哈佛大學設立首個同性戀研究教授職位

Harvard University is creating an endowed professorship in lesbian, gay, biSexual and transsexual studies, the first of its kind in the United States and reflecting a rise in sex-related academia nationwide.

The Ivy League school will invite visiting scholars to teach on sexuality and issues related to sexual minorities for one semester each, a Harvard official said on Wednesday.

While other universities have course offerings and degree programs in sexuality studies, Harvard's healthy endowment allows the professorship on the subject to be funded in perpetuity, the first university in the country to do so.

The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus raised $1.5 million to fund the role, to be known as the "F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender and Sexuality", named after American studies scholar and literary critic, F.O. Matthiessen.

Matthiessen, who died in 1950, chaired an undergraduate program in history and literature at Harvard, where he kept his homosexuality largely secret.

Harvard gave undergraduates the option in 2003 of concentrating on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues as an academic field, according to the university.

Academic programs related to sex, sexuality and sexual orientation are sprouting on American campuses -- from Yale University to the University of California Berkeley and the University of Minnesota.

"It's not so much that we've been able to raise this money, it's that Harvard and the faculty at Harvard have accepted this perpetual endowment for gay and lesbian studies," said Mitchell Adams of the Harvard Board of Overseers, one of two governing boards at the Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The position indicates growing acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Adams added.

Candace Gingrich, a youth outreach manager at gay-rights advocates the Human Rights Campaign, said the new role gives students in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community something to aspire to.

"Any time a university as renowned as Harvard feels it is important and sees it is important to have an endowed professorship in LGBT studies is recognition that it is an important issue," said Gingrich, sister of former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

哈佛大學將設立首個研究男女同性戀、雙性戀、變性問題的講座教授職位，這在美國首開先河，反映出性研究在全國範圍內升溫。

常青藤盟校哈佛大學的一位官員於本週三稱，他們將邀請訪問學者講授性課題，以及與少數“性”羣體相關的課題，每人授課一個學期。

在性研究領域，有些學校設立了相關課程和學位，而哈佛大學的健康基金則爲性研究教授職位提供了永久的資金支持，這在美國還是首例。

哈佛大學同性戀者協會爲該職位募集了150萬美元資金，該職位以美國研究學者兼文學批評家F.O.馬蒂森的名字命名，全稱爲“F.O.馬蒂森性別與性行爲學科客座教授。”

馬蒂森於1950年去世，生前在哈佛大學主管一個歷史與文學學士學科。在哈佛大學期間，他的同性戀身份幾乎不爲人所知。

哈佛大學稱，自2003年開始，本科生就可以在女同性戀、男同性戀、雙性戀、變性等幾個課題中任選其一，作爲自己的學術研究領域。

與性、性行爲以及性取向有關的學術研究在美國大學裏悄然興起，其中包括耶魯大學、加州大學伯克利分校、明尼蘇達州大學。

哈佛大學的管理機構之一、馬薩諸塞州劍橋市哈佛大學監事委員會的米切爾•亞當斯說：“這並不只是因爲我們能籌到錢了，而是因爲哈佛大學和哈佛大學的教員們已經能夠接受爲同性戀研究提供永久的資金支持了。”

亞當斯補充道，這一職位的設立表明，人們越來越能接受男女同性戀、雙性戀和變性羣體了。

同性戀權利倡導組織“人權運動”的一個青年分支機構的主管坎迪斯•金裏奇稱，男女同性戀、雙性戀、變性（LGBT）羣體的學生對新職位寄予了厚望。

前衆議院共和黨發言人紐特•金裏奇的妹妹坎迪斯•金裏奇說：“不管在什麼時候，像哈佛這麼有名的大學覺得設立LGBT研究的講座教授很重要，都是對這一課題重要性的認可。”

Vocabulary:

endowed professorship：An endowed professorship (or endowed chair) is a position permanently paid for with the revenue from an endowment fund specifically set up for that purpose.（用捐贈基金設立的教授職位，通常以捐贈基金的名稱命名，也稱爲講座教授。）

sprout：萌芽，萌發