Feminist & Queer Theory & Practice

Catalog description

This course will examine the intersection of theory and practice in feminist and queer politics. Students will be introduced to key texts in feminist and queer theory and examine debates among queer and feminist theorists. We will explore how ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality have changed over time; how these ideas intersect with ideas about race, class, and nation; and how they have been shaped by other schools of thought (such as Marxism, postcolonialism, liberalism, and psychoanalysis). We will pay especially close attention to the role of feminist and queer movements in producing theory as well as how theory has (re)shaped political activism. The course will culminate either in a final seminar paper or a practicum in which students work with a feminist or queer organization.