1/9 Course Introduction

 

1/13 Introduction to Queer Theory

READ: Sharon Marcus, “Queer Theory for Everyone: A Review Essay,” Signs 31.1 (2005): 191-218.

 

1/16 Introduction: Critically Queer

DUE: Reading Reflection 1

  • Sedgwick’s introductory chapter to Epistemology of the Closet provides 7 axioms (a statement often understood as a self-evident truth). While each axiom can be understood (by some) as a self-evident statement about sexuality/gender, each might also be less self-evident and potentially shocking (to others—especially in 1990). In your own words, rewrite the broad statement for each axiom by providing 1-2 sentences that clarify its meaning. For example, the first (“Axiom 1: People are different from each other”) could address how Sedgwick suggests people are different and/or why this is significant for us to acknowledge. When finished, you should have seven rewritten axioms.

READ: Eve Kosofky Sedgwick, “Introduction: Axiomatic,” from Epistemology of the Closet (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), skim 1-21; focus on 22-63.

 

1/20 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, no classes

 

1/23 Introduction: Critically Queer

READ: Judith Butler, “Critically Queer,” GLQ 1 (1993): 17-32.

 

1/27 Introduction: Queer(ing) Orientations and Aesthetics

DUE: Reading Reflection 2

  • Provide 3 details (e.g. ideas/arguments) from the readings on “Low Theory” (or failure) and “orientation” (or objects) you found interesting and explain why you found these details interesting. (1-2 sentence(s) each)
  • Create a thought problem by connecting two concepts from the readings. (1-2 paragraphs)
WRITING A THOUGHT PROBLEM

Thought problems grapple with details we find puzzling, or troubling, or fascinating. A thought problem might emerge for several reasons: the complexity of a reading might cause confusion, prompting you to question the best method to decipher the meaning of a particular passage; or, a reading or screening might seem to contradict or complicate how you understand a concept, prompting you to consider ideas the text(s) never address.

 

When you are asked to write a thought problem, you should avoid merely stating a question about a reading or a concept. Instead, your thought problem should 1) explain why details from a text prompted additional questions or interests to emerge; 2) articulate why the problem you address is important; and 3) trace how you developed more understanding about your question(s)/interest(s) by integrating thoughtful connections to course readings (e.g. concepts or arguments). Some initial options to consider: a question about a concept in a reading could emerge because of previous class discussions on a similar topic; or, after making an interesting connection between two readings, you might begin to question why an author makes specific arguments.

READ:

  • Sara Ahmed, “Introduction: Find Your Way,” from Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006), 1-21.
  • Jack Halberstam, “Low Theory,” from The Queer Art of Failure (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011), 1-25.
  • (optional) Sara Ahmed, “Conclusion: Disorientation and Queer Objects,” from Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006), 157-179.

 

1/30 Queer Archives: Compulsory Heterosexuality & Lesbian Existence

VIEW (on Amazon Prime): The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002, 114’) Amazon | iTunes

READ: Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” in Signs 5.4 (1980): 631-660.

 

2/3 Queer Archives: AIDS & Viral Visuality

DUE: Reading Reflection 3

  • Regarding the reading by Bersani:
    • Summarize three ways he describes the visuality of HIV/AIDS (e.g. in relationship to shame, public spectacle, etc.)
    • Describe at least one connection between his descriptions of HIV/AIDS and the film BPM.
  • Provide at least one connection between the film BPM and another course concept we have addressed or read about this semester (e.g. regarding M4M sexuality, queer visibility/failure, etc.)

VIEW (on Hulu): BPM / 120 Battements Par Minute (Campillo, 2017, 143′) Amazon | iTunes

READ:

 

2/6 Queer Archives: Print & Pulp

READ:

 

2/10 Queer Archives: Something is Burning

VIEW (on Netflix): Paris is Burning (Livingston, 1990, 71′)

READ: bell hooks, “Is Paris Burning?” from Reel to Real: Race, Sex and Class at the Movies (New York: Routledge, 2009 [1996]), 275-290.

 

2/13 The Politics of Sex(uality): (Homo)Normativity and LGBTQ Politics

DUE: Reading Reflection 4

  • Provide a 1-2 sentence, paraphrased summary of the following political groups/terms:
    • The Anti-Gay Right
    • The Gay Right
    • Homonationalism
    • Gay Social-Liberalism
    • Unqueered Left
  • Create a thought problem about Neoliberalism. Aim for your thought problem to address how Neoliberalism influences contemporary LGBTQ identities or politics. Refer back to RR #1 for specific tips about writing thought problems

READ: Peter Drucker, “The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism,” from Warped: Gay Normality and Queer Anti-Capitalism (Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2015): 279-304.

