Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies (490-0-21)

Topic

Sexual Knowledges: Science, Archives, Traces

Instructors

Tessie Liu
467/491-3150
Harris Hall Room 327

Meeting Info

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

Overview of class

Sexuality studies has flourished in recent decades amidst the multiplicities of desires, identities, and bodies. As loci of meaning-making, hierarchical differentiation, and political struggles, as well as the space of transgressive imagination and alternative subjectivities, sexuality studies have never been neutral. This course focuses on the scholarly debates over the practices and politics of sexual knowledges across historical moments, locations, and projects. We will analyze how this knowledge was (and is) produced, what counts as knowledge, who gets recognized as an Aexpert@ (and why), and who collects and curates. Our work will especially highlight the dynamic relations between story-telling, assembling, documentation, and interpretation. In doing so, we critically examine the multiple meanings of archives, their origins, and uses. Equally, we problematize the silences and so-called ephemera? Readings will include works on sexuality and bio-politics, classic works in sexology, and ethnographies. The course will also consider film and other media as well as digital archives. Finally, I hope to arrange either a Zoom or an in-person conversation with an archivist or collections curator on how they navigate collections as well as how they have assembled their collections.

Teaching Method

Seminar, student class presentations, group work.

Evaluation Method

Attendance, class participation, two short essays, one final essay.

Class Materials (Required)

All provided in Canvas

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration is reserved for Gender & Sexuality Studies students