Matters of Life and Death: Biopower, Necropolitics, Sex

Catalog description

In this course, we will investigate how definitions of life and death have evolved over the last two centuries and how those definitions have shaped American culture and policy. We will ask who is empowered to make decisions about who lives and who dies and by what authority; what bodies are included and excluded in discussions of bio- and necropolitics; and how gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and religion frame and become framed by matters of life and death. Satisfies a requirement in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.