"Feminism, Gender & Human Sexuality"
In this course, students will explore, develop, question and discuss issues of feminism, gender and human sexuality. Diverse texts, cultural artifacts and class discussions will provide different lenses through which to study feminist issues and will place human sexuality in conversation with nature/ecology, health, culture, capitalism and globalism. In this way, students will engage in an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to studying and writing about human sexuality. The course will introduce concepts such as ecofeminism, gender identity and reproductive justice, and will be anchored in (predominantly contemporary) social-cultural representations of and engagements with gender and sexuality–in literature, media and student lived experiences. Emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural dialogue with specific attention to the marginalization of vulnerable bodies. The course will also consider the current context of increasingly digitized human interactions and connect that digitization to conversations on sexuality. Classroom expectations include a high level of engagement and collaboration, as well as a willingness to converse respectfully across difference (these can be controversial topics!). Examples from campus and student life are welcome in the classroom space, in addition to official course texts. Students should expect frequent reading and writing assignments.
Please note: English 298C is linked to Psych 210: “The Diversity of Human Sexuality” through the Interdisciplinary Writing Program, but it is its own full 5-credit course (i.e. not a supplementary or lab add-on). You can expect the level of rigor of any other 5-credit undergraduate English course.
Please also note: Though the content is expansive, this is not a “survey” course on gender and sexuality or feminism and does not attempt provide comprehensive coverage of these topics in any way.