News & Events | Duke University Libraries

Upcoming Exhibit:

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick portrait by H.A. Sedgwick — Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, portrait by H. A. Sedgwick

“An Open Mesh of Possibilities”

Thinking Queerness with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s Archive

February 21, 2025 – August 2, 2025

This exhibit explores the multifaceted ways in which the writings and artwork of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950 - 2009) brings queerness into life. A poet, literary critic, artist, mentor, professor, and former faculty member at Duke, Sedgwick is perhaps best known as one of the founders of the field of Queer theory. Objects are primarily selected from the Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Papers.

Exhibit website: https://library.duke.edu/exhibits/2025/Sedgwick

Curator: Katherine Carithers, Ph.D student, English Department, Duke University

Events:

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Exhibit Opening Event

Wednesday. February 26, 2025 (11 am - 6pm)

Rubenstein Library, Room 153, Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room

R.S.V.P. to Attend

11:00-12:15 Opening session:
Brief welcomes; opening remarks by Jennifer Nash, Jean Fox O'Barr Women's Studies Distinguished Professor

Opening address by Adam Frank, Professor of English Languages and Literatures at University of British Columbia

Curator Remarks Katherine Carithers, Ph.D. candidate, English Department, Duke

12:15-1:45 Lunch and Exhibit exploration

1:45-2:45 Lecture:

by Jane Hu, Assistant Professor at University of Southern California

2:45-3:00 Coffee

3:00 - 4:30 Exhibit roundtable:

Moderated by Robyn Wiegman, Professor of the Programs in Literature and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Duke University

Cole Adams, Ph.D. candidate, Program in Literature, Duke University
Julien Fischer, Candidate Psychoanalyst; Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center and Lecturer, Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Stanford University.
Christina Olivares, Ph.D. candidate, Department of English Education, Teachers College at Columbia University
Annie Sansonetti, Ph.D. candidate, Performance Studies, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

4:30-5:15 Closing address

Cindy Patton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University

5:15- 6:15 Reception

Note: This program is in-person. The talks will be recorded and videos will be shared online after the event, but will not be streamed live.

Sponsored by: the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture; Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Foundation; Duke Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies; Duke Program in Literature; Duke Department of English; Franklin Humanities Institute; and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

Women at the Center

Spring, 2024 newsletter: 2024-2025 research travel grant recipients; Rosetta Reitz Musical Archive of Care; Beyond the Bingham Center; classes supported during the spring semester.

Exhibit: June 10 – December 3, 2023

The Jerry and Bruce Chappell Family Gallery

During the summer and fall of 2023 we were pleased to offer an exhibit, curated with intention by Kamau Pope, honoring the decades-long work of Mandy Carter, a Durham, NC-based Black lesbian feminist activist who has been central in the struggle for social justice, especially nonviolent resistance, Black freedom movements, and queer liberation.

The exhibit design was created by a Durham, NC-based, Black-owned firm, Kompleks Creative, and the typeface was designed, in honor of Mandy Carter, by Tré Seals of Vocal Type.

Access the online exhibit and event recordings here.

EXHIBIT EVENTS:

Opening Event: Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Rubenstein Library

Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. , via zoom

“Looking Back, Marching Forward: Mandy Carter, Walter Naegle, Barbara Smith, and Kamau Pope in Conversation,” reflecting on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the 30th anniversary of the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation (1993), and the urgency of connecting history with current struggles for freedom and justice.

Event recording here.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 5:00 p.m., Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room, Rubenstein Library

"In Conversation about the National Black Justice Coalition: Mandy Carter, Victoria Kirby York (NBJC), Eric D. Martin (NCCU), and Kamau Pope (Duke)" exploring the history and future of America’s leading national civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people.

Event recording here.

Friday, November 10, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Chappell Family Gallery, Rubenstein Library

Guided Tour and Writing workshop with Mandy Carter.

In partnership with the Griot and Grey Owl Black Southerns Writers Conference

Event recording here.

Writing and Talking about Memoir: Little Brother, a Conversation with Sallie Bingham

Cover image from the book titled Little Brother, a Memoir. It is an image of a male child wearing a jacket and dark glasses.

the Bingham Center hosted a conversation with author Sallie Bingham on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET. In her latest memoir, Little Brother, Bingham reflects on her youngest sibling, Jonathan, and his all-too brief life. This program will be recorded and shared online. To learn more about this book or to purchase a copy, visit Sarabande Books.

View the recording of this event here.