Andrew Lear
{{short description|American academic}}
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| name =Andrew Lear
| image = Andrew Lear.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|December 21, 1958}}
| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, US
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| education = Harvard University
University of Virginia
University of California, Los Angeles
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Andrew Lear (born December 21, 1958) is an American author, Classicist, historian of gender and sexuality, and public historian. His academic research focuses on concepts of gender and sexuality in ancient Greek poetry and art.{{cite web|url=http://classics.as.nyu.edu/object/andrewlear.html/ |title=NYU profile |publisher=New York University |date= |access-date=2014-02-01}} His book on male-male erotic scenes in ancient Athenian vase-painting (Images of Ancient Greek Pederasty: Boys Were Their Gods, co-authored with Eva Cantarella, Routledge 2008), was positively reviewed: it greatly expanded the number of known scenes and proposed a sophisticated framework for their interpretation.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/images-of-ancient-greek-pederasty-boys-were-their-gods/402339.article |title= Simon Goldhill in Times Higher Education |publisher=Times Higher Education |date=2008-05-02 |access-date=2014-02-01}}{{cite journal |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-04-65.html |title= Craig Williams in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.04.65 |journal= Bryn Mawr Classical Review |publisher=Bryn Mawr College |date=2009-04-27 |access-date=2014-02-01}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ajaonline.org/online-review-book/642 |title= James Robson in American Journal of Archaeology |publisher=American Journal of Archaeology |date=Oct 2009 |access-date=2014-02-01}}{{cite web |url=http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Histsex&month=0902&week=b&msg=Ug%2BYuljwHAbsmjyw%2BhMXhQ |title= TK Hubbard in H-Histsex |publisher=H-Histsex |date=2009-02-10 |access-date=2014-02-01}} He has written articles on topics including gender ideals in the work of Greek poets Anacreon and Theognis, as well as book reviews for Classical World.{{cite web|url=https://nyu.academia.edu/AndrewLear |title=NYU profile |publisher=New York University |date= |access-date=2014-02-01}} Lear is seen as an expert on the comparison between ancient and modern views and practices of gender and sexuality.{{cite web |url=https://qz.com/689617/why-do-greek-statues-have-such-small-penises/ |title= Why do Greek statues have such small penises? |author=Goldhill, Olivia |date=2016-05-21 |access-date=2017-03-17}}{{cite news|work=New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/nyregion/a-sculptor-reaps-the-rewards-of-art-deals-brokered-in-the-bedroom.html?_r=3/ |title= A Sculptor Reaps the Rewards of Art Deals Brokered in the Bedroom |date=2016-10-27 |access-date=2017-03-17 |last1=Schmidt |first1=Samantha}}{{cite news |title=Unhung Heroes |url=https://www.pri.org/programs/studio-360/unhung-heroes |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=Studio 360 |agency=PRI |date=December 6, 2018}}
Career
Lear has taught at Harvard, Columbia, Pomona College,{{cite web |url=http://tsl.pomona.edu/articles/2011/3/24/news/13-popular-professor-lear-denied-tenure-track-position-in-classics |title= Popular professor Lear denied tenure track position in Classics |date=2011-03-24 |access-date=2014-02-05}} and NYU. He won the Harvard Certificate for Excellence in Teaching four times. His teaching reflects a wide range of interests in the Humanities. Before doing his PhD in classics, Lear taught French and Italian language courses at Harvard: he is fluent in both languages, as well as German. He was also a section leader for Helen Vendler's course "Poems, Poets, Poetry." As a Classics professor, he has taught courses in departments of Classics, History, and Women's and Gender Studies, including Greek and Latin language, Greek and Roman history, Greek literature, and courses on gender and sexuality.
