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Panelists Discuss Gay, Civil Rights at KSG
The topic didn't seem like anything to laugh about, but at last night's panel discussion on gay rights and civil rights, the jokes just kept on coming.
Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals and minister of the Memorial Church, Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and state representative Jarrett T. Barrios '99 (D-Cambridge) kept over 100 people entertained as they shared personal stories and political experiences about their common struggle for rights.
Barrios, the first openly gay legislator to be elected to the Massachusetts state house, began by telling the audience that he became involved in politics because he was dismayed by the popularity of polyester suits among an older generation of politicians.
He wanted to make a difference both it terms of politics and fashion, said Barrios, who is one of three Latino state legislators in the state house and the founder of the Massachusetts Latino Caucus.
Gomes and Ireland matched Barrios in humor, but the discussion, which was co-sponsored by the Kennedy School of Government's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Caucus and Women and Public Policy Program, also addressed several serious issues including gay marriage, the relationship between gay right and civil rights, and women's rights.
"For me gay rights are civil and civil rights are gay rights," Barrios said.
Gomes, who is gay, said people have been reluctant to equate gay rights with civil rights and that results in conflict.
"For many people civil rights means fighting for black rights from the era of the Civil War and on," Gomes said.
Ireland's presence on the panel also led to much discussion about the women's rights movement and its relationship to the campaign for gay rights. Ireland said the women's movement needed to cross lines beyond gender and become more involved in the gay rights movements.
"As long as the label of lesbian carries real risks, there are going to be a lot of women who will not speak up for [women's] rights," she said. 1 "I expect that during the coming year or two,the dean of the Institute will, with help fromfaculty members and others, shape an academic planfor the new Institute, "Dean of the Faculty JeremyR Knowles said last week. And in response to reporters questions at lastweek's press conference, Rudenstine painted theInstitute in only broad strokes calling it "rare"and "very, very unusual." "It means you are pushing the edges, "hesaid. "All institutes of advanced study share thesingle goal of furthering knowledge where onlythere was ignorance before." At that time, Rudenstine sketched a vision ofthe new Institute as a knowledge-seeking groupsimilar to the Princeton Institute for AdvancedStudy or the Center for Advanced Study in theBehavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif. Representatives of those institutes said theywelcome the new Radcliffe Institute to theirfamily of advanced study, though they voicedconfusion about how Radcliffe will define itselfacademically. A Model Institute According to Rudenstine, the new Institute'sclosest parallel will be the Princeton Institutefor Advanced Study, an independent researchorganization located near Princeton University,but not officially affiliated with the school. Founded in 1930, the Princeton Instituteinvites scholars in fields as wide-ranging ashistory and physics to engage in pure research forone to two years. "What ties the broad range of research workthat's done here together is that every individualpursues scholarship and pure research for its ownsake, and follows his own research interests,"said Georgia Widen, public affair officer for theInstitute. "There isn't any concern whatsoever forapplications. No one is ever asked what is goingto be the practical effect of their work." Widen said the institute is a "scholarlyparadise" at which intellectuals, frequentlyvisiting professors, are given a year without thedemands of classroom or committee work to focus onresearch. She called the new Radcliffe Institute "the newkid on the block," nothing that her institute isso well-known in academic circles that it is knownsimply as the institute for Advanced Study-nogeographical location required. But the advantages of the new RadcliffeInstitute-including a starting endowment just $60million less than that of the Princeton instituteand official ties to Harvard's vast resources andrenewed faculty-may send the New Jersey school'sprospective scholars scurrying to spendsabbaticals in Cambridge instead. At least one Princeton Institute faculty memberwhose research focuses on gender said she's notconcerned, however. "We get 200 application for 17 places a year,"said Professor of Social Science Joan W. Scott ofthe School of Social Science at the PrincetonInstitute. "We could take twice or three times asmany every year who are just as good. All this cando is add to the still scarce researches thatsupport research outside of teaching." And Scott said she feels binding a researchinstitute to the resources of university will addlittle. "I don't see that that makes any difference oneway or another, "she said. "It presumes that peoplewho have a year of leave want to spend a yeartalking to a lot of people, which they don'tnecessarily." According to Scott, all a researcher reallyneeds is "a good library or a good inter-libraryloan system." The New Jersey institute also has a smallpermanent faculty who work alongside theinstitute's approximately 180 visiting scholars,which Scott said sets it apart from the newRadcliffe Institute. Permanent faculty membersreceive a lifetime appointment at the institute,and stay for an estimated 20 to 30 years. Facultymembers, whose ranks have included AlbertEinstein, tend to be world renewed scholars intheir fields. "[Radcliffe] won't ever be the same, "Scottsaid. She called Rottenstone's comparison simply"wrong." "We have faculty, "she said. "We're theonly institute of its kind that has a faculty." Fox said that members of the Faculty Councilyesterday made note of the fact that the RadcliffeInstitute will have no permanent faculty. The Place of Gender Despite yesterday's revelations several detailsof the merger remain unannounced. For instance,the relative importance of gender studies at theInstitute has yet to be determined. A statement released by the two schools lastweek said the Institute's mission "will be tocreate an academic community where individuals canpursue advanced work in the academic disciplinesprofessions or creative arts." The statement goes on to note that theInstitute will "sustain a continuing commitment tothe study of women, gender and society. "Yet, bothsides have said no decisions have been made aboutwhether all, or just some, of the research at theInstitute will focus on gender. A magnifying glass on gender would set theRadcliffe Institute apart from other centers ofadvanced study. Neil J. Smelser director of theCenter for Advanced Study in the BehavioralSciences in Palo Alto, Calif, said such a focuswould provide the new institute with an inherently"difference character." And Scott whose 1988 book Gender and thePolitics of History is considered a landmarkin her field, said a gender institute could make areal contribution to current scholarship. "My sense is that there's an opportunity tohave an institution that works on serious genderresearch or there's an opportunity to make genderone part... of what goes on, "she said. "I think [the first] would be the bravercourse, "she said. Members of the Faculty of Arts and Scienceswill be given a chance to future voice theircomments about the new Institute when Rudenstineand Wilson present the agreement to merge at thenext full Faculty meeting in May.Rachel P. Kovner contributed to the reportingof this article.
"I expect that during the coming year or two,the dean of the Institute will, with help fromfaculty members and others, shape an academic planfor the new Institute, "Dean of the Faculty JeremyR Knowles said last week.
And in response to reporters questions at lastweek's press conference, Rudenstine painted theInstitute in only broad strokes calling it "rare"and "very, very unusual."
"It means you are pushing the edges, "hesaid. "All institutes of advanced study share thesingle goal of furthering knowledge where onlythere was ignorance before."
At that time, Rudenstine sketched a vision ofthe new Institute as a knowledge-seeking groupsimilar to the Princeton Institute for AdvancedStudy or the Center for Advanced Study in theBehavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif.
Representatives of those institutes said theywelcome the new Radcliffe Institute to theirfamily of advanced study, though they voicedconfusion about how Radcliffe will define itselfacademically.
A Model Institute
According to Rudenstine, the new Institute'sclosest parallel will be the Princeton Institutefor Advanced Study, an independent researchorganization located near Princeton University,but not officially affiliated with the school.
Founded in 1930, the Princeton Instituteinvites scholars in fields as wide-ranging ashistory and physics to engage in pure research forone to two years.
"What ties the broad range of research workthat's done here together is that every individualpursues scholarship and pure research for its ownsake, and follows his own research interests,"said Georgia Widen, public affair officer for theInstitute. "There isn't any concern whatsoever forapplications. No one is ever asked what is goingto be the practical effect of their work."
Widen said the institute is a "scholarlyparadise" at which intellectuals, frequentlyvisiting professors, are given a year without thedemands of classroom or committee work to focus onresearch.
She called the new Radcliffe Institute "the newkid on the block," nothing that her institute isso well-known in academic circles that it is knownsimply as the institute for Advanced Study-nogeographical location required.
But the advantages of the new RadcliffeInstitute-including a starting endowment just $60million less than that of the Princeton instituteand official ties to Harvard's vast resources andrenewed faculty-may send the New Jersey school'sprospective scholars scurrying to spendsabbaticals in Cambridge instead.
At least one Princeton Institute faculty memberwhose research focuses on gender said she's notconcerned, however.
"We get 200 application for 17 places a year,"said Professor of Social Science Joan W. Scott ofthe School of Social Science at the PrincetonInstitute. "We could take twice or three times asmany every year who are just as good. All this cando is add to the still scarce researches thatsupport research outside of teaching."
And Scott said she feels binding a researchinstitute to the resources of university will addlittle.
"I don't see that that makes any difference oneway or another, "she said. "It presumes that peoplewho have a year of leave want to spend a yeartalking to a lot of people, which they don'tnecessarily."
According to Scott, all a researcher reallyneeds is "a good library or a good inter-libraryloan system."
The New Jersey institute also has a smallpermanent faculty who work alongside theinstitute's approximately 180 visiting scholars,which Scott said sets it apart from the newRadcliffe Institute. Permanent faculty membersreceive a lifetime appointment at the institute,and stay for an estimated 20 to 30 years. Facultymembers, whose ranks have included AlbertEinstein, tend to be world renewed scholars intheir fields.
"[Radcliffe] won't ever be the same, "Scottsaid. She called Rottenstone's comparison simply"wrong." "We have faculty, "she said. "We're theonly institute of its kind that has a faculty."
Fox said that members of the Faculty Councilyesterday made note of the fact that the RadcliffeInstitute will have no permanent faculty.
The Place of Gender
Despite yesterday's revelations several detailsof the merger remain unannounced. For instance,the relative importance of gender studies at theInstitute has yet to be determined.
A statement released by the two schools lastweek said the Institute's mission "will be tocreate an academic community where individuals canpursue advanced work in the academic disciplinesprofessions or creative arts."
The statement goes on to note that theInstitute will "sustain a continuing commitment tothe study of women, gender and society. "Yet, bothsides have said no decisions have been made aboutwhether all, or just some, of the research at theInstitute will focus on gender.
A magnifying glass on gender would set theRadcliffe Institute apart from other centers ofadvanced study. Neil J. Smelser director of theCenter for Advanced Study in the BehavioralSciences in Palo Alto, Calif, said such a focuswould provide the new institute with an inherently"difference character."
And Scott whose 1988 book Gender and thePolitics of History is considered a landmarkin her field, said a gender institute could make areal contribution to current scholarship.
"My sense is that there's an opportunity tohave an institution that works on serious genderresearch or there's an opportunity to make genderone part... of what goes on, "she said.
"I think [the first] would be the bravercourse, "she said.
Members of the Faculty of Arts and Scienceswill be given a chance to future voice theircomments about the new Institute when Rudenstineand Wilson present the agreement to merge at thenext full Faculty meeting in May.Rachel P. Kovner contributed to the reportingof this article.
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