“They would look over their shoulder and whisper”: a history of GSAS

William Stell, PhD candidate at Princeton University, will offer a lecture titled “They would look over their shoulder and whisper”: a history of GSAS from 4-5 p.m. on October 29. GSAS (Gender and Sexuality Association for Seminarians), formerly known as BGLASS, will host a pumpkin-decorating event immediately afterward.

This event is hosted by the Center for Theology, Women, and Gender in partnership with the NT 3376 Queer Hermeneutics class, taught by Lindsey Trozzo, and with GSAS.

William Stell is a PhD candidate in the Religion in America subfield at Princeton University and is pursuing a graduate certificate from the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies. His dissertation is titled “Hallelujah I’m Queer!”: Evangelical Gay Activism and the Construction of Antigay Christianity, 1968-1988. He is a Religion and Public Life Graduate Student Fellow with the University’s Center for the Study of Religion and serves as the coordinator for the University’s Gender, Sexuality, and Religion Working Group. He also serves on the steering committee for the American Academy of Religion’s Gay Men and Religion Unit.

Some of Stell’s recent projects have examined theological debates about Deaf education in the early-nineteenth-century United States; the Chicago Defender’s Go-To-A-White-Church Sunday campaign in 1922; and evangelical reception of Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Mollenkott’s book Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? (1978), for which Stell received honorable mention for the 2020-21 LGBTQ Religious History Award, sponsored by the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network.

William completed a BA in rhetoric and culture at Wheaton College (IL) and an MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned certificates in Theology, Women, and Gender and in Black Church Studies.

Vaccination and wearing face coverings while indoors are expected for all campus visitors and guests. Face coverings are required indoors for all people, regardless of vaccination status. Please note speakers may remove their masks while presenting. Additionally, campus visitors should be prepared to share their names, phone numbers, and email addresses at the event, should contract tracing be necessary.

The lecture will be held at Stuart Hall in Room 5. Refreshments and pumpkin carving will take place in the Main Dining Room of Mackay Campus Center. All are welcome to attend, and registration is required. Vaccination is required of all attendees.