Upcoming Book Readings and Events
Author talk at the Independence Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library
Tuesday, October 8, 5:15 pm, I'll be at the Independence Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, with books available for purchase and signing from Giovanni's Room. 18 S. 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA. Click here to find more information. Free and open to the public. Presented and sponsored by the Friends of the Independence Library.
Fierce Desires: Writing a New History of Sex and Sexuality with Dr. Rebecca Davis
Tuesday, October 22, 5 pm
Memorial Hall, Room 123, University of Delaware—Newark campus
An event sponsored by the University of Delaware's Queer / Trans / LGBTQ+ Working Group
Fierce Desires: Sex, History, and the Issues Driving American Politics
Delaware Historical Society
Thursday, November 14, 2024
6:30 pm
504 N Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
with books available for sale and signing courtesy of Huxley and Hiro
'I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A JEW': RELIGION, RACE, AND SAMMY DAVIS JR. (HYBRID)
Siegal Lifelong Learning
Thursday, December 12
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Landmark Centre Building, Case Wester Reserve University
In 1960, the versatile entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. converted to Judaism, shortly before marrying May Britt, also a convert to Judaism, under a chuppah in their Hollywood home. Davis had been describing himself as a Jew for several years already. In fact, he told many people that he had "always been a Jew." To Davis, African American and Jewish histories were mirrors of one another; nothing was more logical, he said, than to be a Black Jew. By the late 1960s, that belief faced unprecedented strain, as political unrest in the United States and in Israel fractured liberal alliances. Toward the end of his life, in the 1980s, Davis no longer described Judaism and Black identity as analogues. Through his fascinating story, we can explore one person's quest for spiritual belonging amid a transnational debate over race, religion, and identity.
THE BATTLE OVER TRANS RIGHTS IN OHIO (HYBRID)
Siegal Lifelong Learning
Friday, December 13, 2024
10 am breakfast / 10:30 lecture
Landmark Centre Building, Case Western Reserve University
More than one hundred children and adults walked through metal detectors and past bomb-sniffing dogs to attend Drag Queen Story Hour at a community church in northeastern Ohio in December 2022. Just the day before, federal authorities arrested a neo-Nazi man for attempting to "burn... the entire church to the ground" with Molotov cocktails. These events coincided with a national surge in anti-transgender legislation and criticism of drag performances, with anti-trans activists explaining that they aimed to protect children from pornographic dangers. To what extent are these concerns new, and how can we understand how we ended up here? This lecture discusses the history of transgender people in America as well as the importance of the figure of the sexually endangered child in American politics.
History Forum at the Minnesota Historical Society
A public lecture about FIERCE DESIRES
March 15, 2025
11 am - 1 pm
Minnesota Historical Society
345 W. Kellogg Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55102
PAST EVENTS / EVENTS ARCHIVE
Mimosas and Books at Narberth Bookshop!
Sunday, September 29
MORE DETAILS SOON!
House of SpeakEasy, "Seriously Entertaining," at Joe's Pub!
- Rebecca will leave it all on the stage when she presents 10 notes-free minutes about FIERCE DESIRES and what it took to write this new book at the House of SpeakEasy: Seriously Entertaining.
- Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 7pm
- Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
- For tickets, please click here.
Author Event at the Cuyahoga County Public Library, South Euclid–Lyndhurst Branch
- Thursday, September 12, 2024, 7–8 pm
- 1873 South Green Road, South Euclid, OH
- Join Rebecca in conversation with her sister, Sarah Davis, a high school social studies educator.
- For more information, visit https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/11651108 or click here.
- Books will be available for purchase from Mac's Books—Books on Coventry.
FIERCE DESIRES reading and book signing at Swarthmore Campus & Community Store
- Saturday, September 7, 2024, 4:30 pm
- Reading and book signing at the Swarthmore bookstore!
- Rebecca will be in conversation with Leanne Krueger, PA State Representative.
Book launch for FIERCE DESIRES at the Wiliam Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia!
- September 3, 2024, 6-7pm, at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA
- Rebecca will be in conversation with David Acosta, a poet and activist
- Book sales courtesy of Giovanni's Room, the oldest LGBT and feminist bookstore in the United States
- Rebecca is donating her share of all book sales from this event to the John Wilcox Library and Archives at the William Way Center.
- Reception to follow
"I Know the Truth: Muhammad Ali, Brainwashing, and the Racial Politics of Religious Authenticity," University of California, Berkeley, Thursday, March 3, 5 pm PST (in person/Zoom)
In 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay announced to the world that he was a member of the Nation of Islam. Renamed Muhammad Ali by the Nation's leader, the boxer faced a slew of criticism about his chosen faith. The idea that he had been brainwashed was among the most pernicious explanations for his conversion and his subsequent defiance of the draft for the American war in Vietnam. These allegations of mind control—and Ali's defiant response to them—form a pivotal moment in American conversations about faith, race, and political authenticity.
This event is part of the public lecture series, "Race, Religion, Democracy, and the American Dream." It will be held in person at 3335 Dwinelle Hall *and* via Zoom. Please register here.
A Conversation with Rebecca L. Davis, Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion, University of Chicago Divinity School, Thursday, February 10, 5 pm CST
Update: Click here to view the Livestream!
This event will take place live and via Livestream. Please visit the Marty Center website for more information.
This program is sponsored by The Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion, the Undergraduate Program in Religious Studies, and The Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality.
"The Woman: Clare Boothe Luce and the Politics of Religious Conversion," the Cushwa Center Lecture at the University of Notre Dame, Tuesday, February 8, 4:30 pm EST
This is an in-person event - Morris Inn Dining Rooms on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
For more information, please visit the Cushwa Center events page.
Public Confessions: A Book Talk at the University of California, Riverside. Thursday, January 20, 6 pm PST / 9 pm EST (Virtual)
A talk about Sammy Davis Jr., celebrity, conversion to Judaism, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor... the good stuff.
Please click here to register for the event and receive the Zoom links you'll need for the event.
Swarthmore Seniors Discussion Group, Wednesday, January 12, 12:30 pm (Virtual)
Book Launch Event for PUBLIC CONFESSIONS: THE RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS THAT CHANGED AMERICAN POLITICS!
Join us for a virtual book launch celebration on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 7 PM Eastern. (Register here.) I'll be in conversation with Kristin Kobes DuMez, author of the New York Times bestseller, JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. The event is free and open to the public; registration is required. (Once you register, you'll receive an email about how to join the Zoom.) Thank you for considering this! I would be so honored if you joined us.
Book Launch Party for poet Dilruba Ahmed!
A virtual reading & celebration of BRING NOW THE ANGELS by award-winning poet Dilruba Ahmed at the Philly book launch party, on Saturday, October 3, 2020, 6:30 pm. Rebecca will read serious history or lewd satire.
One Book One Swarthmore 2020 Keynote
Please join me as I deliver the keynote address for One Book One Swarthmore on Tuesday, May 26, 7 pm, via Zoom. Register in advance here: https://delcolibraries.libcal.com/event/6677180.
Swarthmore Events
On October 17, 2018, the Swarthmore Discussion Group will host me for a talk entitled, "I'm Free to Be Who I Want: Finding Faith and Making the Self in America."
https://swatdiscussiongroup.wordpress.com/
Area Talks
"Free to Be: The Religious Roots of Today's Debates over Gender, Race, and Sexual Truth"
Princeton University
Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 4:30 pm
Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion and the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies