Sex/Gender in Critical Perspective (FGSS Gateway)(FYS)
FGSS 200F
Fall 2020
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01
02
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This course provides an introduction to the field of feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, exploring both early contributions to gender theory and considering some of the many directions this interdisciplinary field has taken as it has grown in recent years. Intersectionality is a fundamental framework in this course, as it helps us to understand the multiplicity of identities and structures of oppression, which is the foundation of feminist and queer scholarship. Drawing upon this framework, the course will interrogate the concepts of sex and gender, with attention to the ways in which different cultural and historical contexts inform meaning. Juana María Rodríguez opens QUEER LATINIDAD: IDENTITY PRACTICES, DISCURSIVE SPACES by asking the reader to engage a "practice that refuses explication" by "read[ing] against your preconceived notions" (2003: 3). In this spirit, the course will ask you to challenge your own preconceived beliefs to explore alternative modes of thinking about our being in the world.
Some central questions we will explore this semester include: What is "gender"? In what ways are gender and sex differently understood in different contexts? In what ways are capitalism and queer/feminist practices linked or opposed? And, finally, if gender theory is a kind of praxis, what can be the impact of this scholarship? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS FGSS |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (EDST)(FGSS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
READINGS may include:
Harriet Jacobs, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL, WRITTEN BY HERSELF
Mary Wollstonecraft, VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN
Simone de Beauvoir, THE SECOND SEX
Ida B. Wells, SOUTHERN HORRORS
Anna Julia Cooper, A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH
Mark Rifkin, WHEN DID INDIANS BECOME STRAIGHT?: KINSHIP, THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, AND NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY
Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, eds., THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK: WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR
Michel Foucault, THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY
Anne Fausto-Sterling, SEX/GENDER: BIOLOGY IN A SOCIAL WORLD
Judith Butler, UNDOING GENDER
Robert Mcruer and Anna Mollow, eds., SEX AND DISABILITY
C. Riley Snorton, BLACK ON BOTH SIDES: A RACIAL HISTORY OF TRANS IDENTITY
Greta LaFleur, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SEXUALITY IN EARLY AMERICA
Patricia Hill Collins, BLACK SEXUAL POLITICS
Toby Beauchamp, GOING STEALTH: TRANSGENDER POLITICS AND U.S. SURVEILLANCE PRACTICES
Andrea Long Chu, FEMALES: A CONCERN
Andrea Pitts, Mariana Ortega, José Medina, eds., THEORIES OF THE FLESH: LATINX AND LATIN AMERICAN FEMINISMS, TRANSFORMATION, AND RESISTANCE
Octavia Butler, WILD SEED
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Examinations and Assignments:
Assignments:
weekly reader's responses on moodle
mid-term assignment: 5 page essay
final paper: 8-10 page essay, encompassing (1. a paper topic submitted before deadline, 2. annotated bibliography before deadline, 3. first draft before final deadline)
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Due to the seminar¿s length and late-evening time slot, a portion of each class will take place asynchronously, in order to lessen Zoom fatigue and enable a bit more flexibility across time zones. The required asynchronous components will take two forms: 1) timed assignments, such as brief written responses to prompts, on which you will receive feedback; and 2) bi-weekly office hours meetings of 1-3 students, lasting 20-30 minutes. The latter will function like tutorials intended to enrich our weekly seminar discussions. By the second week of the semester, you will select a regular tutorial time slot in consultation with me.
Combined, the seminar¿s synchronous and asynchronous components will not exceed the allotted class time of 2 hours and 50 minutes per week. Full participation in both synchronous and asynchronous components is required.
If pandemic conditions and space on-campus allow for some in-person interactions, I am open to the possibility of making adjustments, but no in-person gatherings will be required for completion of the course. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
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| Instructor(s): Vermeulen,Heather Times: .M.W... 11:10AM-12:30PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 15 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
| SECTION 02 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Same as Section 01 Above |
| Examinations and Assignments: Same as Section 01 Above |
| Additional Requirements and/or Comments: Same as Section 01 Above |
| Instructor(s): Vermeulen,Heather Times: .M.W... 01:00PM-02:20PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 15 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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