Gender, Sexuality and the Body: Theories and Histories

ENGL20481 Gender, Sexuality and the Body: Theories and Histories 20 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 2 Ben Nichols Unit coordinator Jacqueline Stacey Unit coordinator English and American Studies 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Middle part of Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This course explores two analytical concepts central to our understanding of what makes us 'modern': gender and sexuality. We analyse specific examples of 20th century fiction, film, and popular culture in order to consider topics such as: desire, identity, sexual classification, repression and liberation, racial and classed bodies, transgression, normality and deviance, and trans politics. We also consider some of the key theorists of sexuality, including Freud and Foucault. Throughout the course key feminist and queer theorists are introduced in relation to debates about changing understandings of the three categories in the course title.   This course explores two analytical concepts central to our understanding of what makes us 'modern': gender and sexuality. We analyse specific examples of 20th century fiction, film, and popular culture in order to consider topics such as: desire, identity, sexual classification, repression and liberation, racial and classed bodies, transgression, normality and deviance, and trans politics. We also consider some of the key theorists of sexuality, including Freud and Foucault. Throughout the course key feminist and queer theorists are introduced in relation to debates about changing understandings of the three categories in the course title.    <ul> <li>To introduce students to a range of theoretical work on gender, sexuality and the body informed by, or critical of, sexology and psychoanalysis;</li> <li>To encourage students to assess such material critically;</li> <li>To introduce students to a number of 20th century cultural texts which - self-consciously or otherwise - foreground issues of sexuality, gender and the body;</li> <li>To encourage students to develop strategies of reading cultural texts informed by theories of sexuality, gender and the body.</li></ul>  By the end of the course, the successful student will have demonstrated:<ul> <li>An understanding of some of the main issues raised by theoretical accounts of sexuality and gender;</li> <li>A grasp of the distinctions between different schools of thought in this area;</li> <li>An ability to analyse cultural texts in ways informed by theoretical work of sexuality, gender and the body;</li> <li>An appreciation of the implications for cultural criticism of the distinctions between the different schools of thought in this area.</li></ul>  Analytical skills Students taking this unit will be able to analyse and evaluate arguments and texts. Above all, committed students will emerge from this course unit with an advanced capacity to think critically, i.e. knowledgeably, rigorously, confidently and independently. Group/team working Students taking this unit will be able to work courteously and constructively as part of a larger group. Innovation/creativity On this unit students are encouraged to respond imaginatively and independently to the questions and ideas raised by texts and other media. Leadership Students on this unit must take responsibility for their learning and are encouraged not only to participate in group discussions but to do so actively and even to lead those discussions. Project management Students taking this unit will be able to work towards deadlines and to manage their time effectively. Oral communication Students taking this unit will be able to show fluency, clarity and persuasiveness in spoken communication. Research Students on this unit will be required to digest, summarise and present large amounts of information. They are encouraged to enrich their responses and arguments with a wide range of further reading. Written communication Students on this unit will develop their ability to write in a way that is lucid, precise and compelling. 0 Other 100% Closed Reading Exercise 40%Essay 60% Written and face-to-face (upon arrangement) N Theories:Michel Foucault History of Sexuality, vol. 1.  London: Penguin, 1998Michel Foucault, Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-Century French Hermaphrodite.  New York: Vintage Books, 2010 Sigmund Freud, The Psychology of Love (London: Penguin Books, 2006)Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents.  Trans. by David McLintock.  London: Penguin, 2002  Novels:Audre Lorde Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. London: Penguin Modern Classics, 2018.Films:Orlando  (1993, dir. Sally Potter)Looking for Langston (1989, dir. Isaac Julien)</sp Lectures 22 Seminars 11 0 165