In celebration of Pride Month, you are cordially invited to the 2nd annual Promoting Research, Innovation and Diversity Education (P.R.I.D.E.) 4 LGBTQ+ Symposium — illuminating and inspiring research, ideas, people and collective action to support LGBTQ+ communities in their many forms. The half-day gathering will bring together Drexel undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, administrators and professional staff as well as members of the broader community.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
12 – 4 p.m.
MacAlister Hall, 6th Floor
The symposium will feature lighting talks, roundtable discussions and — new this year! — a poster session showcasing work from members of Drexel and neighboring universities. Additionally, Jessica Halem, MBA, senior director of the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as the symposium’s keynote speaker.
For the full agenda and to register, please visit our events page.
Presented by Jessica Halem, MBA, Senior Director of the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania
Cultural tides are shifting — and with over 7% of the US population identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and 25% of Gen Z — it is a sea change all around us. While we celebrate increasing acceptance and visibility for these communities, disparities in health, laws and safety persist. Stressors stemming from historical discrimination and contemporary backlash place LGBTQ+ people of all ages at elevated risk for physical and mental health concerns. Within these challenges lie opportunities to enhance the health outcomes and lives of LGBTQ+ people, and in doing so, to enrich our broader society for all. Let’s embark on a journey together to better understanding our role as both change agents and leaders.
This event is hosted by hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and co-sponsored by the Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion and the LGBTQA+ Colleague Resource Group. The Office would like to thank this year’s P.R.I.D.E. Symposium Planning Committee for their contributions to this event.
“We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used to it”: Struggles and Stories to Be Heard for Today and Tomorrow [Circulating Now interview with Drexel’s Randy Sell!]
Dr. Sell was recently interviewed by Circulating Now: From the Historical Collections of the National Library of Medicine as part of promotion for a live-streamed talk that took place on June 8, 2023.
Starting with two documents in the archival collections of the NLM, Dr. Sell will examine how early sexual and gender minority (SGM) Americans worked to normalize the presence of SGMs in society. Ralph Werther (1874-?) hoped that his writings might render “nature’s step-children” lives more tolerable and he “offered no apology” for their publication. Specifically, he hoped to repeal laws under which SGMs were incarcerated, put a stop to a continuous string of murders of these stepchildren, and save “hundreds” of these “melancholy sexual intermediates from suicide.” In addition to these objectives, Allen Bernstein (1913-2008) gives further justification for his writings stating that “travelers returning from strange adventure in far ends of the world owe civilization a report.” But Werther and Bernstein struggled, often unsuccessfully, to get their writings published and into libraries such as the Army Medical Library, the predecessor institution of the NLM. In this talk, Dr. Sell will examine their struggles and stories, and those of other SGM writers, including those working today.