 

2/17 President’s Day, no classes

 

2/20 Gay Television and Straight America

VIEW (via digital file from Prof. Cannon): “Premiere,” Queer as Folk (S01E01, 2000, 48′) AND “Queer, There, and Everywhere,” Queer as Folk (S01E02, 2000, 44′) Amazon | iTunes

READ:

  • Ron Becker, “Straight Panic in the 2000s,” from Gay TV and Straight America (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2006), 214-225.
  • Selections from “Queer TV Style” GLQ 11.1 (2005): 95-117. [NOTE: These readings, like the chapter by Becker, do not directly respond to Queer as Folk, but provide insights about critical reactions to LGBTQ representations on TV at the turn of the century]

 

2/24 Gay Lesbian Television and Straight America

DUE: Reading Reflection 5

  • Summarize (meaning, paraphrase) why The L Word is distinct from New Queer Cinema.
  • Based upon the readings by Aaron and Becker, give your opinion about the ways gay or lesbian (and/or bi, trans, etc.) television programming has or has not changed since the early/mid-2000s.
  • Provide 1-2 sentences describing if/how representations of lesbians in The L Word: Generation Q differ from what we saw in the pilot of Queer as Folk and/or in the pilot of the original The L Word series.

VIEW:

  • (on Amazon): “Let’s Do it Again,” The L Word: Generation Q (S01E01, 2019, 55′) [watch the entire episode]
  • (on Netflix): “Pilot: Part 1,” The L Word (S01E01, 2004, 52′) [watch at least the first few scenes to get an idea about what types of changes were made in the reboot (e.g. casting); preferably: watch the entire episode]
  • (optional) “Pilot: Part 2,” The L Word (S01E02, 2004, 44′)

READ: Michele Aaron, “New Queer Cable? the L word, the small screen and the bigger picture,” in Reading the L Word – Outing Contemporary Television, eds. Akass and McCabe (London: I.B. Taurus, 2006), 33-39.

 

2/27 Bisexuality: (Non-) Visibility and (Mis-) Representation

VIEW (on Netflix): “Both Sides Now,” Eastsiders (S04E05, 2019, 53’).

READ:

 

3/2 – 3/6 Spring Break, no classes

 

3/9 Contemporary Queerness: Quare’ing Queer Studies

DUE: Reading Reflection 6

  • Describe what Johnson means by “Quare” and, by extension, how it is understood in the context of “quare studies.”
  • Johnson describes various ways race becomes a problem (“race trouble”) within queer theory. Paraphrase 2-3 ways he describes race being excluded or invalidated by early queer theories.
  • One of the benefits from “looking” or “feeling” backward is our ability to assess if or how the world has changed (for better or for worse). In this regard, Johnson offers us a “postscript” with insights about how he would describe the role of race in queer theory after interventions like his. From the postscript, describe what (if anything) has changed?

VIEW (on Netflix): Moonlight (Jenkins, 2016, 111′)

READ: E. Patrick Johnson, “‘Quare’ Studies, or (Almost) Everything I Know About Queer Studies I Learned from My Grandmother,” in The Ashgate Research Companion to Queer Theory, eds. Giffney and O’Rourke (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2009), 451-469.

 

3/12 Contemporary Queerness: The Burning Returns, and You Better Live…Work…Pose!

VIEW (on Netflix): “Love is the Message,” Pose (S01E06) AND a second episode of your choice.

 

 

 

TRANSITION TO ONLINE CLASSES

Week 11 (3/16-3/20) Catchup and Research Paper Proposals

3/19: Test Skype Session (11:45am EST)

3/20: E-mail Prof. Cannon your research paper topic

 

 

Week 12 (3/23-3/27) Trans* (Non-) Visibility and Representation

WEEKLY UPDATE [PDF]

3/26: Skype Group Session (11:45am EST)

EV’S PRESENTATION:

  • Handout [PDF]
  • Southern Comfort (Kate Davis, 2001) is a documentary about Robert Eads’s last year before his death from ovarian cancer. Access the clip on YouTube (8:50-16:00)

VIEW:

READ:

 

 

Week 13 (3/30-4/3) Online Sexuality/Sociality

WEEKLY UPDATE [PDF]

3/30: Research Paper Draft Due

4/2: Skype Group Session (11:45am EST)

KATELYN’S PRESENTATION:

  • Handout [PDF]
  • “If guys acted in real life the way they do on gay apps,” Jack’d (2015). Available on YouTube.

READ: F. Hollis Griffin, “Wanting Something Online,” from Feeling Normal: Sexuality and Media Criticism in the Digital Age (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016), 140-168.

MEDIA:

  • LGBTQ social/dating app interfaces [in Weekly Update].
  • “Episode 1,” Hunting Season (2016, 10’) the censored version is available for free on Vimeo.
  • “Online Dating,” Boxed In (2014, 3’) on IFC.
  • “Oops,” Trans Monogamist (2019, 7’) on YouTube.

 

 

Week 14 (4/6-4/10) Playing Queer(ly)

WEEKLY UPDATE [PDF]

4/9: Skype Group Session (11:45am EST)

BRIANNE’S PRESENTATION:

READ:

MEDIA: A selection of video games is provided in the Weekly Update. Students with access to required hardware/content are asked to play a “collective list” of games first; students without access to required hardware/content are provided with game play videos as an alternative. I encourage everyone to expand the game play exploration to other games in the lists (or to others you consider applicable to the topic at hand).

 

Week 15 (4/13-4/17) Finals

4/17: Final Research Paper Due, uploaded to Blackboard before 11:59pm EST