Prominent gender theorist to lecture at WVU

Morgantown, WV, September 20, 2006:  Elizabeth Grosz, an internationally known philosopher and gender theorist, will present a lecture on music and sexual selection as part of the Jackson Distinguished Lecture Series on October 5.

“Vibration: Darwin, Deleuze and Music” will explore the link between music and sexual selection in the origin and overcoming of the human. This interdisciplinary talk will explore the role of sound and rhythm in animal life. Grosz will argue that human artistic production is the consequence of one’s animal and sexual, rather than rational and cognitive, affiliations.

The lecture will be held in the Mountainlair’s Rhododendron Room from 12 to 1 p.m. on Thursday, October 5. This event is free and open to the public.

Grosz is currently Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University. She has also taught at the University of Sydney, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, SUNY Buffalo, and Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of the books Volatile Bodies and Time Travels, as well as several other works of cultural and gender criticism.

The Jackson Distinguished Lecture Series was created in 2004 by Professor Donald E. Hall, Jackson Chair in the Department of English, as part of his duties as a distinguished professor. The series brings to campus nationally and internationally known scholars in literary and cultural studies to give a public lecture and to work in seminar with graduate students. The series is supported by funds from the Jackson Family Endowment with the support of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English.

For more information, please contact Donald Hall at donald.hall@mail.wvu.edu or at 304-293-3107, ext. 33435.

W-V-U