Archives West Finding Aid

OSU Queer Studies Program Files consist of course-related and promotional materials; creative work produced by queer studies students; press coverage of the program and its faculty; and programs, handouts, and posters for both on- and off-campus events centering on LGBT or queer topics.

Course materials included in the collection include syllabi for classes such as Introduction to Queer Studies, Indigenous Queer & Two-Spirit Studies, Queer of Color Critiques, and Trans/Gender Politics. Also included in this folder are a sampling of lesson plans and course assignments, as well as the drafted proposal for the creation of the queer studies minor at Oregon State. Promotional materials in the OSU Queer Studies Program Records consist mainly of full-color flyers, dating back to 2013, which were posted around campus to promote and encourage enrollment in various queer studies courses each term. Student-produced work included in the records consists of three unique and separate ‘zines created as part of class projects for Arts & Social Justice, Queer & Trans People of Color Arts & Activism, and as part of a Queer Indigenous Gathering at Portland State University. Press coverage in the records includes articles from the Corvallis Gazette-Times, the Daily Barometer, and Beaver’s Digest. Of particular note in this folder is an article in the Gazette-Times which documents Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill’s work in launching the queer studies degree program. Event programs and handouts document a variety of events both on- and off-campus. Highlights of this grouping include performances and workshops by OSU queer studies faculty, and booklets for the Lavender Celebration (OSU’s LGBTQ+ graduation and award ceremony). Finally, the on-campus event posters included in this collection consist primarily of events concerning queer and trans lives, and/or featuring prominent figures in the LGBTQ+ community. A majority of these events are also explicitly considering the intersection of queer identity and race, with posters for events like “Queering el Día de los Muertos,” and flyers advertising visits to OSU by Cherríe Moraga, Deborah A. Miranda, Daniel Heath Justice, and other queer scholars, artists, and activists of color.