Chicago, IL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/15/2007 --The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network (LGBT-RAN) honors Dr. Kathryn Lofton as the 2006-07 recipient of its LGBT Religious History Award.
The LGBT Religious Archives Network created this award in order to promote scholarship in LGBT studies in religious history. This History Award was first given in 2005, thus making Dr. Lofton its second recipient. Dr. Lofton will receive the LGBT Religious History Award and its cash prize at a dinner later this spring.
“LGBT-RAN is pleased to be able to recognize outstanding scholarship in this emerging field of LGBT religious history,” noted LGBT-RAN coordinator Mark Bowman. “The jury members chose Dr. Sauer’s work from among the many fine papers they reviewed – for its radical interpretation, analysis and solid presentation. Overall we were very impressed by the caliber and breadth of scholars submitting papers for this award.”
Dr. Lofton’s paper was entitled, "Queering Fundamentalism: The Case of John Balcolm Shaw (1860-1935).” Lofton’s research and writing on John Balcolm Shaw illuminates the contradiction of life in a society that simultaneously celebrates individual self-expression alongside the propagation of more socially restrictive structures. Lofton uses a case brought against Shaw as a point of departure to explore the complexity of early fundamentalism, and the interconnectedness of religious belief and sexual practice. Dr. Lofton is the assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Program in American Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington.
The 2005 recipient, Dr. Michelle Sauer, who’s paper was entitled “Representing the Negative: Positing the Lesbian Void in Medieval English Anchoritism", was chosen in the award’s inaugural year.
The LGBT Religious Archives Network is already accepting submissions for the 2007 competition. Complete information on the award can be found at http://www.lgbtran.org/historyaward.htm. For more information on the LGBT Religious Archives Network, visit their web site at http://www.lgbtran.org.