ECU guest lecturer to discuss ‘A History of the International LGBT Movement’

Laura Belmonte (Contributed photo)

Dr. Laura Belmonte, professor of history and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, will visit East Carolina University for the 36th annual Lawrence F. Brewster Lecture in History. She will discuss “A History of the International LGBT Movement,” at 5 p.m., Oct.15, in the Main Campus Student Center, Ballroom C.

“The Brewster Lecture series seeks to provide students, faculty and members of the community with the opportunity to hear distinguished historians share their knowledge and mastery of the discipline,” said Dr. Christopher Oakley, chair of the Department of History. “We are honored this year to include Dr. Belmonte among our distinguished list of lecturers. Her forthcoming study on the international history of the LGBT movement promises to make a significant scholarly contribution.”

Dr. M. Todd Bennett, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of History, said, “Many scholars have studied the LGBT movement from a domestic angle. Few, though, have situated the movement in an international context. Dr. Belmonte’s Brewster Lecture — and her forthcoming book from which it is drawn — promises to break new ground.”

Before joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, Belmonte served as associate dean for instruction and personnel in the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University. While at OSU, Belmonte co-founded and served as director of the American Studies Program; co-founded the Gender and Women’s Studies Program; and served as head of the Department of History.

A specialist in the history of U.S. foreign relations, Belmonte is author of “Selling the American Way: U.S. Propaganda and the Cold War” and numerous articles on cultural diplomacy. Her most recent book, “A History of the International LGBT Movement,” will be published by Bloomsbury as part of the series “New Approaches to International History.”

Belmonte serves on the nominating committee of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. She also has served on the society’s national council and the editorial board of its official journal, Diplomatic History. She is serving her third three-year term on the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee for Historical Diplomatic Documentation, a group that participates in ongoing debates over transparency and declassification and the intersections between historical events and contemporary diplomacy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Georgia and received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.

The Brewster Lecture, established in 1983, is free and open to the public. Parking is available for $1 per hour in the new parking deck located behind the Main Campus Student Center at 501 East 10th St. The deck is accessible by turning down Student Center Way. Individuals requesting accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should call 252-737-1016 (Voice/TTY) at least 48 hours prior to the event.

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Contact: Jessica Kestler, administrative associate, Department of History, kestlerj18@ecu.edu, 252-328-6155