Intro to Sexuality Studies

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course provides an introduction to the vibrant and interdisciplinary field of sexuality studies. Sexuality studies examines the social construction of sexual desires, practices, and identities, and investigates the ways in which sexuality is connected to power and inequality. We will begin the course by exploring some key theories and concepts within the field, and situate them alongside the history of LGBTQ activism in the United States and elsewhere. We will then consider how these concepts can be applied to a variety of contemporary issues such as sexual identity and the state, same-sex marriage, representations of sexuality in popular culture and the media, transnational sexualities and sexual identities and consumerism. Throughout the course, we will examine how sexuality intersects with other social categories such as gender, race, class, nationality, age and ability/disability.