• Skip to Main
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Dean’s Message
    • About the Liberal Studies Core
    • About Global Liberal Studies
    • About GLS/Global Public Health
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Administration
    • Meet the LS Faculty
    • Faculty Directory
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Academics
    • LS Core Curriculum
    • GLS Curriculum
    • Global Liberal Studies Minor
    • Minor in Translation Studies
    • Global Core Spotlight
    • Writing Program
    • Academic Resources
    • Honors & Awards
    • Academic Integrity Guide
    • Liberal Studies Bulletin
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Admissions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Tuition and Financial Aid
    • Meet Our Students & Alumni
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Advising
    • Liberal Studies Core Advising
    • Global Liberal Studies Advising
    • Registration
    • Forms & Academic Policies
    • Research & Fellowships
    • Internships
    • Career Resources
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Global Study
    • First Year
    • Sophomore Year
    • GLS Junior Year
    • J-Term Study Away Opportunities
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Student Life
    • Meet Our Students & Alumni
    • Student Clubs
    • Student Council
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • First-Year Orientation
    • International Students
    • First Generation Students
    • Service
    • Leadership
    • Graduation
    • Points of Pride
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • News & Events
    • Liberal Studies News
    • Faculty News
    • Black Lives in Global Contexts
    • LS Global Lecture Series
    • LS Student Research Colloquium
    • GLS Graduate Placement Statistics
    • A&S
    • CAS
    • GSAS
    • Liberal Studies
  • Alumni
  • Donate
  • Parents & Families
  • Contact Us
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Dean’s Message
    • About the Liberal Studies Core
    • About Global Liberal Studies
    • About GLS/Global Public Health
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Administration
    • Meet the LS Faculty
    • Faculty Directory
  • Academics
    • LS Core Curriculum
    • GLS Curriculum
    • Global Liberal Studies Minor
    • Minor in Translation Studies
    • Global Core Spotlight
    • Writing Program
    • Academic Resources
    • Honors & Awards
    • Academic Integrity Guide
    • Liberal Studies Bulletin
  • Admissions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Tuition and Financial Aid
    • Meet Our Students & Alumni
  • Advising
    • Liberal Studies Core Advising
    • Global Liberal Studies Advising
    • Registration
    • Forms & Academic Policies
    • Research & Fellowships
    • Internships
    • Career Resources
  • Global Study
    • First Year
    • Sophomore Year
    • GLS Junior Year
    • J-Term Study Away Opportunities
  • Student Life
    • Meet Our Students & Alumni
    • Student Clubs
    • Student Council
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • First-Year Orientation
    • International Students
    • First Generation Students
    • Service
    • Leadership
    • Graduation
    • Points of Pride
  • News & Events
    • Liberal Studies News
    • Faculty News
    • Black Lives in Global Contexts
    • LS Global Lecture Series
    • LS Student Research Colloquium
    • GLS Graduate Placement Statistics
  • Alumni
  • Donate
  • Parents & Families
  • Contact Us

FACULTY NEWS | June 3, 2019

Professor James Polchin’s Book Reviewed by the New Republic; Kirkus

Indecent Advances cover

James Polchin

James Polchin

Photo: Greg Salvatori

Professor James Polchin’s new book, Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall has been published to praise from Kirkus and the New Republic. An early review from Kirkus called it “an enlighteningly provocative cultural history.”

In his article “Finding Stonewall,” the New Republic’s Alexander Chee selects Indecent Advances as one of three books to reconsider our understanding of the Stonewall Riots of 1969: “What makes Polchin’s readings stand out is the way he pursues an underlying story across several seemingly separate crimes. He is interested in the way the stories of these crimes, their prosecution in court and in the press, are shaped by socioeconomic class and race.”

Indecent Advances tells the story of how homosexuals were criminalized in the popular imagination—from the sex panics of the 1930s, to Kinsey study of male homosexuality of the 1940s, and the Cold War panic of Communists and homosexuals in government. Polchin illustrates the vital role crime stories played in circulating ideas of normalcy and deviancy, and how those stories were used as tools to discriminate and harm the gay men who were observers and victims of crime. More importantly, he shows how this discrimination was ultimately transformed by activists to help shape the burgeoning gay rights movement in the years leading up to Stonewall Riots of 1968.

Book Launch

Tuesday, June 4, 7:00–8:30pm
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY, 10012
Free and open to the public; RSVP here

Polchin and Eric Marcus, host of Making Gay History, will discuss this revelatory and meticulously researched book, and its “forgotten” chapter of queer history.

Links

  • James Polchin Faculty Profile
  • “Finding Stonewall” The New Republic
  • Kirkus Reviews
  • LS Stonewall 50 Events

Share this page

Arts & Science

  • Give to Arts & Science
  •  
  •  

College of Arts & Science

  • About CAS
  • Academic Programs
  • Apply to the College

Liberal Studies

  • About LS
  • Academic Programs
  • Apply to Liberal Studies

Graduate School of Arts & Science

  • About GSAS
  • Academic Programs
  • Apply to Graduate School

Get In Touch

Accessibility
© New York University. All rights reserved.