“I am jeopardizing everyone wherever I go”: Toward a Trans* History of the Holocaust.

Program via webinar on Wednesday, October 4 at 6:30 p.m.

This presentation by Noë L. Bourdeau bridges the fields of Holocaust studies and transgender studies to examine the role of gender non-conformity during the Third Reich and Shoah. It explores how a trans* reading of the sources can expand ways of thinking about sexuality, emotions, survival, resilience, and power in the context of the Holocaust. What can a focus on gendered boundary crossing reveal about how logics of power function to reinforce multiple and often different definitions of normalcy? How do stigmatized notions of gender and sexuality work to further ostracize Jews in these instances? This work maintains that trans* analysis as a theoretical model promises to reveal the gradation of gendered experiences that are integral to Holocaust history.

This program is offered in partnership with Congregation Kol Ami in recognition of National Coming Out Day.