Associate Professor Richard Reitsma recently published an article examining queer narratives and national identity in the peer-reviewed Polish Journal for American Studies. His work, titled “A Queer Romance, Queering the National Romance: LatinX Narratives of Belonging from ‘The Squatter and the Don’ to ‘Red, White, and Royal Blue” marks another significant contribution by Reitsma to the field.
His publication also comes at the end of an exceptionally busy fall semester for Reitsma, who maintained a hectic schedule of international speaking engagements and campus leadership responsibilities.
During Thanksgiving break, Reitsma traveled to Alcalá de Henares, Spain, to present his research on “Ghosts, Magic Realism, and Superheroes: Love & Hope in the Graphic Novels of Julio Anta” at an international conference exploring American identity. He followed this with a virtual presentation for the WNY Refugee Film Festival, discussing the films “Nos Vemos Pronto” and “I Come from Away” in an event sponsored by Journey’s End. On Dec. 18, Reitsma delivered a lecture on “Teaching, Service, and Activism: Borders and Migrations” to an international audience at the University Marie Curie Skłodowska in Lublin, Poland, as part of the Erasmus-sponsored MigraMedia Project.
Here on campus, the director of the international relations program organized the 46th Model UN, which brought more than 400 high school students to Canisius in early November. As founding director of the Borders and Migrations Initiative (BMI), Reitsma hosted a screening of “Green Border” with award-winning director Agnieszka Holland, a presentation of “My Partner” with scriptwriter Lance D. Collins, and a discussion on migration’s root causes featuring Agros International President Alberto Solano and President Emeritus John J. Hurley.
Reitsma is taking a well-earned sabbatical in the coming year.
Submitted by: University Communications
