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CS92PROD
Body Politics: Desire, Sexualities, and Gender, Past and Present

CLST 363
Fall 2024
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: FGSS 363, COL 364
Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate, Queer Studies

Sexuality as a category to define, construct, and control the "self" has been seen as a product of the 18th and 19th century. This course turns to ancient Greek society to look at body politics before sexuality and to examine the different ways in which sex and gender are experienced and constructed.

We will approach sex and gender roles as organizing principles of private and public life. Using literary, scientific, historical, legal, and philosophical sources as well as material evidence, we will address issues including the creation of woman, conceptions of the male and female body, the legal status of men and women; what constitutes acceptable sexual practices and for whom (e.g., heterosexual relationships, homoeroticism, prostitution, adultery); and ideas regarding desire, self-control, masculinity and femininity, and their cultivation in social and political contexts. How ancient approaches to gender and sexuality are in dialogue or have informed recent debates will be a question throughout the course by looking at theoretical approaches and contemporary movements and debates. We will end by looking at how ideas about sexuality in classical antiquity were used in Romer v. Evans, otherwise known as the 1993 Colorado Gay Rights Case.

For CLST Major requirements, this course counts toward the concentrations of Literature and Performance and History, Politics, and Social Justice.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CLST, SBS CLST
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CLST-History, P)(CLST-Literature)(CSCT)(FGSS)
Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74%

Last Updated on DEC-06-2024
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