BEYOND A BOUNDARY:

Intersectional Feminist/Queer Studies Collective at NYU

Beyond a Boundary: the Intersectional Feminist/Queer Studies Collective at NYU is a three-year initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Building on Black feminist theorizations of intersectionality, the Collective functions as a forum for feminist/queer scholars, activists, and cultural workers throughout New York City and the Tri-State region.

IF/Q Studies Graduate Student Working Group

Intersectional Analysis in NYC

Our Collective focuses on how intersectional feminist/queer analysis reframes our understanding of disparate issues (from migration, to climate justice, to policing and surveillance), as they play out in the specificity of our regional location of New York City and the Tri-State area, even as we attend to their transnational and global dimensions. Rather than furthering a narrative of New York City’s exceptionalism, we focus on how the city becomes a microcosm for national and global dynamics and phenomena.

Beyond a Boundary: NYC as Prism

We borrow our title, “Beyond a Boundary,” from CLR James’ classic memoir on cricket and colonialism. James uses cricket as a prism through which to reflect on race, nationalism, class, masculinity, and empire. So too do we use New York City itself as a prism through which to think through the relation between race, gender, and sexuality in local and global contexts. Our title, “Beyond a Boundary,” references our Collective’s engagement with the disparate geographic and discursive terrains of New York City as a global and local site.

Transcending Boundaries: Bridging University, Community, and Disciplines

In addition, our title references our goal to move beyond multiple boundaries: between the university and the communities that surround us; between disciplines and institutions; between academics, artists, and community organizers.