UIS faculty members publish “Living Out Loud”, a new textbook in LGBTQ+ studies

University of Illinois Springfield faculty members Michael Murphy, associate professor of gender and sexuality, and Brytton Bjorngaard, assistant professor of digital media, have published a new textbook entitled “Living Out Loud: An Introduction to LGBTQ History, Society, and Culture”.

Murphy severed as the overall editor for the book, authoring two chapters, while Brytton produced all original figures and illustrations, and oversaw the image permissions process.

According to the book’s publisher, “Living Out Loud” is the first narrative textbook designed to support college-level “Introduction to LGBTQ Studies” (and similar) courses. Students enrolled in such courses are typically sophomores and juniors, with a range of motivations, interest levels, educational preparation, and academic majors. They may identify (or be on the way to identifying) as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex or other types of gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQ+). Or they may have LGBTQ+ friends or family members who they wish to better support through learning more about their lives, experiences, issues, and accomplishments.

“The goal of ‘Living Out Loud’ is to introduce students to the exciting field of LGBTQ Studies and provide a broad, multidisciplinary foundation for subsequent, more-advanced academic work,” said Murphy.

Unlike many text readers or collections of conference papers in this subject area, which can employ advanced concepts and vocabularies, “Living Out Loud” offers an accessible, student-friendly text with content, tone, language, and design that is appropriate for lower- and mid-level college and university students. It introduces students to foundational topics, concepts, terms, and debates in the rapidly expanding field of interdisciplinary LGBTQ+ Studies.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each focused on a discrete disciplinary or interdisciplinary area of academic study. Care has been taken to include entire chapters or chapter sections from the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The book is unique in its inclusion of chapters on LGBTQ+ Sexual Behavior & Sexual Health; Literature & Visual Arts; Education; Relationships; and, Globalization. Chapter authors have been mindful to address LGBTQ+ racial and ethnic diversity, and better integrate bisexual and transgender people, topics, experiences, and themes.

Murphy has been a faculty member at UIS since 2009. He holds a master’s degree and doctorate in art history and archaeology (with a graduate certificate in women, gender, and sexuality studies) from Washington University in St. Louis.

Bjorngaard has been a faculty member at UIS since 2013. She holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and a master of fine arts degree in graphic design from Iowa State University.

The textbook was published by Routledge and is available for purchase on the publisher’s website at www.routledge.com and from other popular stores and websites including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Reviewer copies may also be ordered on the publisher’s website.

For more information about the book, contact Murphy at 217/206-8510 or mmurp4@uis.edu or Bjorngaard at 217/206-7547 or bbjor2@uis.edu.