Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Conceptualizations of sex have played a fundamental part in the development of evolutionary theories in biology and psychology. At the same time, feminist critiques of these conceptualizations have been a major factor in the development of Feminist Science Studies. The interactions amongst these three approaches are examined, including methodologies, communities of practice and societal implications. Breadth-Hum/Social Sci/Science.

COURSE DETAILS:

How many sexes are there? Are sex differences determined by the brain, by hormones, by genes, by genitals, by social environment, by some combination of these factors, or by something else entirely? Is sexuality a product of nature, nurture, or both? Is biological sex fixed or can it change over time? What are the values, assumptions, and beliefs that shape these questions and what is at stake in the answers we provide?

The third-year course critically examines the social, material, political, and technological intersections of science and sex. It asks: What do we know about sex and sexuality, what don’t we know, and how do we come to know (or not know) it in the sciences? Reading biological scientific research alongside anthropological, philosophical, historical, feminist, anti-colonial, and Indigenous studies of science, we explore a range of questions, including: What is the biology – as a scientific matter and as bodily matter – of sex and sexuality? What can (or can’t) animals such as promiscuous primates or monogamous voles tell us about human sex, gender, and sexuality? What is the history of scientific values such as objectivity, discovery, or universality, how have these values played a role in naturalizing gendered, classed, or racialized differences, and how do scientists currently reckon with these histories in their research? How do the social meanings of categories such as monogamy, masculinity, or asexuality shape scientific research questions and findings? In turn, how does scientific research influence our understandings of these categories and the people (or animals or plants or bacteria) who fall into with them? How do we create, circulate, and study technologies such as hormones, genes, or cell lines, and what roles do these technologies play in shaping our definitions of sex and our understandings of ourselves?

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1.3. Students can think critically about how core concepts of gender and sexuality shape research inquiry.

1.4. Students can identify and evaluate culturally and historically specific constructions of genders and sexualities.

2.2. Students will be able to contextualise, assess, and critique relevant data.

2.3. Students will be able to effectively communicate in written and oral formats.

2.4. Students will engage in independent and collaborative tasks.

3.1. Students will evaluate how gender intersects with categories of race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexuality, and/or dis/ability.

4.3. Students can understand, interpret and critique complex sources of research.

5.2. Students engage with issues of inequality, oppression and justice in relation to gender and other identities.

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website:
https://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/goals

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

No required texts. All readings will be available on Canvas and through the library.

REQUIRED READING NOTES: