Topics In Anthropology (390-0-24)
Topic
Before the Binary: Archaeologies of Sex, Gender, a
Instructors
Zachary Alan Nissen
Meeting Info
ANTHRO Sem Rm B07 - 1810 Hinmn: Tues, Thurs 3:00PM - 4:20PM
Overview of class
"Since the latter half of the 20th century, Queer and Feminist scholars have shown how binary identity systems (male/female; man/woman; straight/gay; cis/trans) constrain and erase variability in the ways people experience and relate to themselves/others as gendered and sexed beings. But what possibilities exist outside this binary system, and how did people understand sex, gender, and sexuality before it was established? In this course, we will explore archaeological and anthropological case studies that investigate what genders, sexes, and sexualities have been made possible by cultural groups throughout human history.
Students will learn about queer and feminist approaches to the study of identity and bodies through archaeological case studies. From Venus Figurines depicting voluptuous bodies in Neolithic Europe, sex acts depicted by the Moche Sex pots of Peru, to Ancient Maya rulers collecting blood from tongues and penises for ritual practices, this class will explore the vastly different ways issues of sex, gender, and sexuality have been understood by people around the globe.
Beyond learning about the past, we will question and engage with the possibilities and problems that arise when identity categories defined by specific cultural and temporal contexts are utilized or appropriated to interpret bodies shaped by another. Here, students will learn how to analyze the contexts that make expressions of sex and gender meaningful and be asked to communicate these insights in written and oral formats."
Learning Objectives
"• To gain a broad understanding of how issues of sex, gender, and sexuality have been conceptualized and practiced by different cultural groups in the past.
• To break down and critically analyze assumptions about what it means to be a sexed and gendered being in the world.
• To investigate how understandings of the past and present inform one another."
Class Materials (Required)
All required readings will be made available on the course canvas page.