Posted on 03/07/2006 9:53:55 AM PST by presidio9
Students at DePaul University in Chicago, the largest Catholic university in the United States, can minor in Queer Studies through their College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as of this year. While DePaul has set an example for other Catholic institutions, administration and students say this minor probably won't appear at Marquette.
"The minor is in response to student demand and also because of an increase in academic demand from faculty to teach the subject," said Gary Cestaro, assistant professor of modern languages at DePaul. He is the program director of the new minor and was part of the six-person faculty group that spearheaded the minor's creation.
Cestaro said that Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual, Queer (LGTBQ) Studies is a grounded interdisciplinary academic field that emerged in the 1980s. DePaul has been increasingly offering individual LGTBQ courses for the last 10 years, Cestaro said.
He said this is the first year the minor is established. The only new addition is the minor's mandatory introductory course, offered for the first time this quarter, which ends next week.
Barbara Speicher, chairwoman of DePaul's communications department, said the Queer Studies minor has received a generally positive reaction. Not everyone at DePaul approves of the Queer Studies minor, however.
"It has certainly faced some disagreement, as one would expect," Speicher said. "But it hasn't been anything too awful."
Speicher said DePaul has always been open to new minors.
"We are viewing it as it is, an academic course. The university has always been open to new innovations, not putting up blocks."
Critics and supporters alike wonder what this means for other Catholic universities, such as Marquette.
Director of University Communication Brigid O'Brien Miller said she is not aware of any proposal for a Queer Studies minor at Marquette.
Heather Hathaway, associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said she does not see a Queer Studies minor in Marquette's future.
"It is unlikely that Arts & Sciences would develop a major or minor in the field, but not because we see it as necessarily contradicting the message of a Catholic university," she said.
Money, not message, restricts this minor, according to Hathaway.
"We simply lack the financial resources, or the money required to hire faculty experts in the field, that would be necessary to create a cohesive and substantive major or minor," she said.
Hathaway said that because a Queer Studies field focuses on subjects such as literature and art produced by gay men and lesbian women, gay and lesbian history and the social constructions of gender, it is too broad to attempt at Marquette.
"Ignorance breeds injustice," said Jess Cushion, a junior in the College of Communication and president of Marquette's Gay/Straight Alliance. "I applaud DePaul for taking the step to fuel acceptance of the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual community by educating people about discrimination and hate that homosexuals endure on a daily basis."
Cushion said that LGTB issues are often ignored at Marquette.
"I feel like the administration goes out of its way to come up with excuses for excluding (LGTB) issues. It's always 'We don't have the budget,' or 'It's not the right time,' when in reality it's 'This is Marquette, and if you're gay, we're going to silence you as best we can,'" she said.
Cushion said she would like to see a Queer Studies minor at Marquette.
"There might not be a demand for such a minor here, but it would be extremely beneficial," she said. "We have minors surrounding the studies of other racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. What makes (LGTB) issues any different?"
My point was that the media has certainly focused on both of these lay organizations, and neither one disputes Catholic doctrines. When I want something changed in my own parish, I bring it to the direct attention of my pastor.
will they focus on proper gerbil handling and care?
"So, what did you major in?"
Actually, this is the first degree I've heard about that is perhaps MORE useless than a Women's Studies degree!
I don't want to study queers.
And then demand other institutions offer the courses.
Try using real numbers, backed up by real logic. Until then stick your made-up crap back up your butt where it came from.
A Queer degree prepares one for what profession?
Human Resources departments of corporations that have capitulated to pressure groups.
Those numbers sound pretty legitmate to me. The fact that priests are less likely to be involved in sexual improprieties than the male population in general is not disputed.
The same thing that's always been going on. The Catholic church has always turned a blind eye to homosexuals, and now they are actually teaching "queer studies" in a Catholic school. I didn't make that up. You can't make this stuff up!
How do you explain the Catholic church offering a minor in queer studies, in the midst of a scandal involving homosexual pedophilia among the priesthood? Do you consider that to be a good idea? What were they thinking; "hey, I have an idea, let's quench the fears of our congregations regarding pedophile priests by teaching queer studies?" WTF?
Wow, I did not realize the market for Restroom Attendants was large enough to support this.
You really need to get a handle on your generalizations. Depaul University is not "The Catholic Church."
Apparently, I am a DU'er because I absolutely cannot tolerate pedophiles, nor will I tolerate anybody who does. I don't think that I want to go to any of GOP_Party_Animal's "parties".
Lev. 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...
Let known homosexuals into the priesthood in the 60s, you wind up with high level homosexuals in positions of power in the 90s and 2000's.... so what was once inconcievable is not encouraged.... The American Roman Catholic Church MUST PURGE ITS RANKS OF THESE FOLKS IMMEDIATELY.... no longer letting them in is NOT an acceptable solution.
They must be purged if the church is to remain viable, relevant and not a mockery of itself.
You are ignoring my question. Why haven't you personally done anything to clean up the Catholic Church?
Nope.
If so, what are you doing to clean up your Church?
I don't go to church. I got turned off to the hypocrisy of "I'm not perfect, just forgiven" a long time ago. The bible has some very good words and lessons in it. Most of the churches that I have attended throughout my life ignore most of those words and lessons.
A friend of mine is a Catholic. When this pedophilia scandal came to the forefront a few years back, I asked him about it. He told me that when he was growing up, there was a priest in his church who was a very powerful preacher, and a wonderful man of God. However, neither his parents nor anybody else's would let their children be alone with him. That spoke volumes. They knew.
I think somebody should rat them out to Pope Benedict.
They could use a few inquisitors or Templars to straighten out their warped thinking there.
Thank you for jumping in. The big thing now is that they are making a difference between homosexuals in the priesthood and "practicing" homosexuals in the priesthood. I don't know how many times I have read that "as long as they don't act on their urges it's OK". The problem is that if they act on their urges another child gets molested in church. It has to stop, and they wont stop it. They did a cost-benefit analysis and decided that they'd rather pay the settlements than kick the homosexuals out of the priesthood.
So, in other words, you are not a Catholic. Pedophilia cases in the Catholic Church make good news stories, and they sell a lot of papers, but they actually represent a tiny percentage of the total cases. If pedophilia is a big issue for you, you are probably aware of the fact that it is much more common in public schools. Why aren"t you posting your commnets there? Sounds to me like you just hate the Catholic Church and are looking to vent your frustrations.
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