Proposed
2026 Special Events

From the poetry of Walt Whitman to Mary Oliver, to the essays and fiction of contemporary writers like Callum Angus, LGBTQ+ writers have drawn inspiration from nature and the natural world to express queer experience and to imagine queer futures. In this course, we'll explore this relationship through short fiction and poems from selected writers. Through discussion and some short, focused writing, we'll draw upon the beautiful natural surroundings of Chautauqua to tease out how nature models queer transformations.

Tim Francisco (he/him) teaches LGBTQ+ Literature at Youngstown State University where he also served on the diversity committee. In classes, he creates community by exploring the rich and varied histories of queer culture and the way queerness is a way of being and seeing the world, one that is ever changing and dynamic. This class is about how nature—ever changing, generative, and resilient mirrors queer experience and there’s no better place to do than amidst the natural beauty of Chautauqua. In addition to teaching, Francisco is rooted in queer community as a former board member of The Buckeye Flame, Ohio’s statewide LGBTQ+ news and advocacy organization, and a co-founder of The United in Pride fund at The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley. He is also a Shakespesare scholar and trustee of The Shakespeare Association of America, the discipline’s lead organization, serving on the diversity committee. He has published academic articles on early British texts through queer, gender, and class studies approaches.