Closeted/Out in the Quadrangles - A History of LGBTQ Life at the University of Chicago

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria

Oral history interview transcript from the University of Chicago Oral History Project documenting Deborah Gould’s path to the university and her evolving intellectual and political interests between graduate school and her later years on campus. The discussion traces her decision to attend Chicago, early study plans in political science, participation in feminist organizing and advocacy for women, and reflections on gendered and institutional dynamics. It also recounts how anti-racist engagement and critical reading groups shaped her views and intensifying radicalization, within a largely non-harassing but challenging environment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Interview Overview

Personal Background and Arrival at the University of Chicago

Academic Focus and Changes in Interests

Feminist Organizing and Institutional Experiences

Anti-Racist Engagement and Radicalization

Closeted/Out in the Quadrangles: A History of LGBTQ Life at the University of Chicago ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW \#58 GOULD, DEBORAH (1964-)AM 1990 PhD 2000 At U of C: 1987-2004 Interviewed: 2013 (1 session) Interviewer: Lauren Stokes Transcript by: Lauren Stokes Length: 01:36:01 Interview August 13, 2013 at Deborah’s house in Chicago. [00:00:00] LS: Hi, this is Lauren Stokes, and I’m interviewing Deborah Gould on August 13, 2013 in her home. Alright, so we like to start these interviews by asking how you ended up at the University of Chicago. DG: Let’s see. I graduated from college in 1986, and I guess my senior year I applied for graduate schools, and would have started in the fall of 86 but decided to take a year off, and so asked—and Chicago was a place where I got a good package, so I decided to go. I think there were other reasons, probably, I think I wanted to be in an urban environment. I had grown up in the suburbs outside of San Francisco, and had gone to Wesleyan, in Middletown, Connecticut, for college, and I think really unconsciously I was wanting tobe in an urban environment, and so of the places that I got in to graduate school, Chicago just seemed appealing to me. I don’t think I knew at all what I was getting into in terms of the University of Chicago. I think I knew that it was a very cerebral place, a very brainy place, but I don’t think I really knew. So anyway, I took, I ended up taking a year off and asked Chicago to defer my admission and they did, so I started graduate school in 87, and yeah. So I think there was some unconscious desires on my part to be in an urban environment [LS: Sure] but I don’t think I realized that at all, I just thought “Oh, it’s a good school, I’ll go there, they gave me a good package, I’ll go there.” LS: Yeah, all good reasons. What were you studying at that point in time? DG: It’s kind of funny, I came in, I was in the Political Science department and I was going to study weapons systems and deterrence and balances of power in international politics, basically. John Mearsheimer was in the department at the time, I don’t know if he still is, and I think I kind of came to study with him. Yeah. And then within the first couple of years…Well, then I dropped out in 1990, and by that point my intellectual interests had really transformed dramatically. [LS: Sure], and I kind of, I got involved, I’m trying to think when—I mean, when I came to the graduate program, there was one tenured woman in the department, and I think there had only ever been one tenured woman [LS: Wow], and that was Susanne Rudolph. There may have been—I don’t even think there were other women who were untenured, on the tenure track at that point. Fairly quickly a number of us formed a group called Shakti, which was a feminist, we called it a feminist study action group, and I’m trying to remember, that was maybe in 1987, maybe 1988, and it included, it was all political science women graduate students, and we were doing a lot of study amongst ourselves and we also were putting pressure on the department to hire more women, do more to get more women graduate students there, and, I don’t think I had any idea that the University of Chicago had the reputation that it had, I don’t think I realized that it was not the most hospitable place for women. LS: Did you have, kind of, experiences in your first couple of years that made you realize that it was not the most hospitable place? DG: Well, I think the fact that there were probably I don’t know how many faculty were in the political science department at that point [LS: but one woman, yeah], but it was a large department, and it was certainly over 20 and it was maybe over 30 faculty. [LS: Yeah.] Yeah, one woman, and she had a lot of prestige, actually, and she was close to retirement, I think, at that point, maybe she retired within ten years after that or something, but forme it was a period when I was…so even though I

FAQs

Why did Deborah Gould decide to attend the University of Chicago for graduate school?

She chose Chicago because it offered a strong funding package and because she wanted an urban environment. She also describes not fully understanding the university’s culture when she arrived.

What was Gould studying when she entered the Political Science department?

She initially planned to study weapons systems, deterrence, and balances of power in international politics, influenced by faculty in the department at the time.

How did feminist and anti-racist groups affect Gould’s development while at U of C?

She joined a feminist study action group called Shakti, which pushed the department for more women and more equitable hiring. She also connected with women working from anti-racist perspectives and participation in reading and study groups that helped unravel her earlier liberal views about race.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria