Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2024 - GSWS 321 E200

Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4)

Global Trans Health

Class Number: 6997

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 8 – Apr 12, 2024: Tue, Thu, 4:30–6:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A specific theme within the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, not otherwise covered in depth in regularly scheduled courses, will be dealt with as occasion and demand warrant.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will look at how trans people craft their lives across the world. Every week we shall look at a particular issue or a particular cultural context to parse out the specific set of freedoms and challenges trans people face. This shall help us look at how a particular question, or challenge, or freedom, takes a different form in a different place, thereby revealing how trans people become a site for national and cultural anxieties. For e.g. the bathroom debate in the U.S. and Canada loses its urgency in contexts of poverty in India. By looking at trans bodies in Indonesia and Iran we will see how different histories reveal different meanings of the word trans and hence de-stabilizes a universal, or global, or standardized experience or definition of trans. Yet, certain desires are recognized across cultural contexts such as Gender Affirmation Surgeries to graft onto other global economies such as medical tourism; how do the different legislations dealing with sex work impact the lives of trans sex workers; what do trans people reveal to us about poverty and policing? One of the questions that the readings of this course will pursue is to track the similarities and differences between the lives of trans people across cultural contexts. By using trans as the lens to view the world, we shall see how it reveals larger questions such as what constitutes masculinity, femininity, the body, and how should we define health.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/Educational_Goals.html

Grading

  • Weekly precis 30%
  • Midterm Essay 30%
  • Final Essay 30%
  • Attendance 10%

NOTES:

Weekly precis: At the end of the week, each student is required to submit a short precis (not more than 150 words) that summarizes the thoughts and questions that the student has collected after participating in the discussion and having done the readings. One way to submit a precis is to keep it as a learning log. These submissions will be graded and count towards your grade. This will also help me keep track of your progress through the semester. 30 percent.

Midterm Essay: 30 percent

Final Essay: 30 percent

Both the midterm and the final essay are research papers which should be at least 5 double-spaced pages in 12-point Times New Roman font.

Attendance: 10 percent (only 2 unexcused absences will be allowed. Every unexcused absence after that without a note from a medical professional or the dean’s office will result in losing a grade).

REQUIREMENTS:

Each week of the course will be divided into 4 different components.

  • Reading: Every week I shall upload articles from popular media, short write-ups from scholars, activists, local experts in addition to the weekly assigned readings. Students will do these readings during the lecture. This is important for students to learn how to frame a research question and collect materials to analyze. This practice is essential for students in order to write their research paper.
  • Film: A short documentary film will be made available through the library and we will decide whether we will watch it together in class or asynchronously.
  • Writing: At the end of the week, each student is required to submit a short precis (not more than 250 words) that summarizes the thoughts and questions that the student has collected after watching the film, participating in the lecture, having done both sets of readings (weekly assigned readings and popular write-ups). These submissions will be graded and count towards your grade. This will help me keep track of your progress through the semester.
  • Discussion: This course will follow the flipped classroom format which will require students to have come done the reading and ready for discussion. This class requires willing participants: students who come prepared, are willing to ask questions and share insights, and are willing to take the risks of working through suggested interpretations of the course material. Participation includes taking some of the responsibility for generating the points of entry and direction of the dialogue via generating questions, and engaging in discussion.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Articles will be uploaded.


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