Topic: Sexuality and Nation Building

Catalog description

Sex-books have been written about it. Movies have made it into entertainment. Magazines has mass marketed it. Social scientists have theorized it. Biological scientists have attempted to locate its origins. Theologians have debated it. Parents, teenagers, and most everyone under the sun has at some point in their lives discussed it. Is it a social construction or a biological fact? Why does it elicit so much intrigue, fear, disgust and joy depending upon the subjects involved? This course will explore the topic of sexuality, more specifically attempts to control it through a variety of measures from interpersonal violence to state sponsored oppression. Students will learn about historical and contemporary points of tension surrounding it, from the creation of definitions to legal attempts to control it. They will also learn how it has been used as a mechanism to keep particular social hierarchies in place.