Global Histories of Sex Work

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Sex for Sale: Prostitution in Comparative Perspective What Is This Course About? How can we write a history of prostitution and what are some of the major themes academics have explored when writing about prostitution? This seminar offers a historiographical overview of the topic of prostitution in history since Judith Walkowitz's interpretation of prostitution as labor. We will explore the differences and similarities in the history of prostitution over time, class, and space. We will also look at why and how prostitution is stigmatized in most societies, and address where to find sources to write a history of prostitution. Some of the questions we will explore include: where does the history of prostitution fit into the history of sexuality? How can we write about a stigmatized topic without stigmatizing its protagonists? How should scholars navigate the boundary between consent and violence in historical contexts? Why do some topics such as trafficking and the plight of Muslim women mobilize and carry considerable currency? Our main focus will be on 19th and 20th century United States, Europe, and the Middle East, but we will also explore cases in East Asia and Latin America. This course is not a lecture course. Rather, it is reliant upon discussion and debate. Class meetings will be largely focused on actively using what we have read or learned through varies sources, sharing it with others, thinking on the spot, brainstorming, speculating, and figuring out how it all fits together. Assignments are designed with a digital component. You should be comfortable with some digital tools beyond Microsoft Word or willing to make the effort to familiarize yourself with these tools (Wordpress, Omeka, VoiceThread, Podbean). What Will Students Learn by the End of the Term? By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to answer the following questions: • How would you characterize and evaluate the various strategies that have been used across the world in the 19th and 20th century to address prostitution? • Historically, what have been the consequences of making prostitution illegal for women and girls? • How have race, gender, and class shaped the politics and lived-experience of prostitution? • What does comparing histories of prostitution across the world tell us about the state of the scholarship? By the end of the course students will improve on the following skills: • Thinking skills: The ability to read, analyze, and respond to our course materials • Communication skills: The ability to communicate ideas clearly and efficiently • Information success and Retrieval: The ability to know where to look for and gather information concerning our topic • Ethical reasoning: The ability to recognize multiple perspectives and examine connections between beliefs and actions