Gender and Sexuality in World Civ III - Going Downtown: Feminist and Queer Life in the Caribbean

Undergraduate / Graduate

What do intimacy, power, and community look like for women, queer and trans people in the Caribbean? We will study the history and present of Martinique's beaches, where sands can be a place of refuge for lovers. Listening to soca, the anthem of Carnival celebrations in Trinidad and beyond, we will understand how music and performance champion women's bodily autonomy and pleasure. Studying newly available archives, we will learn how newspapers like the Jamaica Gaily News (1977-1984) were the foundation of Jamaica's Gay Freedom Movement, creating community and sharing life-saving information. And, reading recent literature from across the Caribbean, we will see how women sharpen their voices against the threat of violence. We will also have the opportunity to learn from Caribbean scholars, artists, and writers working on gender and sexuality today in class visits. You will leave this course with insights into feminist and queer movements outside the U.S.; an understanding of how histories of indigenous dispossession, European colonialism, slavery, and Asian labor migration shaped the diversity of gender and sexual expressions in the Caribbean; and a new critical vocabulary for gender and sexuality. No prior familiarity with the Caribbean is required, and all readings will be in English or translated into English. All are welcome. This course is open to students who have not taken in GNSE Civ I and II.