Contemporary Queer Childhoods: Growing Up LGBTQ+ in America

1 Course Unit

LGBTQ+ youth in America today grow up amidst competing crosscurrents. They’re the beneficiaries of hard-won progress, but also the targets of a growing backlash. They’re boldly creating new possibilities for self-definition and expression, but still encountering the persistent constraints of pre-existing social structures. In this class, we will explore the joys and challenges of growing up LGBTQ+ in America today. To facilitate this exploration, we will read a wide range of social science research, combining in-depth ethnographic studies with large- scale social surveys. Students will also conduct their own research, getting hands-on training in collecting, processing and making meaning out of quantitative data. Through close readings and active engagement with data, we will examine what the lives of LGBTQ+ youth can teach us about gender, sexuality and inequality in America today. Also Offered As: SOCI 2980 1 Course Unit