Gay studies minor draws mixed reation

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

By DANIELLE :[]SHAPIRO
HERALD NEWS

MONTCLAIR -- Prudence Welch wants to be an elementary school teacher and Lindsay Butler is considering a career in journalism. But both students say it is a new minor in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer studies at Montclair State University that will help them excel in their future professions.

"You need to know something about a lot of things to be a good journalist," Butler, 19, a sophomore, said Friday.

Welch, also 19 and a junior, said students of all ages confront issues of identity and sexuality as it relates to them and their families. She said the minor will better prepare her to be a teacher.

The two young women are among six MSU students who have registered so far for the new minor that covers questions of sexuality and gender through health, psychology, sociology, literature, film, popular culture, feminist theory and the law. Some of the courses offered include hate crimes, sociology of gender and sexuality education in the schools.

GLBTQ Studies course requirements
(PDF file)

For many students, the addition of the minor is more than another academic option in the curriculum. For some, it is a chance to explore a field of personal interest or one that will enhance their education and future professional careers. But for others pursuing the 18-credit minor means making a careful decision because of the stigma that can be attached to homosexuality in personal and professional settings.

The program, which started this fall, brings MSU into a small group of institutions of higher learning across the United States that offer similar academic programs. Raul Galoppe, a Spanish professor at MSU and the program coordinator, said he has found in research only about 30 colleges or universities with some kind of minor in gay studies.

In New Jersey, MSU joins Rutgers as one of two schools in the state offering minors that focus on sexuality or queer studies, as gay and lesbian scholarship is officially known.

"It's a political statement to be associated with the GLBTQ minor," said Sally McWilliams, a professor of English and director of the Women's Studies Program, under which the new minor falls. Once students complete the coursework, the minor will show up on transcripts and resumes. It may be a concern for students who fear the academic inclusion will "out" them before they are ready while others may worry that they will be incorrectly labeled as homosexual, McWilliams said. "In some ways it will mark them," she said.

A lively blog exchange on baristanet.com that started last week includes more than 50 comments about the MSU program ranging from sarcastic -- barbs about how many pushups makes a man "manly" -- to a more somber entry that simply asked, "Why?" about the minor. The reply was just as simple. "Why? Ask Matthew Shepard," said MellonBrush, referring to the University of Wyoming student who was beaten to death in a 1998 hate crime attack because he was gay.

Ashley LaTrace, 20, a junior, is studying to become a teacher and said the minor would cover topics useful to her in the classroom. LaTrace, who has not signed up for the minor, said she was particularly interested in some of the courses offered, such as sociology of sexuality and the psychological aspects of human sexuality. But she wasn't ready to say she'd comfortably add it to her resume. Frank DeRienzo, 21, a senior, understood her equivocations.

"Depending on the political views of the person, it could help or hurt you," he said. "I don't think you'd get many teaching jobs in the Bible Belt."

Clayton Cole, 20, a junior studying business, wondered what students would get out of the minor, how it would help in a future career and who would sign up: "I don't know any dude who would take it," he said.

And in fact, all six students so far registered for the minor are female, perhaps because it is less threatening for women, McWilliams said.

Erika Converse, 20, a junior English major, said any controversy attached to the new program, made it all the more attractive to her.

"I figured it was going to get a lot of public attention," she said. "People are so against homosexuality as a whole because they see it as threatening.

"It made me want to be one of the first to embrace it; set a standard, get people into it," she said.

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