Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2024 - HIST 454 D100

Problems in the History of Sexuality (4)

Class Number: 4734

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 8 – Apr 12, 2024: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units, including 9 units of lower-division HIST or 9 units of GSWS. Recommended: HIST 115.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores how ideas, practices and identities have changed over time in response to social, political and economic pressures. Emphasis on postmodern approaches to understanding sexuality, and the international historical scholarship it has generated. Chronological and geographical focus of this course may vary. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 454 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught.

COURSE DETAILS:

The history of sexuality examines diverse aspects of sex, gender, and sexuality as it intersects with race, class, and other categories of difference. In addition to tracking change and continuity over time, it is particularly interested in how sex and sexuality is embedded in relations of power. It also draws heavily on social history both for its methods and analysis. Students interested in histories of gender and race will find this course a compliment to their program of study.

In this iteration of the course we will examine diverse themes in the historiography, including the history of queer, trans, and bisexual experience, the “invention” of heterosexuality, pornography and censorship, moral regulation, and moral panics, a topic of particular contemporary relevance.

Students who do not have the required credits are encouraged to contact the professor as it is often possible to give special permission to enrol in upper-level courses. Students without a background in history and who have a background in GSWS courses typically do well in this course.

This course focuses on Canada and the United States from the early 1800s to the present.

Grading

  • Class participation 25%
  • Presentation 15%
  • Book Review 20%
  • 18-20 page Final Research Paper 40%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Books available for purchase in bookstore:

Sandra Eder, How the Clinic Made Gender: The Medical History of a Transformative Idea (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

Lisa Z. Sigel, The People’s Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America (London: Reaktion Books, 2020).

Kara M. French, Against Sex: Identities of Sexual Restraint in Early America. (The University of North Carolina Press, 2021).

Leslie Fienberg. Stone Butch Blues (this book is available free as a pdf here.)

All other readings will be available digitally via the SFU library and Canvas.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html