Sexuality and Society (232-0-20)

Instructors

Evan J Zhao

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

TOPIC: Public/Private

The distinction between public and private has long organized how societies regulate information, bodies, gender, and sexuality—determining what can be shown and what must be hidden, what is protected by law and what is policed by it, who is made visible and who is forced into concealment. But the boundaries between public and private have never been stable, and today they are in critical need of reevaluation. Digital platforms govern what media is censored or traverses the internet (whether consensually or not). The law is still unsettled on questions of ID verification requirements, revenge porn, and invasive data collection. This course examines the public/private divide as a framework for understanding social life in the contemporary world, drawing on feminist and queer theory, legal scholarship, and social science. We will think critically about how intimacy, visibility, and power not only shape the landscape for identity- and community-building, but actively produces and constrains their expression.

Class Materials (Required)

All will be provided in Canvas

Class Attributes

SoC Individual and Social Behavior Distro