Gender, Sexuality, and History (321-0-22)

Topic

A History of Sex

Instructors

Zavier Nunn

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

A History of Sex

Is sex binary? Does "biology" mean destiny? Can sex change? What, precisely, is sex? These questions shape contemporary political debates, from reproductive rights to trans politics, but they also have deep historical roots. This course examines how "sex" has been defined, debated, regulated, and lived across different times and places. Rather than treating sex as a fixed biological fact, we will approach it as a historical category whose meanings have shifted alongside transformations in science, law, empire, medicine, media, and governance.

Drawing on case studies from the Enlightenment to the present, this course traces how anxieties about sex and gender have structured ideas of human difference and shaped understandings of the relationship between body, self, and society. We will examine how concepts of sex have organized bodies, identities, classifications, and institutions, shaping social life from the intimate to the geopolitical. By historicizing a concept often treated as timeless, the course shows that sex changes not only at the level of individual bodies and identities, but across history itself.

Class Materials (Required)

Will be provided in Canvas

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline

Enrollment Requirements

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