authors who have spent years working on this majestic volume
ICYMI: my archival findings showing that in many respects gay liberation activists were more successful in communist East Germany than democratic West Germany. For the full version, check out my forthcoming book!
"Gay activists in East Germany knew their governmentβs pressure points better than did those in West Germany, and they were better able to leverage that knowledge."
The unexpected history of gay liberation in East Germany:
Every time I see these sultry safer sex posters in Germany Iβm reminded of west Germanyβs remarkable response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, partnering with queer activists to spread awareness of HIV in non-stigmatizing ways that drastically brought down infection rates
My familyβs wonderful, playful, beautiful cat Popcorn just passed. She came into our lives as a tiny kitten twenty-one years ago when I was not even yet a teenager. Sheβs been with us through so much. Iβm feeling so sad.
My article "Can Democracy Be Queer?" just out w/
@ContEuroHistory
! I examine how gay men in early W Germany thought about democratization, asking broadly if something essential connects democracy and queerness -- a depressingly relevant question today
In case you needed evidence that homophobia is alive and well among German intellectuals: the only response Iβve received from a German press about publishing a translation of my book was that it would be hard to sell because there is already *one* other book on a similar topic
Just got word that States of Liberation will be going off to the printers soon!
Itβll be hitting bookshelves in March. And if you havenβt taken advantage of
@utpress
sale yet to pre-order, you still can:
My first ever piece in
@TIME
@madebyhistory
is out! I look at (West) Germany's famed democratic stability and what it says about the rise of the far-right AfD.
Switzerland is celebrating 50 years of women's suffrage at the federal level, 1971-2021 (yes, 1971).
This map shows the introduction of women's suffrage at the cantonal level. Only since 1990 have Swiss women been able to vote in all elections. π
π
I sometimes wonder if gay culture is a search for intimacy under the guise of sex whereas straight culture is a search for sex under the guise of intimacy
Guess Iβm headed back to the archives this summer! Just accepted a Franklin Research Grant from
@AmPhilSociety
to work on a new book project unearthing everyday experiences of democratization in post-WWII Germany.
Iβll be headed to collections in Freiburg and Munich π
The absolute highlight from this yearβs
#gsa2023
was my panel with Richard Wetzell and
@MerleIngenfeld
on Germanyβs queer 20th century!! From
@CB_Ewing
βs amazing comment to the incredibly engaged audience, it was a joy to present new work alongside these two brilliant colleagues.
Quick reminder that Iβm giving a lecture at
@EuiAnd
on Monday about lesbians in Nazi Germany. Itβs a hybrid event and you can attend via Zoom by registering here:
The largest strike happening in the US right now is at Columbia University, which in spite of record endowment profits last year is refusing to negotiate a fair contract with graduate student workers. You can help the striking workers by donating to their hardship fund π
@RBReich
We are entering WEEK EIGHT of our strike tomorrow. Twitter, if you'd like to show solidarity with our struggle, please consider donating to our hardship fund. Your donation will help our workers hold out for a better contract: