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The Project on Gender-Based Censorship
At the Institute for Research on Women and Gender
Presents a Special Exhibit:
"The First Institute for Sexual Science"
Art Lounge, Michigan Union
September 8-30, 1999
In 1919, Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), the German Jewish sexologist and
reformer, saw a long-cherished dream come true: on July 6, he opened the
"Institute for Sexual Science" in Berlin-Tiergarten - the first of its kind
in the world. The Institute operated until 1933, when it was shut down and
its library burned by the Nazis. Politically, the Institute's emergence is
to be viewed within the context of the progressive reform movements during
the Weimar period; scientifically, the bio-medical explanations of human
sexuality at the time formed the framework. The Institute's foundation was
the first attempt at establishing sexual science. This exhibit, produced
by the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V., affords an insight into the
institute's work with to date unpublished documents, photographs and
exhibits.
The following special events will accompany the exhibit:
The Choice, A Dramatic Reading
Audience Discussion to follow
The University Club, Michigan Union
Thursday, September 16, 7:30 pm
In an effort to reflect on what sexual science means today, the Rackham
Summer Interdisciplinary Institute offers a dramatic reading of Claire
Luckham's thought-provoking play, The Choice. When Sal and Ray learn that
the fetus Sal carries may have a "chromosome abnormality," the couple must
make a series of highly emotional medical
decisions that determine the fetus' future, and their own. The drama
unfolds in the mind of its writer (played by Joanna Hastings) who, while
envisioning her ideas taking shape on the stage, reflects on her
relationship with her brother, who has Downs Syndrome. Drawing on
contemporary debates about the politics of medicine and reproductive
rights, the play urges us to consider how culturally prescribed notions of
"the normal" shape our views on and decisions about our bodies. The
audience is invited to remain after the reading for a discussion.
Directed by Gina Bloom (English, University of Michigan).
Anders als die Anderen (Different From the Others, 1919)
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Thursday, September 23, 4:00 pm
The Project on Gender-Based Censorship presents Hirschfeld's historic film,
the earliest known screen depiction of a homosexual protagonist. The film
was produced and premiered in 1919, during a unique post-World-War-I window
of opportunity, when Germany had no film censorship. It was directed by
Richard Oswald and starred Conrad Veidt, who both had distinguished careers
in the 1920's, Germany's golden age of silents, and who both fled the Third
Reich to continue their careers in Hollywood. All that is preserved today
is a 25-minute fragment of the original 90-minute feature film. Hirschfeld
scholar Professor James Steakley (Department of German, University of
Wisconsin, Madison) will lead a question and answer session on the film,
and UM Professor Martin Pernick (History) will compare it with American sex
education films of the same period.
Symposium: Enacting Sexual Bodies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the
Founding of "Sexual Science"
Friday, September 24
Exhibit Viewing:
Art Lounge, Michigan Union, 1-3 pm
Panel discussion:
Anderson Room, Michigan Union, 3-6 pm
Reception to follow in the Art Lounge
The Rackham Summer Interdisciplinary Institute presents a detailed
discussion problematizing the complex history and workings of Hirschfeld's
theories and the Institute for Sexual Science. Panelists will examine the
paradoxical combination of emancipatory social reform projects, such as
advocacy for birth control, abortion, and homosexual rights, and the
simultaneous development of the eugenics movement. While the Institute did
not present its interest in eugenics in racializing terms, the exhibit
itself reveals some complex and disturbing links that have yet to be
explored thoroughly.
Speakers:
David Halperin, Department of English, University of Michigan
Scott Spector, Departments of German and History, University of Michigan
Dennis Sugrue, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical
School, and Gender Services Program, University of Michigan Health System
Sandra Seekins, Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan
Kristin McGuire, Department of History, University of Michigan
Moderator: Gina Bloom, Department of English, University of Michigan
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