People
Faculty
My work is in the area modern European cultural and intellectual history, with a focus on France and the history of gender and sexuality. I am interested in the history of social thought and the social sciences, especially in France; histories of law, morality, and secularization; cultural modernity; interdisciplinarity and historical methodology. My book Sexing the Citizen: Morality and Masculinity in France, 1870-1920 explained how masculine sexuality was central to the making of republican citizenship and social order. In my current book project, Scandalous Subjects: Intimacy and Indecency in France and French Algeria, 1830-1930, I explore the importance of sexual scandals in the constitution of liberal subjectivity, legal exceptionalism, and colonial power. A related field of interest is contemporary European sexual politics and the place of gender, religion, and culture in ongoing debates about the extent and limits of Europe's borders. I co-direct the Colloquia in Intellectual and Cultural History; the Study Group in French Politics, Culture and Society, and the Humanities Center Seminar in Gender and Sexuality.
Selected Publications
Books
Sexing the Citizen: Masculinity and Morality in France, 1870-1920 (Cornell University Press, 2006)
Selcted Articles and Chapters
“Enemies Within: Defending French Masculinity Between the Wars,” in French masculinities, eds. Christopher Forth and Bertrand Taithe, (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007)
“No Fun and Games until Someone Loses an Eye: Masculinity and Transgression in Bataille and Foucault,” Diacritics, Vol. 26, n. 2, 1996, 18-30.
Judith Surkis
Position: Associate Professor of History and of History and Literature
Field: Modern Europe
Specialty: European cultural and intellectual history; French History; Gender and Sexuality
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Contact Info
27 Kirkland Street
Room 402
Cambridge, MA 02138
617.495.4303 ex.207
Office Hours: Tuesday 4:00-6:00