Acting Out: 'Queer Theory' Gets Its Own Course, Professor

She may be the only member of the English and American Literature and Language Department to adorn her office walls with pictures of Sandra Bernhard and Madonna.

Assistant Professor of English and American Literature and Language Ann Pellegrini'86 is no slave to conformity.

Signs featuring Ellen DeGeneres's mug promoted her fall course, English 197: "Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies." More than a gimmick, this advertising well suits the self-described "performative" Pellegrini.

"I often confuse the words 'lesbian' and 'thespian' so there you are," Pellegrini says, explaining her dramatic flair.

Pellegrini's class constitutes Harvard's first formal foray into the realm of lesbian and gay studies. She says the prospect of pursuing previously unexplored academic territory excites her.

"It's a delight to teach a course I never could have taken on this campus or any other when I was an undergrad," Pellegrini says.

Few courses explicitly devoted to the study of "queer theory" and other lesbian and gay topics were available until Pellegrini's arrival this year.

She has returned to this campus where she earned her undergraduate and doctorate degrees following a three-year teaching stint in Barnard College's Women's Studies program.

Explaining why she left New York for Cambridge, Pellegrini says, "Harvard's offer was extremely enticing. I am working in a new department facing new challenges."

In addition to English 197, Pellegrini is teaching a sophomore seminar,English 90x: "Performance and Performativity."

Both courses examine texts and films from a cultural theory perspective, but while English 90x employs a range of approaches, English 197 primarily focuses on issues of gender and sexual identity.

John A. Fisher'99, who was alerted to English 197 by the Ellen DeGeneres posters, says he is surprised at Pellegrini's reluctance to introduce her own politics into her lectures.

"She detatches herself from the class, which is unfortunate," Fisher says. "She divorces her personal experience from her pedagogy."

Pellegrini says she does not deem her history appropriate to the lesbian and gay studies analysis of literature and film.

"My pedagogic practice doesn't involve transparent self-disclosure,"Pellegrini says.

On the contrary, Pellegrini says she discourages sexual identity affirmation in the classroom. She calls sexuality both "an entry into the course and a departure."

"It's not about coming out. It's about scrutinizing the construction of the identity. It's turning the gaze back on the entry into the classroom," Pellegrini says.

Students in English 197 disagree about the in-class ambience. Siclunov says he discerns a clearly social dimension alongside the academic pursuits.

"There is a little sense that it's social, but I don't think it exceeds the social atmosphere of any other course," Sulmers says.

However, the fact that many in the class of 40 are not heterosexual creates a common bond, students say.

"The vast majority are queer," says Andre K. Sulmers '99, co-chair of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters' Alliance (BGLTSA) and a student in English 197.

Class members note that the BGLTSA frequently makes announcements at the beginning of class. According to Sulmers, these updates concern guest visits and meetings relevant not to the course itself, but to the sexual minority community at Harvard.

"I am bothered that this classroom has become a tribune for certain groups and clubs. It compromises the pure academics of the classroom," says Nicolay I. Siclunov'00, a member of the BGLSTA.

Siclunov also says he perceives a gay majority in English 197 but notes that "everyone in the class is queer; [in the sense that] they are able to read in a queer way."

Another point of commonality is a glowing respect for Pellegrini's teaching.

"She's amazing," Fisher says, echoing the sentiment expressed by many of his classmates.

Pellegrini returns the approbation, saying, "The students seem terrifically smart and very motivated."