Module Directory

This module seeks to ground students in the interdisciplinary theories that have been essential to feminist theory, queer theory, and the study of gender and sexuality more broadly.

In this respect, the course proceeds both thematically and chronologically, covering some of the 'canonical' feminist and queer interventions and methods, such as rights-based liberal feminism; radical feminism; Black feminism; Marxist feminism; standpoint epistemology; transnational feminism; ecofeminism; intersectionality; AIDS & LGBT activism; queer theory; and trans studies. But, by approaching these texts through contemporary and transportable concepts (like 'borders', 'pandemics', 'mothers,' 'environments', and 'the gaze') we will emphasize the enduring relevance of these foundational texts for making sense of current social experiences and cultural objects. The course would conclude with a political meditation on the transformative potential of queer and trans media and cultural production through trans performance artist Mykki Blanco's recitation of Zoe Leonard's "I Want a Dyke for President" (2016). In this final class session, we would juxtapose Blanco's performance with our second text, Beyoncé's "Flawless," as a way of considering their different political aspirations and thus of charting the distance travelled throughout the course.

The aims of this module are:

• To ensure students understand the differences between sex, gender, and sexuality


• To introduce students to the canonical texts in feminist theory, queer theory, and gender and sexuality studies


• To provide students with global and intersectional understandings of how gender and sexuality are shaped by different positionalities and identities, such as race, class, nationality, religion, and dis/ability


• To expose students to multiple critical methods central to these fields, including Marxist feminism, Black feminism, queer theory, psychoanalytic feminism, standpoint epistemology, feminist philosophy of science, ecofeminism, etc


• To foster in students a critical awareness of gender and sexuality as social constructs


• To enable students to apply theory to everyday cultural objects, including visual culture and film

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Have a working knowledge of the key methods and movements foundational to feminist theory, queer theory, and GSS broadly


2. Have a thorough understanding of how gender and sexuality are socially, historically, and politically constructed, both locally and globally


3. Have familiarity with how gender and sexuality intersect with formations of class, race, family, labor, environment, normativity, objectivity, capital, colonialism, politics, and health.


4. Have the ability to compare, evaluate, and contrast key methods and debates in gender and sexuality studies


5. Have an understanding of the impact of gender and sexuality on daily life


6. Have an awareness of the multi-disciplinarity of gender and sexuality studies and an understanding of different analytic styles, methods, and objects.

Indicative syllabus:

Introduction
Origin Stories: Rights & Equalities
Histories
The Unconscious
Mothers
The Gaze
Power & Pleasure
Intersectionality
Work
Borders: Transnational Feminism & Globalization
Environments: Ecofeminism, Nature, & the Politics of Land
Pandemics: AIDS, Mourning, & LGBTQ Activism
Queer & Now?
Performativity
Transgender, Trans-generation: "Be an academic guerrilla"

This module will be delivered via:

• 19x 2 hour per week seminars