Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Classification Researcher to Headline Syracuse Symposium Dec. 4-5

Wednesday, November 29, 2017, By Rob Enslin
Share
Humanities CenterSchool of Information StudiesSyracuse Symposium

melissa_adlerSyracuse Symposium continues its yearlong look at “Belonging” with a visit by a leading expert in classification science.

On Monday, Dec. 4, Melissa Adler, assistant professor of information and media studies at Western University in London, Ontario, will discuss “Consequences of Classification: Systemic Violence against Marginalized Communities” from 5:15-6:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.

The following day, she will lead a small-group workshop on “Taxonomic Repair Work” from 9 a.m. to noon in room 304 of the Tolley Humanities Building.

Both events are free and open to the public; however, the latter requires registration. To R.S.V.P., please contact Rachel Clarke, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, at rclark01@syr.edu.

Adler’s visit will consider how systems of classification permeate almost every academic field.

“Drawing primarily on historical texts, she will explore some of the processes by which the marginalization of queer and racialized subjects become systemic,” says Clarke, who co-organized Adler’s visit with Patrick Williams, librarian for literature, rhetoric and digital humanities. “Her research concerns the history of library classifications, as they intersect with state and cultural discourses about race and sexuality.”

While queer studies and critical race studies share similar histories of oppression, they are not alone. Williams says critical animal studies and disability studies usually fall into this category, too.

“All of these fields are deeply invested in the critique and production of taxonomies and language. Their subjects push the limits of classifications in unique and compelling ways,” he adds.

The author of “Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge” (Fordham University Press, 2017), Adler will follow her lecture with a workshop on how classification systems, from biological taxonomies to library organization systems, reflect the values of their creators and exert power in defining relationships of belonging.

“‘Cruising the Library’ examines the history of sexuality through the lens of Library of Congress classifications,” Adler writes. “My next project, tentatively called ‘Organizing Knowledge to Save the World,’ is a feminist critique of knowledge organization systems that aspire to universality in reach, scope or design.”

Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, Syracuse Symposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Drama Department to Virtually Present New Theatrical Work Inspired by University’s 150th Anniversary
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Erica Blust
  • Professor Rahman Awarded Google Grant to Engage Underrepresented Students in Computing Research
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Alex Dunbar
  • Special Collections Research Center Launches Latin American 45s Digital Collection
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Cristina Hatem
  • VPA Faculty to Present World Premieres at Society for New Music Concert Jan. 31
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By News Staff
  • ‘Democracy on Trial: Can We Save It?’
    Friday, January 22, 2021, By News Staff

More In STEM

Professor Rahman Awarded Google Grant to Engage Underrepresented Students in Computing Research

Electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) Professor Farzana Rahman received a 2020 Google exploreCSR award to fund the development of an undergraduate student engagement workshop program, Research Exposure in Socially Relevant Computing (RESORC). The RESORC program will provide research opportunities…

Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Director of Forensics Kathleen Corrado

After 25 years working in the field of forensic science and over two decades of executive experience as a laboratory director, Kathleen Corrado has been named director of the Forensic and National Security Science Institute (FNSSI) in the College of…

Hehnly Lab Awarded $1.2M NIH Grant to Research Critical Tissue Formation

A key process during the development of an embryo is tissue morphogenesis, where the number of cells in an organism increase through cell division and tissues begins to take shape. Heidi Hehnly, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded a…

The Role of Digital Forensics and Tracking Down US Capitol Riot Criminals

With just under a week left before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, investigators and law enforcement agencies across the country are working speedily to identify as many of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot offenders as they can. Knowing exactly…

A&S Researchers Awarded $2.1M Grant to Study Causes of Congenital Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting nearly 1 percent of births in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors have been unable to lower that number…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.