Topics in Legal Studies (376-0-21)
Topic
Gender, Sexuality & the Carceral State
Instructors
Abigail Rose Barefoot
847/467-0259
Abigail Barefoot is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the Center for Legal Studies. Prof. Barefoot’s research explores questions of justice, safety, and accountability through the lens of prison abolition and critical carceral studies Abigail’s current book project Beyond Carceral Responses: Transformative Justice, Prison Abolition, and the Movement to End Sexual Violence examines transformative justice practices for sexual violence. Using an ethnographic approach, Abigail unpacks the tensions, contradictions, and possibilities of practicing transformative justice as experienced by survivors, facilitators, and people who cause harm. Her other teaching and research interests include LGBTQ Studies, American social movements, and mass incarceration.
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 214: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
This course explores the rise of the carceral state in the United with particular attention to ethnographic, sociolegal, feminist, queer, and transgender theoretical approaches to the study of prisons. The course centers on girls, women, and LGBT people's experiences with systems of punishment, surveillance, and control. In addition, students will learn how feminist and queer activists have responded to institutions of policing and mass incarceration; investigate how they have understood prison reform, prison abolition, and transformative justice; and consider the political, ethical, and methodological concerns that policing, and mass incarceration raise.
Registration Requirements
No prerequisites needed.
Learning Objectives
- Critically engage with interdisciplinary approaches to the contemporary study of
the prison industrial complex, with particular attention to ethnographic, sociolegal, feminist, queer, and transgender theoretical approaches to the study of prisons.
- Develop critical thinking skills in analyzing how gender, race, class, and sexuality intersect in shaping individual experiences with the carceral state.
- Practice elements of scholarly engagement with course topics through analytic writing, independent research, and public speaking.
Teaching Method
Lecture and discussions
Evaluation Method
Grades will be based on in-class participation, weekly short answer questions, and a final paper and presentation
Class Materials (Required)
All course materials will be provided electronically via Canvas at no cost.