Research Seminar in Gender & Sexuality Studies (350-4-2)

Topic

Pleasure in the Archives I

Instructors

Amy Ruth Partridge
847.491.5872

Meeting Info

University Hall 318: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

In this research seminar we make extensive use of online archival collections and of materials housed in Northwestern's Special Collections to collectively explore distinct conceptions of "pleasure/love" and the (sexual) politics to which they are hitched in the United States from the progressive era through the 1990s, with an with an emphasis on the Chicago scene. The course is organized around several key terms central to social movements in the United States across this historical period including: "free love", "sexual freedom", "sexual liberation", "revolutionary love", and "safe(r) sex." Our goal in this course is to explore each term in its historical moment, including the social movements that rallied around these formulations, and the theories of sex/gender/sexuality being forged, recuperated &/or revised as part of this process. This course is also intended to introduce students to the practice of archival research and assignments will focus on collective research projects using pre-selected materials & curated collections. Students have the option of submitting a final research proposal that builds on course themes or completing a final research paper.

Class Notes

Attendance at first class is mandatory

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Distro Area