Queer Theory/Queer Lives
Fall
2004, University of New Mexico
Instructors:
This course investigates queer theory and the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people as addressed in empirical studies, narratives, film and activism. We will explore how queer sexual identities intersect with race, class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability. Our areas of inquiry will include identity, family, media representation, heterosexism and LGBTIQ social movements. We will critically analyze which texts have been considered central to "queer theory" and which have been marginalized.
As instructors,
we aim to create a learning atmosphere that fosters critical and scholarly
thinking, writing, and discussion.
We want you as students to go beyond merely digesting other people's
ideas to actively engage with the material and to critique both commonly held
assumptions and academic theories about sexuality and LGBTIQ people.
We will do
everything we reasonably can to help you meet your goals in this course and to
maintain a respectful classroom atmosphere. We expect you to do the same. Please see one of us or contact us by email to talk about
any questions, revelations, problems with the material, our presentation of it,
or classroom dynamics.
Butler, Judith
(1993). Bodies That Matter.
New York: Routledge.
Clare, Eli
(1999). Exile and Pride.
Boston: South End Press.
Larsen, Nella
(2003). Passing.
Penguin Books.
Articles and
book excerpts available on E-Reserves or at ECS.
You are required to use the web and email for this class. There is a website for the class which you should check regularly (www.unm.edu/~erbaugh). The syllabus and most assignments will be on the website. We will email you with important announcements, changes to readings, additional assignments, etc. Questions about the course? Please check the website first, then email us.
This course is
constructed to revolve around discussion of the readings, small group work,
student and guest presentations, films, and other relevant information. The class is designed to encourage
dialogue; therefore your attendance, preparedness, and participation are
essential. Constructive dialogue requires
preparing for class, respectfully
joining in discussions, and courteously listening to others. Students are expected to come to class
regularly and on time. Attendance
will be taken at random. You are
responsible for any and all material missed because of absences. Get the emails and phone numbers of a
few other students in the class and if you miss a class, ask them to review
what was covered and/or lend you their notes. (Do not
ask us what was covered or if we did/will do anything important on a given day;
do not email us to
say you are skipping our class to prepare for another class.) More than two unexcused absences will
negatively affect your participation grade.
3 short papers 45%
Research presentation & creative
response 20%
Midterm Exam 20%
Participation & other assignments 15%
Each student is
expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic
and professional matters. The University reserves the right to take
disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is
found guilty of academic dishonesty or who otherwise fails to meet the expected
standards. Any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course
work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or for
the course. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in
quizzes, tests or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by
others; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic
or professional qualifications within or without the University; nondisclosure
or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other University records.
(The Pathfinder, 2003-2004)
Any student who,
because of disability, may require accommodations in order to meet course
requirements should contact us as soon as possible to make necessary
arrangements. It is the
responsibility of the student to request accommodations for individual learning
needs. We and UNM will make every
attempt to accommodate all students with disabilities. For further information, contact
Student Support Services at (505) 277-3506.
Given that
dynamics and issues raised in class, guest speaker availability and other
factors will likely affect the pace of the course, the following is a tentative outline of the material we will
cover. You should complete the
readings by class time on the dates specified.
T 8/24 Review
syllabus, discuss course objectives
Assignment
for Thursday
Th 8/26 Expectations
for the course (yours and ours)
Discuss
assignment
Anzaldœa*,
"Movimientos de rebeld’a y las culturas que traicionan"
Moraga
w/ Weatherston, "Interview with Cherrie Moraga"
Th 9/2 Feminist
Theory/Women of Color Theory/Queer Theory
Anzaldœa
& Moraga, "Theory in the Flesh"
Moraga*,
"Loving in the War Years"
Lorde*, "The Master's Tools Will
Never Dismantle the Master's House" and "Age, Race, Class and Sex:
Women Redefining Difference"
Anzaldœa,
"To(o) Queer the WriterÑLoca, escritora y chicana"
T 9/7 Foucault*,
Excerpt from The History of Sexuality
Th 9/9 Bowers
v. Hardwick*
Lawrence
v. Texas*
(Articles
to be assigned)
Pratt*,
"Gender Quiz"
Lorber,
"The Social Construction of Gender"
West
& Zimmerman, "Doing Gender"
Film:
Paris is Burning*
(Jennie Livingston)
Fausto-Sterling*, "The Five
Sexes" & "Five Sexes Revisited"
Preves, "Sexing the Intersexed"
T 10/5 Defining
Community
Gamson*, "Must identity movements
self-destruct? A queer
dilemma."
Clausen,
"My Interesting Condition"
Hutchins*,
"Bisexuality: Politics & Community"
T 10/12 Midterm
Exam
Th 10/14 No
class - FALL BREAK
Week 9
T 10/19 Female
Masculinity & Masculine Femininity
Halberstam*,
Intro to Female Masculinity and
"Transgender Butch"
Film: Southern
Comfort
Th 10/21
Califia*, "Sexual Politics, FTMs and Dykes" and "He's a Man for All That"
Bornstein*,
Excerpts from Gender Outlaw
T 10/26 Transgender
Debates
Roen, "'Either/Or' and
ÔBoth/Neither'"
Bornstein, "Gender Terror, Gender
Rage"
Minnie
Bruce Pratt, "Bathroom" and "Border"
Morris,
"Young Man Popkin: A Queer Dystopia"
Guest
Speaker: Mitchell Powell
Th 10/28 Passing
Larsen*, Passing, Part I
Week 11
T 11/2 Larsen,
Passing, Parts II
& III
Th 11/4 Butler,
Bodies that Matter
Ch. 6, "Passing, Queering"
Week 12 Disability &
Community
T 11/9 Clare,
Exile & Pride,
excerpts from Part I: "The Mountain" & "Losing Home"
Samuels,
"My Body, My Closet"
Koyama*, "Interrogating the Politics
of Commonality," at http://www.intersexinitiative.org/articles/yale-keynote.html
Also
visit http://confluere.com/store/
(especially the buttons)
Th 11/11 Crip
Sex
Clare,
Exile & Pride,
all of Part II: Bodies (pp.67-138)
Trahan,
"Queen of the Girls"
Week 13
Russo,
"Lesbian & Bisexual Women's Battering"
Waldron,
"Lesbians of Color & the DV Movement"
Letellier,
"Twin Epidemics: DV & HIVÉ"
Guest
Speakers: Queer Women's Project
Th 11/18 Film: Tongues Untied* (Marlon Riggs)
Week 14
T 11/23 Families/Communities,
Time & Space
Halberstam, "What's That Smell?:
Queer Temporalities & Subcultural Lives"
Piepzna-Samarasinha,
"browngirlworld"
Week 15
T 11/30 Rich*,
"Compulsory Heterosexuality"
Stoltenberg, "How Men
Have (a) Sex"
Butler, Bodies that Matter, Chapter 2, "The Lesbian Phallus and
the Morphological Imaginary"
Bitch & Animal*, "Best Cock on
the Block"
Kimmel
& Messner, "Actual Size!"
Week 16
T 12/7 Danuta
Walters*, All the Rage,
Chapter 1 & Chapter 11
Th 12/9 Screening
& Discussion
Tues
12/14, 12:30-2:30pm: Snacking
& closure