Queer Ethnography

Is there such a thing as a queer ethnographic sensibility? This class will explore queer ethnography in its many iterations, paying close attention to how anthropologists and other theorists have understood and brought together two notoriously slippery terms—queer and ethnography. We will examine texts formally designated as queer ethnography alongside multidisciplinary media exploring queer life in order to determine if queer ethnography involves, or even demands, a particular approach or sensibility. Readings will introduce students to topics in medical anthropology, Black studies, anthropology of empire, diaspora studies, visual anthropology, and the use of ethnographic writing outside of anthropology. Through these readings, screenings, and listening exercises, students will develop an understanding of the varied and occasionally contentious criteria for what makes some anthropology, and ethnography, “queer.”