'Glimpses of a Gay World History: From Ancient Egypt to the Modern Museum' Event

Professor Richard B Parkinson has worked on same-sex desire in ancient Egyptian culture and literature, exploring the possibilities of a ‘queer philology’. This year's Stonewall lecture will discuss his research on this topic and the wider issue of how and why museums can represent  same-sex experiences as integral parts of world cultures. He will discuss his experience  of  curating  a ground-breaking LGBT history project at the British Museum, which drew on objects ranging from ancient Egyptian papyri, German ceramics,  images by modern artists such as David Hockney and Bhupen Khakhar, and the Merchant Ivory film ‘Maurice’,  in order to present a ‘Little gay history’ of the world in 40 or so objects from a single museum collection .

The Southampton Stonewall Lecture is an annual lecture at the University of Southampton devoted to the history of homosexuality or LGBT history. The purpose of the lecture is to educate the present about the past; to showcase thinking and research about LGBT history; and to enhance the University of Southampton’s remit of promoting sexual diversity in the regional community.

The inaugural Stonewall Lecture was given in March 2012 by Angela Mason CBE, former executive director of the Stonewall charity. Her lecture, drawing a large audience, was entitled: ‘Twenty-Five Years On: The Fight for LGBT Rights in the UK’ . The 2013 lecture 'Gay Culture in Postwar New York: Community Creation and Conflict' was given by Professor George Chauncey (Yale) and last years was Professor Laura Doan speaking about 'On the Entanglements of Queer Memory and History: The case of Alan Turing' .  You will find video and interview re the lectures by following the links above.

If you wish to attend this very popular lecture please register for a place via the Online Store .  Ensure you book soon to avoid disappointment!  Closing date for bookings is 6 February.

To find out more about Professor Parkinson please visit his online profile.  There will be a charity collection for Stonewall at the end of the lecture.