Biddy Martin is the 19th president of Amherst College, former provost of Cornell University, and founding member of Cornell’s LGBT Studies program. As Cornell’s longest-serving provost, from 2000 to 2008, Dr. Martin oversaw numerous accomplishments, including the development of a $150 million life sciences building and implementation of a sweeping financial aid initiative that replaced need-based loans with grants for all undergraduate students from families with incomes under $75,000. A distinguished scholar of German studies and author, Dr. Martin served on the faculty of Cornell for more than two decades in German studies and women’s studies, then as chair of the German Studies Department, senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and provost. Prior to joining Amherst, Dr. Martin was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the Harvard Corporation, a governing board of Harvard University.
Trans-Generational
Event Overview
In this webinar, four generations of trailblazing scholars and students from Cornell’s Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS) program will tackle how evolving characterizations of gender shape and affect the pursuit of social justice. Our intergenerational panel will consider these crucial questions: What do sexuality and gender mean today, for whom, and under what conditions? How have these meanings shifted over time and space? And what are the implications — for academia as well as activism — of how we define feminism and queer studies?
The event will be hosted on the Ithaca Cornell University campus in room 401, Physical Sciences Building. In-person participation is invited; virtual attendance is also welcome. Registration is required to attend.
What You'll Learn
- The history of Cornell's LGBT Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS) programs
- How positionality — our personal views, values, and location in time and space — shape how we conceptualize gender and sexuality, and how those subjectivities intersect with race, religion, class, and other aspects of identity
- The effects of queer and feminist activism on the continued pursuit of social justice
Speakers
Ezra Young is a nationally recognized civil rights attorney and scholar. He maintains a boutique private practice in New York and is currently a visiting assistant professor of law at Cornell Law School. Mr. Young previously served as legal director of the African American Policy Forum, research director of the Columbia Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, and director of impact litigation for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. His scholarship explores the rights of transgender people and innovative equitable remedies, while his litigation centers on transgender rights of recognition, employment protections, and healthcare and insurance coverage issues. Mr. Young’s writing and articles have also been published or are forthcoming in several top legal reviews and university press publications. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Cornell University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where his postdoctoral work was supervised by renowned scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Naiara Bezerra-Gastesi is Campus Educator for The Advocacy Center, an agency providing support, advocacy, and education for survivors, friends, and families of domestic violence and sexual assault in Tompkins County. They are a 2021 graduate of Cornell University with a double major in History and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies (FGSS), where their studies focused on queer and transgender histories in the U.S. During their time at Cornell, Bezerra-Gastesi was active in queer community building and sexual violence prevention as co-president of Haven, Cornell’s LGBTQ+ student union and president of the Sexual Violence Prevention Network.
Ximena Sanchez is an undergraduate student in the Cornell University College of Engineering pursuing a major in Computer Science and a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS). When they’re not coding for class or work, Sanchez enjoys hiking, curating playlists, and making ‘zines. Marching band, transgender community building, and consent education have shaped their time at Cornell. Sanchez is the LGBTQ+ Liasion for Consent Ed, a peer-to-peer education program that engages Cornell students in essential conversations about sex, alcohol, consent, and social responsibility. They’re also looking forward to getting more involved in Cornell’s surrounding Ithaca, NY community.
Biddy Martin is the 19th president of Amherst College, former provost of Cornell University, and founding member of Cornell’s LGBT Studies program. As Cornell’s longest-serving provost, from 2000 to 2008, Dr. Martin oversaw numerous accomplishments, including the development of a $150 million life sciences building and implementation of a sweeping financial aid initiative that replaced need-based loans with grants for all undergraduate students from families with incomes under $75,000. A distinguished scholar of German studies and author, Dr. Martin served on the faculty of Cornell for more than two decades in German studies and women’s studies, then as chair of the German Studies Department, senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and provost. Prior to joining Amherst, Dr. Martin was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the Harvard Corporation, a governing board of Harvard University.
Ezra Young is a nationally recognized civil rights attorney and scholar. He maintains a boutique private practice in New York and is currently a visiting assistant professor of law at Cornell Law School. Mr. Young previously served as legal director of the African American Policy Forum, research director of the Columbia Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, and director of impact litigation for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. His scholarship explores the rights of transgender people and innovative equitable remedies, while his litigation centers on transgender rights of recognition, employment protections, and healthcare and insurance coverage issues. Mr. Young’s writing and articles have also been published or are forthcoming in several top legal reviews and university press publications. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Cornell University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where his postdoctoral work was supervised by renowned scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Naiara Bezerra-Gastesi is Campus Educator for The Advocacy Center, an agency providing support, advocacy, and education for survivors, friends, and families of domestic violence and sexual assault in Tompkins County. They are a 2021 graduate of Cornell University with a double major in History and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies (FGSS), where their studies focused on queer and transgender histories in the U.S. During their time at Cornell, Bezerra-Gastesi was active in queer community building and sexual violence prevention as co-president of Haven, Cornell’s LGBTQ+ student union and president of the Sexual Violence Prevention Network.
Ximena Sanchez is an undergraduate student in the Cornell University College of Engineering pursuing a major in Computer Science and a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS). When they’re not coding for class or work, Sanchez enjoys hiking, curating playlists, and making ‘zines. Marching band, transgender community building, and consent education have shaped their time at Cornell. Sanchez is the LGBTQ+ Liasion for Consent Ed, a peer-to-peer education program that engages Cornell students in essential conversations about sex, alcohol, consent, and social responsibility. They’re also looking forward to getting more involved in Cornell’s surrounding Ithaca, NY community.
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