The Tobin Distinguished Lecture Series was inaugurated in 2024. It brings international scholars working at the forefront of queer and trans German studies to UBC to share their scholarship with students, staff, faculty, and community members. The aim of the series is to support queer and trans German studies scholarship and teaching at UBC and to recognize important contributions to and advancement of queer and trans German studies.
Robert D. Tobin (1961–2022) was a major figure in German cultural studies whose work was vital for the formation of queer and trans German studies as distinct areas of scholarship and teaching. Before his untimely death, Tobin was the Henry J. Leir Chair in Literature, Language, and Culture at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Tobin’s work encompassed 18th-century literature, contemporary music and media, and local queer history. Next to an extensive list of publications that continue to inform scholarship, Tobin was a mentor to many scholars working internationally.
The Tobin Distinguished Lecture Series is supported by the UBC Faculty of Arts and community fundraising. It is housed in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies and is administered by the Centre for European Studies.
Current and Past Tobin Lectures
Ben Miller (Free University of Berlin), “In Search of Lost Time: Primitivist Homomythopoetics and the Self-Invention of the White Gay Man.” September 13, 2024. Calendar link.
Support the Lecture
give.ubc.ca/queer-german-studies
Contact
Dr. Kyle Frackman, Associate Professor of German Studies (kyle.frackman@ubc.ca)
Dr. Ervin Malakaj, Associate Professor of German Studies (ervin.malakaj@ubc.ca)