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LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain examines the similarities and differences between LGBT studies and queer theory and the uneasy relationship between the two in the academic world. This unique book meets the challenge that queer theory presents to the study and politics of gay and lesbian studies with a collection of essays from leading academics who represent a variety of disciplines. These original pieces place queer theory in social and historical contexts, exploring the implications for social psychology, religious studies, communications, sociology, philosophy, film studies, and women's studies. The book's contributors address queer theory's connections to a wide range of issues, including the development of capitalism, the evolution of the gay and lesbian movement, and the study of bisexuality and gender.

Many scholars working in gay and lesbian studies still question the intellectual and political value of queer theory. As a result, queer theory has often been concentrated in the humanities, while gay and lesbian studies are concentrated in the social sciences and history. But this has begun to change in the past 10-15 years, as documented by the 12 essays presented in LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain.

LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain includes:

historical notes on LGBT studies and queer theory
some continuing tensions between LGBT studies and queer theory
doubts about whether queer theory can lead to social change
an analysis of the current state of "proto-fields" of LGBT studies and queer studies in religion
concerns that queer theory's "erasure of identity" feeds into late capitalism
an analysis of variability in social psychologists' studies of anti-homosexual prejudice
an exploration of the commodification of queer identities in independent cinema
how and why the category of bisexuality has been marginalized
a historical review and assessment of recent bisexual theory
a case study of Provincetown, Massachusetts
an investigation of the interarticulation of race/ethnicity and gender
a case study of the struggle to introduce LGBT studies in the curriculum at West Chester University
and much more!

Why would a lesbian raised in a Jewish home have a sudden desire to be a tough-talking Catholic girl? And why would a gay man travel to Ireland in a desperate attempt to escape his "hillbilly" roots? Identity Envy--Wanting to Be Who We're Not explores the connections gay men and lesbians have to religions, races, ethnicities, classes, families of origin, and genders not their own. This unique anthology takes both humorous and serious looks at the identities of others as queer writers explore their own identity envies in personal essays, memoirs, and other creative nonfiction.

Gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered, intersex, and other sexual minorities often feel marginalized by mainstream culture and have a need to belong somewhere, to claim a group as their own. This surprising book presents stories of identity envy that are humorous and hard-hitting, poignant and provocative, written with energy, wit, and candor by many of your favorite writers-and some exciting newcomers.

Identity Envy--Wanting to Be Who We're Not includes:

Gerard Wozek's King Fu-infused "Chasing the Grasshopper"
Max Pierce's fantasy of being a "Child Star" that helped him through a troubled family life
Lori Horvitz's "Shiksa in my Living Room"
D. Travers Scott's "EuroTex"
Perry Brass's "A Serene Invisibility: Turning Myself into a Christian Girl"
Jim Tushinski's ode to Lost in Space, "The Perfect Space Family"
Al Cho's unlikely identification with Laura Ingalls Wilder characters, "Farmer Boy"
Irish-American John Gilgun wishes he could be one of those "Italian-American Boys"
Joan Annsfire rejects her Jewish heritage to become Catholic schoolgirl
Corinne O'Donnell in "The Promise of Redemption"
Andrew Ramer's "Tales of a Male Lesbian"
City slicker Mike McGinty's life with the cattle folk, "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Helen"
and much more!

"This volume is an important one, because it teaches, in the most intimate way possible, the complex lessons of embrace and rejection of sisters. Lesbians do not want to be 'accepted.' We want to be, and to have, sisters. As with all love, the greatest enemy of that goal is fear."-from the foreword by Sheila Kuehl

The first-person accounts of 25 women stand as a powerful and courageous collective effort to address the traditionally homophobic and heterosexist atmosphere within sororities and gain greater understanding of the true nature of sisterhood.

Shane L. Windmeyer is the assistant director of student activities at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Pamela W. Freeman is the assistant dean of students at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.