Gender, Nature, the Body

This course is an interrogation of the ways in which gender difference comes to be conceived of as “natural” in modern science and different cultures. What is the connection between the science of gender difference and the colonial encounter? What are some different ways of imagining gender difference? How are gender inequalities structured and perpetuated by science and political economy? Through careful reading of historical and anthropological texts, we will learn about various ways in which gender systems are constructed and resisted, how science is used to construct gender, and how gender politics influence scientific outcomes and practices.