Work music and sex among senior citizens are the topics on tap for the Spring 2013 Women’s and Gender Studies Research Lecture Series at MTSU.

Cover art for Antony and the Johnsons’ “Be My Husband” is shown above.

Jazz great Nina Simone is shown in this cover art for “Be My Husband.”

Kara McLeland will present “Oh Daddy/Mama, Love Me Good: Work Songs, Civil Rights and a (Trans) Gendered Dialogue” at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in Room 100 of the James Union Building.

McLeland, a graduate student in the Department of Music, will trace a specific music dialogue that was carried on through three versions of the same tune: the 1945 African-American work song “Rosie,” Nina Simone’s 1965 adaptation of the song’s melody for “Be My Husband” and a 21st century cover of Simone’s song by Antony and the Johnsons.

On Thursday, March 21, Dr. Jessica Kratzer will present “Senior Citizen Sexuality: A Discussion of the Intersection of Sex, Communication, Gender and Aging.”

Dr. Jessica Kratzer

Kratzer, an assistant professor of communication studies, debuted her Sex and Communication course in the fall 2012 semester. Her students viewed and were asked to comment on “Still Doing It,” a documentary in which several elderly women discussed their sex lives.

Each academic year, the Women’s and Gender Studies Research Lectures present a wide range of feminist perspectives from MTSU faculty and students at informal gatherings.

The lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Pat Bradley, professor of English, at 615-904-8128 or pat.bradley@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)