GSST 200-01, Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies, Spring 2013

Abstract

Gender and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary department that draws on ideas from the humanities, social and natural sciences in order to analyze how humans construct notions about gender and sex and how these notions in turn affect the lived experiences of men and women. In this introduction, we will focus on understanding the concept of gender as a social construct and also examine how this concept is inextricably linked to and complicated by other factors such as ethnicity, sexuality, class and age (among other things). We will also investigate the historical trajectory of the discipline, seeing how conversations about gender and sexuality have changed (or not) over time. The course will primarily be devoted to key concepts in the study of gender and sexuality and to “classic” texts of Western feminism. We will proceed roughly chronologically, tracing the way gender and sexuality studies increasingly intersects with the study of race, class and nation. We will also investigate the link between gender and popular culture in order to interrogate the “common sense” notions about sexuality that it both promotes and undermines. In the final weeks of the semester, we will shift gears, considering “Gender and Sexuality Studies” as a mode of intellectual inquiry that has transformed almost all academic disciplines. During this segment, several GSST faculty members will teach class sessions in order to model for you how the study of gender and sexuality informs their research and pedagogy.