Saint Mary's examines sexuality attitudes
By Noreen Gillespie
Saint Mary's Editor
In a deviation from Saint Mary's standard majors of the week, a collaboration of groups is examining attitudes regarding sexuality through Identity Week.
Organized by People in Support, GALA ND/SMC, the Office of the Dean of Faculty, the Feminist Collective and six academic departments, the week is designed to foster discussion regarding sexuality and identity issues on campus.
Inspired by a position paper composed by the Faculty Assembly on sexual orientation, the week is intended to raise some of the issues on campus that were brought forth in that paper, said George Trey, associate professor of philosophy.
"It seemed like something that college students would be interested in," Trey said. "Students, particularly college students, are inherently interested in questioning and dealing with identity. This is pertinent to campus issues."
The week's events include film showings, a lecture and an alumnae panel that will open discussion and evaluation about attitudes regarding sexual identity on campus.
Friday's alumnae panel, entitled "Alumnae Perspectives on Identity and Sexual Orientation, SMC and Beyond," at 4 p.m. in Dalloway's, will feature four Saint Mary's alumnae. The women, who graduated from Saint Mary's during different time periods, will discuss their experiences and attitudes they encountered regarding sexuality at Saint Mary's.
"Our main goal was to get a cross-generational perspective on what the attitudes were at different points during the college's history," Trey said.
The forum is intended to provide a different perspective to students.
"This is a more student-to-student connection, versus a more academic approach," Trey said. "Our reason for bringing in alumnae is to provide current students with a perspective on how students who have been away from Saint Mary's look back and see how those experiences have shaped them."
The week will also feature Dr. Margaret Bender, a former Saint Mary's visiting professor of anthropology and current professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, who will lecture on Thursday evening. Bender's lecture, held in Stapleton Lounge at 7 p.m., is entitled "Sexual Identity: Anthropological and Personal Reflections."
All films show during the week involve depictions of gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals who are dealing with their identities.
The Celluloid Closet, to be shown tonight at 6 p.m., is a 1996 Emmy-nominated documentary that chronicles how Hollywood depicts gays, lesbians and bisexuals on the silver screen. Through interviews and film clips, it displays the attitudes behind those depictions.
Wednesday's showing of The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love depicts a couple struggling through the beginnings of a new relationship, while dealing with the reactions of their friends and family.
All movies will be shown in the off-campus lounge at 6:00 p.m.
All News Stories for Tuesday, February 1, 2000
