Queer Theory

Catalog description

“Queer” has become a stand-in for the identity category that begins with the letters, “LGBT,” but what does it mean to be queer, in theory? This interdisciplinary course surveys major concepts and schools of thought in the field of Queer Theory in order to explore the meaning of queerness as a category of radical difference that gives LGBT cultures their social distinctiveness as well as their political urgency. We will use a variety of approaches to theoretical framing of gender and sexuality, including an analysis of literature and visual culture; phenomenology and other schools of philosophy; psychoanalysis and other socio-medical discourses; historiography and legal studies; and a focus on pop culture and current events. This course can be used as a substitution for WS 380 for Women and Gender Studies majors and minors.