Gay & Lesbian History Through Documentary Film

Catalog description

This course explores the past 100 years of gay and lesbian history, powerfully evoked through numerous award-winning documentary films and one classic historical text. Each class includes the screening of a full-length film, followed by deconstructive conversations exploring the cultural, political, and psychological impact on gay and lesbian individual and community identity in America. This interdisciplinary on-line humanities course explores the diverse array of American utopian communities that emerged during the 19th century. Exemplary communities include: the Shakers, the Harmony Society, the Zoarists, New Harmony, Yellow Springs communities, Brook Farm, Fruit lands, the Amana Society, the Oneida community, the Icarians, and Modern Times. These communities are placed in their historical, sociological, and economic context, and the variety of impulses that conditioned the rise of utopian communities is examined.