Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2022 - GEOG 340 D100

Queer Geographies (4)

Class Number: 2894

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 7 – Dec 6, 2022: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    At least 45 units, including GEOG 100.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

What does sexuality have to do with spaces and places? This question is at the core of this course where we’ll examine how sexual norms and queerness are defined and defied through different geographies. We will learn how Black, Indigenous, and queers of colour think about and build social movements at the intersection of sexuality, space, and place.

COURSE DETAILS:

Spaces and places are racialized, gendered, classed and sexualized in particular and different ways. Certain places in the city, like LGBTQ neighbourhoods, are associated with particular sexualities, while other places are imagined as solely racialized places. Certain places, like places in the Global South, are sometimes imagined as sexually backward or inherently patriarchal, while countries like Canada, are often celebrated for its liberal acceptance of queer identities and feminist politics. This course will queer, or put into question, the underlying assumptions and power relations that support how places and spaces are sexualized, racialized, and gendered.

With a primary focus on how sexual subjectivities are formed, students will have the opportunity to understand how processes of racialization and gender intersect with sexualities. The course will move between local and global geographies, introducing the ways Indigenous, Black, and queers of colour are resisting heteronormativity and offering expansive and alternative geographies and futurities.

Note: There will be no tutorials in the first week of class.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

In taking this course, students will:

  • Develop a nuanced understanding of how sexuality, power, and space are co-constituted.
  • Articulate how spaces and sexualities are racialized and gendered.
  • Be able to apply concepts from queer geographies to ongoing crises of social injustice as well as to their own lives, histories and relations.
  • Have set a set of tools to critically analyze contemporary local and LGBTQ2S global issues.

Grading

  • Participation 15%
  • Letter of Introduction 5%
  • Tutorial Presentation & Discussion 20%
  • Critical Written Reflections 40%
  • Final Project 20%

Materials

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