Colin R. Johnson (Vitae)
crj2@indiana.edu

Assistant Professor of Gender Studies

Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, American Studies and Human Biology

PhD in American Culture, University of Michigan
MA in American Culture, University of Michigan
BA with honors in Law, Letters and Society, University of Chicago

Undergraduate Courses

GNDR G101 – Gender, Culture and Society

GNDR G105 – Sex, Gender and the Body

GNDR G206 – Gay Histories/Queer Cultures

GNDR G340 – Gender, Geography, Sex and Space

GNDR G350 – Queer Theory

HONS H212 – Ideas and Experiences

HUBI B301 – The Intricate Human

Graduate Courses

 GNDR G702 – Researching Gender Issues

GNDR G701 – Graduate Topics in Gender Studies: Queer Historicism

GNDR G704 – The Cultural Politics of Sexuality in the 20th Century

For the past ten years my research has focused on the history of gender and sexuality in the non-metropolitan United States during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.  I am particularly interested in the history of gender non-conformity and same-sexual behavior during this period and am currently completing a book dealing with this subject.  The book is tentatively entitled The Little Gay Bar on the Prairie: Gender, Geography and the Invention of Sexuality in Non-Metropolitan America and it deals with a number of issues including:  the relationship between turn-of-century American agriculturalists and the eugenics movement; sex education and moral reform campaigns in rural areas; homosexuality among migrant agricultural workers; the experience of gender and sexual eccentrics in small-towns; drag, homoerotcism and queer masculinity in the Civilian Conservation Corps; and female masculinity in American farm women.  Although it is still in the very early stages of development, my next project is likely to focus on the sexual culture of American suburbs during the post-war era.    In addition to the history of gender and sexuality, additional areas of interest include 19th and 20th century US regional literature, the history of agriculture and the environment, queer theory, psychoanalytic theory, and the history of science and technology.  Before coming to Indiana University I held fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, The Johns Hopkins University’s Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality and the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender. 

Publications

Books

 The Little Gay Bar on the Prairie: Gender, Geography and the Invention of Sexuality in Non-Metropolitan America [In Progress]

Book Chapters

 “Homosexuals From Haystacks: Gay Liberation and the Specter of Queer Majority in Rural California, circa 1970” in Subalternity and Difference: Investigations From India and the United States, Gyanendra Pandey, ed.  London: Routledge, [Forthcoming].

“Casual Sex: Subaltern Sexuality ‘On the Road’ in Early Twentieth Century America” in Subaltern Citizens and Their Histories: Investigations From India and the United States, Gyanendra Pandey, ed.  London: Routledge, 2009. 63-76.

Journal Articles

 “Casual Sex: Towards a ‘Prehistory’ of Gay Life in Bohemian America.” Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies 10.3 (November 2008): 303-320.

“Homosexuals in Unexpected Places? An Introduction.” American Studies 48.2 (Summer 2007): 5-8.

Johnson, Colin R. “Camp Life: The Queer History of ‘Manhood’ in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1937.” American Studies 48.2 (Summer 2007): 19-36.  Winner of the Stone-Suderman Prize given by the Mid-America American Studies Association in recognition of the best essay published each year in the journal American Studies.

Reviews

 “BOOK REVIEW:  The Lesbian and Gay Movements: Assimilation or Liberation? By Craig R. Rimmerman.”  American Studies 49.2 [Forthcoming].

Other Publications

 “Dandyism,” “Dating,” and “Metrosexuals” in Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Fedwa Malti-Douglas,ed.Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 369-371, 376-382, 1006.

“Rural Space: Queer America’s Final Frontier” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 13 January 2006. B15-16.

“Urban, Suburban, and Rural Geographies” in Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America, Stein, Marc, ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. 217-222.