Sex, Gender, Identity, And Russian
Meet comp lit major Jeri Brand ’19.
Major: Comparative Literature
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Thesis adviser: Prof. Jan Mieszkowski [German]
Thesis: Transgender Bioterrorism: Appropriating Technologies of Identification towards Hormonal Designification
What it’s about: My thesis is about the ways that neoliberalism constrains the field of socially viable sex/gender manifestations by demanding an artificial equivalence between identity, the body, and the speaking subject. I approach this effect from a transgender perspective that sees all sex/gender configurations as technological products, and ultimately call for the replacement of “I am” neoliberal transness with a “yes, and” rhizomatic transness that refuses normalization or ipseity.
What it’s really about: Me!
In high school: I was depressed and angry almost all the time. The general social environment of my high school was never a great fit for me, and my junior and senior years were defined by my being the only openly trans person to ever attend that school. I had to continually justify my basic personhood to my peers, my teachers, and the administration; I was always on the defensive and had absolutely no leeway to be creative with my gender expression. For me, a major factor in choosing to go to 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ was my need to be in an environment where most students, faculty, and staff share at least a basic understanding of what transness is and how to treat trans people with respect.
Influential professors: Prof. Peter Steinberger’s [political science] Being and Time and Politics class taught me how to think philosophically, such that neither nuance nor precision is sacrificed for the other’s sake. Prof. Kris Cohen’s [art history 2011–] The Art of Capitalism class taught me that you learn far more at the margins than in the center.
Influential book: The Zohar
Cool stuff: Judicial Board, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Peer Group. I became a barista, learned Russian, ran a student art show.
Challenges I faced: There are only a few recurring courses that prioritize sex/gender scholarship, so I had to design my own plan of study—this is what led me to an interdisciplinary major. Part of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s initial appeal was that the college is small enough to accommodate student-designed programs of study, and I’m glad that I was able to take advantage of that in planning my own curriculum.
How 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ changed me: 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ taught me that disagreement is valuable in its own right, and that a willingness to be wrong is the best way to genuinely learn and grow as a person. Coming out of a hostile social environment in high school, I was terrified to be interpersonally or intellectually vulnerable. I unlearned that fear at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ partly by being in conferences where professors cultivated meaningful and respectful debate, and partly by developing a lot of emotionally intimate friendships with very smart, opinionated people.
What’s next: I plan to enroll in an English PhD program with the goal of becoming a queer and gender studies professor.
Tags: Academics, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, Students, Thesis, What is a 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵie?