POLSCI 451 Queer Political Theory

3 Credit(s)

Queer Theory is a field of study that critically examines sex, gender, sexuality, and sexual desire from a dissident and “gay affirmative” (Sedgwick) perspective. Its primary aims are the de-naturalization of (hetero)sexuality and (hetero)normative gender categories, identities, and expression. This course in Queer Theory is specifically focused on politics, and as such will consider two basic questions: (1) how, in what way, or to what degree is sexuality political? (2) What consequences do the answers to this question have for something called “queer politics”? We will explore possible answers to these questions by reading classic texts from the history of feminist and gay liberation, core texts from the initial emergence of Queer Theory in the 1990s, and important contemporary texts on queer and LGBT politics in the U.S.

Diversity Area: United States