Annenberg Research Seminar - Karen Tongson

Nov. 2, 2009: Annenberg Research Seminar - Karen Tongson, USC

Join students and faculty for a presentation by Karen Tongson, assistant professor of English and gender studies at the USC College of Letters Arts & Sciences. Her topic: "Inland emperors: Sexuality at the end of the suburbs." Excerpted from her forthcoming book, Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries (NYU Press, 2010), Tongson's talk explores the tangled histories of empire and queer sexuality in Southern California's aptly named Inland Empire (I.E.). From the Cold War-era military bases and defense industries that once resided there "making America strong;" to the re-creations of Spanish missionary culture in its old downtowns; to the genteel, citrus-era Victorianism still discernible in its oldest houses and civic landmarks, Tongson argues that surveying the empire's stubborn monuments today affirms that the I.E. was never just a homogeneous conglomeration of little boxes, but truly the crossroads of empire. The talk also features a discussion about method and cultural studies, since Tongson's work on the Inland Empire combines history, critical geography, queer theory, literature, popular music and memoir.

For more information about Karen Tongson:
http://college.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1008230&CFID=...

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Education

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• USC
• USC Annenberg
• Karen Tongson
• english
• and
• gender
• studies