Institute for Tongzhi Studies

532 La Guardia Place, #595
New York, NY 10012
its@tongzhistudies.org email
http://www.tongzhistudies.org/ website

Area of Interest:
Organization - Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Tongzhi, Gender Identity

Primary Ethnic Community Served:
Chinese, Taiwanese

Description:
The Institute for Tongzhi Studies (ITS) is an academic research and exchange program based in the City University of New York led by Chinese speaking educators and researchers. As a joint project run by the Center for Women and Society and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, the Institute for Tongzhi Studies aspires to encourage discussions related to issues of gender, sexuality, and sexual health. ITS seeks to scrutinize layers of discriminating social attitudes, cultural assumptions, and public policies against sexual minorities in Chinese communities around the world. Through education, research, and exchange, ITS coordinates with institutions with shared values in order to build a body of scholarly works to further the study of gender and sexuality in Chinese societies.

Our Speaker Series is designed to create dialogues between scholars, educators, students, and artists on issues of gender and sexuality; Through this series ITS builds affiliations between educational institutions, research centers, and academic conferences in order to conduct in depth studies of gender/sexuality issues in Chinese speaking communities. We post audio recordings from these lectures on our web site for interested students/scholars around the world who cannot physically attend the lectures. Since Fall of 2003, ITS hosted 6 essential speakers in the field, including: Cui Zi'en, associate professor at the Film Research Institute of the Beijing Film Academy; Dr. Li Yin He of Chinese Academy of Social Science; Zhou Dan, Founding member and legal advisor for Shanghai Hotline For Sexual Minorities, hotline counselor, internet columnist, and licensed lawyer currently practicing in Shanghai; and Wan Yan Hai, Director, Beijing AIZHIXING Institute of Health Education.

Submitted by:
Mai Kiang

New - 09/20/2004