{"id":135485,"date":"2023-10-16T00:02:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T04:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=135485"},"modified":"2023-10-14T06:40:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-14T10:40:44","slug":"notre-dame-professor-doesnt-see-any-conflict-with-drag-programs-and-university-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/notre-dame-professor-doesnt-see-any-conflict-with-drag-programs-and-university-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre Dame professor doesn\u2019t see \u2018any conflict\u2019 with drag programs and university mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

University departments have previously hosted ‘abortion doula’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A University of Notre Dame professor who teaches a course on drag shows does not see \u201cany conflict\u201d with the material and the university\u2019s Catholic mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cNotre Dame is an institute of higher learning engaged in intellectual inquiry,\u201d Professor Pamela Wojcik told The College Fix<\/em> via email. \u201cI don’t see any conflict with the university mission or culture in the course. I believe our students have the right to consider truths about all topics.\u201d<\/p>\n

She chairs the film, television and theatre department at Notre Dame, which plans to host a drag show on Nov. 3. It’s part of a symposium on \u201cefforts to ban drag,\u201d according to comments the professor made to a conservative student publication on campus.<\/p>\n

The event comes as part of a class assignment for Wojcik\u2019s course, “What a Drag: Drag on Screen – Variations and Meanings.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course looks at many different uses of drag on screen,\u201d Wojcik told The Fix<\/em> via email. She referred to films such as “Tootsie,” “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” “Diary of a Mad Black Women” and “Victor\/Victoria.”<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the course title suggests we are considering different meanings and uses of drag. Some are gay drag, some are straight drag, some are women, some men, some Black drag and some white,\u201d the professor said.<\/p>\n

She said students are not \u201cinstructed\u201d or required to take it but that she is offering the course because drag has a long history in all three areas of her department — film, TV, and theater.<\/p>\n

In the course description, students are required to \u201cread essays on drag, write weekly reflections, attend class discussions, and attend weekly screenings, as well as a symposium on drag and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a vital art form that has existed at least since Greek theater, through Shakespearean theater,\u201d Wojcik said. \u201cThere are currently claims about drag that seem ahistorical and confused about what it is. So I thought it would be helpful to have an informed, respectful conversation about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Princeton drag show celebrates masturbation, abortion<\/a><\/p>\n

The claim Shakespeare\u2019s plays included drag has been criticized<\/a> by former Emory University English Professor Mark Bauerlein.<\/p>\n

The drag show will have four co-sponsors: the gender studies department, the music department, the American Studies department and the Initiative on Race and Resilience.<\/p>\n

None of the four departments who are co-sponsoring the event responded to a request for comment about how their department plays a role in both the symposium and drag performance.<\/p>\n

The university also did not respond to a request for comment on the event.<\/p>\n

Wojcik told<\/a> the conservative Notre Dame paper The Irish Rover<\/em> that she hopes to \u201cgive students knowledge about an art form that has been misdescribed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDrag won\u2019t turn kids gay\u201d she also told the student newspaper. She said it is \u201cdangerous to put bans [on drag].\u201d<\/p>\n

The event has drawn criticism from the leader of a Notre Dame alumni group that seeks to keep the university faithful to its Catholic mission.<\/p>\n

Sycamore Trust Chairman Bill Dempsey referred The Fix<\/em> to a recent bulletin<\/a> his group put out which stated Notre Dame has \u201cfallen out-of-step with the Catholic Church,\u201d through its support of Pride Month back in June to the hosting of this drag show event in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes ever more difficult for Notre Dame to realize Father Hesburgh\u2019s purpose that it be \u2018a place where the Church can do its thinking,\u2019\u201d Dempsey wrote in an email sent to the Sycamore Trust.<\/p>\n

It has become more difficult due to there being \u201cso much enthusiasm for those who act against its most basic teaching on sex, gender, and marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Notre Dame priest, who is also the vice president of student affairs, previously released a video that appeared to endorsed LGBT relationships, as reported<\/a> by The College Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to exist and have a healthy and fun relationship, just like everyone else here at Notre Dame, straight or otherwise,\u201d a bisexual female student says in the video released last year.<\/p>\n

The university also recently allowed an \u201cabortion doula\u201d event to happen on campus, drawing a rebuke from the local bishop, who called it<\/a> \u201cintellectually unserious.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Clemson students protest for return of tampons in men’s bathrooms<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: CREATISTA\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

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