Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Uses lectures, music, film and images to explore the beliefs and social practices through which sexual identities are created and transformed over time. Introduces some of the main theories and concepts used in the field.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course traces the emergence of modern sexual identity in the west by exploring how meanings attached to sexuality have been shaped by Christianity, colonialism, medical, and other social, political, and institutional forces. We shall also learn how sexual identity is a modern invention. At the end of the course students will have a critical understanding of sex and sexuality, as well as race and gender. Note that the course directly addresses histories of racism, sexism, and homo and transphobia, which can be difficult material to engage with. Every effort is made to create an inclusive, respectful, and caring learning environment.

This course will also teach students how to think like a historian. The way historians organize knowledge is to first identify a historical problem, choose an appropriate conceptual or theoretical framework for analyzing their primary source documents, then arrive at an independent set of conclusions about the meaning and significance of their topic of study. This course achieves this by a) identifying “sexuality” as a topic of historical study, b) introducing ideas put forward by key thinkers c) integrating primary source documents into lectures, tutorial workshops, and assigned readings, d) reading secondary source literature (scholarly history) to examine the conclusions that various historians have come to concerning the history of sexuality.

Note that 100% of the work for this course will be completed in-class and either with pen & paper or in a setting where access to the internet is blocked.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Students who successfully complete this course will understand:

● why sex is not ‘natural,’ and appreciate how its meaning changes over time, and is subject to various political, economic, and social forces

● the emergence and importance of sexual identity in twentieth century western culture and the role of moral panics in shaping discourses about sexuality

● key concepts in history including ‘change over time’, ‘causation,’ and ‘complexity’

● how to evaluate primary sources and secondary sources in historical research

● how to use physical and digital libraries to undertake research

Grading