Advanced Research Seminar: Hot Mamas: Black Women, Sexuality, and Body Size
SOC 399H
Spring 2020 not offered
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Black women, no matter where they were born or currently live in the world, deploy survival strategies that propel them past perceived deviances and into discursive spaces of dynamic personhood. This is especially true for fat black women and how they navigate their respective identities in the areas of social, physical, and mental health; socioeconomic status; and beauty culture. In this class, we will interrogate these areas alongside blackness, womanhood, and sexuality to fully consider the implications of body size as a substantial category of intersectional analysis. By bringing medical and sociological studies into conversations with political and feminist theory, while also engaging with literary pieces and popular culture, this interdisciplinary course aims to equip all of us with a deeper understanding of sexuality and body size and their significance in the lives of black women. We will journey our way through this course using the works of black feminists such as Patricia Hill Collins, theorists such as Michel Foucault, sociologists such as Samantha Kwan, political scientists such as Cathy Cohen, lawyers such as Dorothy Roberts and Paul Campos, and writers such as Lucille Clifton and Alice Walker. In addition, we will bring our lived experiences and proximity to popular culture (magazines, music, films, and online resources such as personal blogs) to stake out our own truths and fill out any gaps that we believe are present in the literature. The class will mix lecture, class discussion, group presentations, and small-group work to advance mastery of the material. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SOC151 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (SOC)(STS) |
Major Readings:
Patricia Hill Collins, BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT: KNOWLEDGE, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND THE POLITICS OF EMPOWERMENT
Andrea Elizabeth Shaw, THE EMBODIMENT OF DISOBEDIENCE: FAT BLACK WOMEN'S UNRULY POLITICAL BODIES
Michel Foucault, THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, VOLUME I: AN INTRODUCTION.
Audre Lorde, ZAMI
Alice Walker, THE COLOR PURPLE
Sapphire, PUSH: A NOVEL
TroJah Irby-Morgan, MY FAT IS NOT MY FLAW
Roxane Gay, HUNGER: A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY
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Examinations and Assignments:
Four research memos, group presentation, weekly observations, final term paper, and class participation. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
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