Sexy Good Medicine: Sex, Gender, and Indigeneity in (the) America(s)

Catalog description

In this course, we will immerse ourselves in the academic field of Indigenous Gender and Sexuality Studies. While in Western societies gender and sexuality have traditionally been employed as tools of population control—becoming associated with ideas like sin, shame, and the private—in this course we will approach them as good medicine. Inspired by the groundbreaking work of Indigenous scholars, artists, and activists, we will explore the healing power of gender and sexual diversity. All throughout the course, we will also learn about the fight of Indigenous peoples to reclaim sovereignty over their own bodies. In this sense, we will approach Indigenous gender and sexuality as active tools for decolonization. While the course’s primary geographic focus is Anglo-North America—with a specific emphasis in the United States—it aims to be hemispheric (and global) in its approach.