Abstract :
Let θ be an involution of a semisimple Lie algebra g, let gθ denote the fixed Lie subalgebra, and assume the Cartan subalgebra of g has been chosen in a suitable way. We construct a quantum analog of U(gθ) which can be characterized as the unique subalgebra of the quantized enveloping algebra of g which is a maximal right coideal that specializes to U(gθ).