U of A and the NWA Community Celebrate Pride Month

Groups across Northwest Arkansas, including several from the University of Arkansas, are hosting and participating in events all June long to celebrate Pride Month, which highlights LGBTQIA+ voices, experiences and issues.

The 2021 festivities include Northwest Arkansas’ 17th Annual Pride Parade and multiple other events hosted by NWA Equality, as well as special art collections and activities at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and more.

Additionally, profiles on the Fulbright College DEI blog will spotlight faculty and staff whose research interests focus on LGBTQAI+ areas or who are allies of the LGBTQAI+ community, and social media accounts including the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, College of Arts and Sciences, Uark page and the University of Arkansas PRIDE Alumni Society will feature more highlights.

“Pride Month is a period to celebrate LBGTQAI+ people’s existence and resistance as well as to reflect on our past and present struggles,” said Edvan Brito, director of the Portuguese Program and an assistant professor of Portuguese at the U of A.

Lisa Corrigan, director of the Gender Studies Program and professor of communication, added that Pride Month also commemorates the Stonewall riots – which occurred at the end of June 1969 – in response to police brutality against gay patrons, transgender patrons, and drag queens in New York City at the Stonewall Inn.

To learn more, Corrigan said the Gender Studies Program offers “coursework in Queer Theory, Feminist Theories and Texts, Gender and Communication, and various special topics courses that deal with LGBTQIA+ issues in literature, history, politics and popular culture.”

“We also have a monthly colloquium series that explores LGBTQIA+ issues from a multitude of perspectives,” she said. More information about the Gender Studies Program can be found online.

In celebration of Pride Month, the University Libraries has also compiled a list of streaming movies and documentaries available to all students, staff and faculty, as well as resources from the Children’s Literature Collection and a virtual book display featuring children’s and young adult books with links to related teaching guides and discussion questions.

To learn more about the U of A’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, visit diversity.uark.edu.