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CS92PROD
Queer Theory/Queer Politics

SOC 243
Fall 2017 not offered
Crosslisting: FGSS 242
Course Cluster: Queer Studies, Urban Studies

This course will explore the social construction of sexuality within the U.S. and the emergence of heterosexuality and homosexuality as sites of identity, belonging, and conflict. In the first section of the course, we will contextualize heterosexuality, homosexuality, and queer identities within the theoretical paradigms of social construction, feminist thought, intersectionality, and queer theory. We will begin to consider the relationship of sexuality to other categories of identity. The readings will help us to think about queer identities in relationship to social, cultural, and geographic arenas across space and time. The second part of the course will look more directly at the insights of queer theory and critiques of identity as a category for understanding experience and engaging in politics. Queer theory will be analyzed beside social movement literature. In this section, we will continue to concentrate on how sexuality relates to and is dependent on racial and gendered constructions and dynamics of power. In the last section of the course, using the historical and theoretical knowledge covered so far, we will question what/who exactly is a queer subject and what can be considered LGBTQ issues and politics. In this section, we will seek to expand an understanding of queer politics and LGBTQ studies to incorporate questions of social justice that include sexuality but aren't limited to it alone. As a whole, this class will address contemporary understandings of LGBTQ studies and politics from both an intersectional and social justice framework to examine ideas of identity, political rights, and changing notions of community.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (SOC)

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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