Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies (490-0-20)

Topic

Reading Gender Otherwise

Instructors

S. B. West

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 213: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Reading Gender Otherwise: Theories of Gender and Indigeneity in "Latin America."

This course draws from a rich archive of theoretical frameworks to interrogate gender as a paradigm that mobilizes myriad forms of sociopolitical oppression. Readings during the first unit of the course will explore Latin American approaches to coloniality and the decolonial turn, with special emphasis on gender as theorized by Sylvia Wynter and PJ DiPietro, among others. In the second unit of this course, we turn to Buen Vivir philosophy. Loosely translatable as "Good Living," Buen Vivir a key expression of Indigenous autonomy and plurinational movements throughout Abiayala (Guna Language meaning "the Americas" [lit. "continent of plenitude and maturity"]).Through the use of Indigenous methodologies, we consider: how might we interrogate gender without reproducing colonial logics? In other words, how do we read for gender while aspiring to what Catherine Walsh has called "thinking-otherwise," with a keen eye toward what Indigenous autonomous group U jeets'el le ki'ki' kuxtal has called the "colonization that has slipped in and deeply embedded itself in our territory, our minds, and our hearts?" We close this course by exploring the role of the text in imagining Indigenous autonomy. Spanish reading knowledge is strongly recommended for this course. Please contact instructor with questions regarding language recommendation.

Class Materials (Suggested)

In Canvas