Contemporarily, college can teach people tons. And for male New Jersey Ivy Leaguers hoping to hone skills in the field of fabulousness, school is in.
In the past, education and entertainment rarely crossed. But courtesy of crossdressing, there's a lip-synching synchronicity in town. Princeton University recently announced a brand new school within the school. Thanks to the Gender + Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC), privileged pupils can attend "Drag University."
Per a September 5th Instagram post:
Drag University is a new program housed under the mentorship pillar of the Gender + Sexuality Resource Center. This year-long program will teach about the history of drag, as well as the art form of drag. Sessions will be taught by local drag performers, on-campus partners who know their way around machines, and other students. This program is open to undergraduate and graduate students.
Additionally on the table: scholarships.
The first eight applicants who commit to the entire curriculum and attend orientation will get a scholarship to cover costs of supplies. Orientation is on Sept. 19th at 6:00pm.
It's part of the Center's broader mission, described thusly:
The [GSRC] fosters a supportive and inclusive campus community for women, femme, trans, and queer Princetonians through collaborative programming, education, advocacy, and mentorship.
Vision is everything...
We envision a Princeton University community of practice that affirms, uplifts, and celebrates women, femme, trans, and queer people and that actively resists sexism, cissexism, heteronormativity and other intersecting forms of oppression on campus and beyond.
Drag certainly sits at the heart of America's LGBT hoopla. It's a longstanding form of entertainment -- one that was previously apolitical. But like those born with genetic anomalies -- AKA "intersex" people -- it's been...dragged...into a cultural conflict:
In Politics, Culture Is Queen: Nancy Pelosi Gets Religious During a Star Appearance on a Drag Show
Alabama Dog Shelter Drafts Drag Queen Teacher for Fundraiser, 'Big Bone' Sex Joke Fetches the Feds
New York Spent More Than $200,000 on Drag Queens — at Public Schools
Nevada Air Force Base Hosts Drag Show, and It's Part of a Softer, Gentler Military
Drag Queen's Shame-Slaying Song Tops the iTunes Christian Charts
Christian Church Hosts 'Drag Sunday' to Honor Men Who Moonlight as Sodomizing Nuns
The Gender + Sexuality Resource Center is a potent plus for interested enrollees. And it takes that plus personally:
Much like queer communities have adapted the "plus" to signify that there are a host of other ways you can identify and still belong, we acknowledge this as a central part of our work. The plus also stands for the intersections of our identities and how they can shift and interact with each other. We serve marginalized groups in gender and sexuality spaces and therefore acknowledge that race, class, disability, religion, body size, and many other aspects of our identities add so much more to our experiences of the world.
Apropos of plus-filled purpose -- per The College Fix -- Princeton's Drag University will feature the following workshops:
- October: Drag History
- November: 3D Printing and Scanning for Garments, Wig and Garment Design
- December: Painting Your Face
- February: Drag History, Workshop Refreshers, and Choreography
- March: Attitude and Workshop Time
- April: Drag of Yesterday and Tomorrow, Workshop Time, and Performance
- May: Photoshoot/3D Scan
At least, that's on offer to the lucky ladies who got in. Registration closed due to reached capacity.
Colleges have long offered unusual courses, and drag is arguably as deserving as other peculiar provisions. But would Princeton's program exist if LGBT activism hadn't carried the art form's torch? Either way, RuPaul's Drag Race is all the rage. Perhaps education is catching up with the times -- the transitional ones it helped create. In that regard, we've come full circle -- like a Judy Garland impersonator shaking her shogun-ish shoulders as she stalks along a ring-shaped yellow brick road. Now thanks to Princeton, more kielbasa-crotched Judys will be hitting the bricks.
-Alex
See more content from me:
State University Trains Nurses to Convince Three-Year-Olds They May Not Be Boys or Girls
'Racism, Not Race': Minnesota Claims White Supremacy Kills the Babies of 'Black Birthing People'
Find all my RedState work here.
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