Aside from his Classics degrees, Lear has an MA in creative writing from City University of New York, where he studied with Cynthia Ozick. His short stories, poems, and translations have appeared in such journals as Persephone, the Southern Humanities Review, and Literary Imagination. He edited Laura Argiri's historical novel The God in Flight, as is acknowledged in the dedication. Lear also performs actively as a baritone and gives lecture/performances about the Jewish and gay composers and librettists of the German pop industry in the Weimar period.{{cite web|title=Marlene and Her Friends: Berlin's Tin Pan Alley -- Before the Nazis Killed It|url=http://www.collegescalendar.org/index.cfm?print=1&startrow=121&v=5&t=20130213&c=1646&lc=0|website=The Claremont Colleges Calendar|access-date=13 February 2018}}
= Pioneering LGBT Historical Tours: Founding Oscar Wilde Tours =
Lear's work includes efforts to bring the history of gender and sexuality to a wide public beyond the academy, through blog posts, lectures, and educational tours that he designs and leads.{{cite web |last1=Lear |first1=Andrew |title=10 Sexy Secrets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://untappedcities.com/2018/04/27/10-sexy-secrets-in-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art/ |website=Untapped Cities |date=27 April 2018 |access-date=3 January 2019}}{{cite web |title=LGBT Art at the MFA |url=https://www.mfa.org/programs/lectures-and-courses/lgbt-art-at-the-mfa |website=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |access-date=3 January 2019}} In 2013, he founded Oscar Wilde Tours, the first tour company focused on LGBT history.{{cite news|last1=De Buitléir|first1=Scott|title=A 'Wilde' Vacation -- Gay History for Gay Travelers|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-de-buitleir/a-wilde-vacation-gay-hist_b_5458413.html|access-date=9 June 2014|work=Huffington Post|date=2014-06-06}} Oscar Wilde Tours gives LGBT history walking tours of Greenwich Village, as well as "gay secrets" museum tours that illuminate the history of homosexuality hidden in the collections of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and London's National Portrait Gallery.{{cite web |title=Things to Do in New York This Weekend |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nSsE61T_Tw |website=YouTube |publisher=Time Out New York |access-date=3 January 2019}}{{cite news|last1=McDonald|first1=James|title=How Gay Is the Metropolitan Museum of Art?|url=http://www.out.com/art-books/2015/3/05/gay-tours-metropolitan-museum-art|access-date=17 March 2017|work=Out|date=6 March 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Strochlic|first1=Nina|title=Inside The Met's Secret Gay Art Collection|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/05/inside-the-met-s-secret-gay-art-collection.html|access-date=17 March 2017|work=The Daily Beast|date=5 March 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Johns|first1=Merryn|title=Queering Art History|url=http://www.curvemag.com/Culture/Queering-Art-History-471/|access-date=17 March 2017|work=Curve Magazine|date=5 June 2015|language=en}} In early 2020, the company launched a new tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the history of the male nude in art.{{Cite web |last=Colyar |first=Brock |date=2020-03-06 |title=I Went on a Tour of (and With) the Met's Members |url=https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/i-went-on-the-unhung-heroes-tour-of-the-met.html |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=The Cut |language=en}} Oscar Wilde Tours also offers multi-day tours focused on LGBT history and art.{{cite news|last1=Teeman|first1=Tim|title=Adventures in Gay History With Oscar Wilde|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/11/adventures-in-gay-history-with-oscar-wilde.html|access-date=17 March 2017|work=The Daily Beast|date=11 June 2014}} It won the Travvy silver prize in 2016 for best LGBT tour operator and tied with HE Travel for the Gay Travel Awards Tour Operator of the Year; in 2018, Lux Review gave Oscar Wilde Tours the tourism award for Best International LGBT Tour Provider, and in 2019 it won the award for Best Gay Travel Specialist, Northeast USA.{{cite news|last1=Newcomer|first1=Dianne|title=What Travvy Award winners have to offer|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/travel/destinations/2016/01/23/what-travvy-award-winners-have-offer/79241226/|access-date=17 March 2017|work=The News Star|date=23 January 2016|language=en}}{{cite web|title=Gay Travel Awards 2016|url=https://www.gaytravel.com/gay-blog/2016-gaytravel-awards|website=gaytravel.com|date=28 December 2016 |access-date=31 January 2018}}
= Expanding Narratives: Shady Ladies Tours and Recognition =
In 2016, Lear expanded this line by founding Shady Ladies Tours, a tour company focused on women’s history.{{cite news|last1=Crocker|first1=Lizzie|title=The Metropolitan Museum's Secret High-Class Escorts|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/25/the-metropolitan-museum-s-secret-high-class-escorts.html|access-date=17 March 2017|work=The Daily Beast|date=25 February 2016}} Their Shady Ladies tour of the Metropolitan Museum presents depictions of royal mistresses and courtesans in the collection,{{cite news|last1=Brooks|first1=Katherine|title=The 'Shady Ladies' Hiding In The Metropolitan Museum Of Art|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shady-ladies-met-tour_us_56ccd5d7e4b041136f18a9e6|access-date=17 March 2017|work=Huffington Post|date=24 February 2016}} and the Nasty Women tour is about pathbreaking women from Pharaoh Hatshepsut to Gertrude Stein.{{cite news |last1=Laneri |first1=Raquel |title=Go to see these 'Nasty Women' at the Met |url=https://nypost.com/2017/03/31/go-to-see-these-nasty-women-at-the-met/ |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=New York Post |date=March 31, 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Arschin |first1=Dana |title=Shady Ladies Tours offers a different kind of museum experience |url=http://www.fox5ny.com/news/shady-ladies-tours-museum-experience |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=FOX 5 News |agency=WNYW}} Shady Ladies won the Lux Global Excellence Award in 2017 for best museum tour operator in New York.
= Adapting to Challenges: Virtual Initiatives and Future Projects =
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oscar Wilde Tours offered a series of virtual lectures called Zooming Through Queer Culture. Shady Ladies tours also offered virtual lectures. Lear designed and recorded “Out on View” for the Wadsworth Atheneum, the first LGBT audio tour in a US museum. He is developing an LGBT history TV series called “From Sodom to Stonewall” with actor/author Stephen Fry.{{Cite news |last=O’Flaherty |first=Mark C. |date=2019-06-04 |title=50 years of Pride: How New York's LGBTQ movement flourished against all the odds |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/articles/50-years-gay-pride/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}
References
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Category:American classical scholars
Category:LGBTQ people from Massachusetts
Category:New York University faculty
Category:Pomona College faculty
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:University of Virginia alumni