CLAGS RECEIVED NO REPLY TO THIS FEBRUARY LETTER OF PROTEST TO KEAN UNIVERSITY, BUT WE HAVE LEARNED THAT IN MARCH, KEAN EXTENDED A NEW INVITATION TO PROF. MIRZOEFF. WE’RE GLAD TO KNOW THAT KEAN HAS DONE THE RIGHT THING – AND THAT SPEAKING OUT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR CHANGE OF HEART.

10 February 01

President Ronald L Applbaum
Kean University
1000 Morris Avenue
Union, NJ 07083-0411

Dear President Applbaum,

We were disappointed to learn that Prof. Nicholas Mirzoeff was dis-invited from a speaking engagement at Kean University because he refused to remove references to sexuality and queer theory from his paper on African, Jewish and queer diaspora. As you know, Prof. Mirzoeff was invited to present a lecture in a series on diaspora organized by Prof. Dennis Klein in the Jewish Studies program. But when Prof. Mirzoeff sent in the title for his lecture – "Strange Attractors, Strange Perspectives: African-Jewish-Queer Diasporas 1900/2000" – he was told he would have to focus only on African and Jewish disapora and drop the queer element. When he refused, the invitation was rescinded.

We understand that you affirmed Prof. Klein’s decision to drop Prof. Mirzoeff from the program, asserting that Prof. Mirzoeff’s "suggestion to address, as a principal focus, queer issues did not meet the requirements and parameters established by Dr. Klein and the Jewish Studies program" and that the "suggested topic does not fit in with the theme of the Lecture Series." Given the already widely acknowledged importance of queer theory and Queer Studies to Diaspora Studies (not to mention that African and Jewish diasporas certainly include lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people), we are flummoxed by your assertion. After all, even a cursory reading of Prof. Mirzoeff’s title suggests that queer issues are not the principal focus of the talk, but part of a tripartite focus. Including sexuality as a term against which to consider intersections between African and Jewish diasporas in particular historical contexts, especially given how dominant cultures have tarred both groups with charges of sexual deviance, is certainly a sound and promising scholarly approach to the subject of African and Jewish diaspora – especially at a time when one of the richest new avenues in Jewish Studies has come through intersectional analyses of Jewishness, gender, and sexuality in the work of such scholars as Daniel Boyarin, Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, and Naomi Seidman. What is more, the use of sexuality as a lens could help clarify (rather than confuse or obfuscate, as apparently Prof. Klein worried) the concept of diaspora. Thus we cannot see any rationale for revoking the invitation to Prof. Mirzoeff and can only conclude that homophobia – or the fear of homophobia of others – has played a role. That is deplorable.

We hope that our conclusion will be proved wrong. We hope you will invite Prof. Mirzoeff to give his complete talk at Kean soon and that you will encourage further interdisciplinary conversations on your campus that bring the insights of Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies into conversation with other disciplines. We would be glad to assist you in this endeavor.

Sincerely yours,

Alisa Solomon
Executive Director
for the Board of Directors

cc. Prof. Dennis Klein
Prof. Nicholas Mirzoeff