Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - GSWS 831 G100

Selected Topics Graduate Seminar II (5)

Race and Sexuality

Class Number: 3451

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Fri, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Selected topics

COURSE DETAILS:

The course introduces recent work that focuses on how sexualities and race operate at different times and places. In this discussion-based seminar, students will gain a deeper appreciation of the everyday workings of race and sexuality in connection to dominant power relations in the colonial and capitalist present.

This discussion-based seminar examines how racial and sexual norms, expectations, and logics converge in everyday ways and places. We will focus on how racial and sexual logics come together in the spaces we interact with daily (i.e. home, school, work), to the broader places that impact our lives (i.e. the nation). By centering current critiques of queer theory and politics by Indigenous queer, Two-Spirit and feminist, Black, and queer of colour scholars, the course investigates how hetero- and homo- normativity are contoured by processes and practices of racialization.

Through seminar discussions, guest lectures, readings, research projects, and assignments, students will gain a deeper appreciation of the everyday ways that race and sexuality are connected to dominant power relations in, to paraphrase queer of colour theorist Jose Esteban Muñoz (2009), the stifling colonial and capitalist present.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

In taking this course, students will:

  • Develop a nuanced understanding of how sexuality and race are co-constituted.
  • Articulate how the temporalities and spaces are sexualized and racialized.
  • Be able to apply concepts from queer theory and critical race studies to ongoing crises of social injustice as well as to their own lives, histories and relations.
  • Gain conceptual and analytical tools to engage in research on race and queer topics.

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

Grading

  • Participation 20%
  • Discussion Group Posts 15%
  • Presentation and Class Facilitation 20%
  • Final Group Project 45%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Readings, including book chapters, journal articles and other materials, will be available on Canvas and/or via SFU library databases.

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.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.