Dr. Thomas Klein Gender and Sexuality Speaker Series
This annual speaker series is made possible by the generous donation of Dr. Thomas Klein. The series encourages an active campus community by providing students, faculty, and the public with access to prominent speakers addressing a range of topics related to gender and sexuality.
Dr. Klein earned his bachelor's degree at Wayne State University in 1973. He went on to earn his medical degree at Michigan State University and began his career as a resident in family practice at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago. In 1979, Dr. Klein was one of the few openly gay physicians in Chicago, where he soon earned a reputation as a compassionate doctor who provided quality care in the gay community. This led Dr. Klein to serve on the front line of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Current speaker
Jesse Freidin
Artist Talk with Jesse Freidin: Photographing the Nation's Trans Youth
Focusing on his current series entitled "Are You OK?" Jesse Freidin will discuss the collaborative process of documenting familial love and acceptance amidst the current wave of anti-trans legislation sweeping the country.
Past speakers
Dr. Sami Schalk
Articulating and Enacting Black Disability Politics in the National Black Women's Health Project, 2022
In "Articulating and Enacting Black Disability Politics in the National Black Women's Health Project," Dr. Sami Schalk provides a brief history of the National Black Women's Health Project and analyzes how the organization articulated and enacted Black disability politics within their Black feminist health activism in the 1980s and 1990s. This talk is part of the book Black Disability Politics which explores Black activist and cultural worker engagement with disability as a political and social issue.
Anglea Chen
Asexual Possibilities, 2021
In this talk, Angela Chen, author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, goes beyond ace 101 to discuss where asexuality fits into modern sexual politics and how the asexual lens can complete and clarify what we want and where we go next.