Karen Taylor
Spring 2002
Office Hours:
T, R: 1 pm - 2 pm
Weds.: 10 am - 4 pm
or by appointment
The goal of this course is to engage in conversations which will help us understand the role of "Otherness" in the construction of gender, race, class, power, and knowledge by examining the ways in which individuals perform their identities and the cultural values that write the scripts of their performances. We will review the range of methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks within which queer theororists are working, explore the differences between postcolonial, identity, feminist, Marxist, film and queer theories, and see how the intersections between them affect our understandings of gender.
Required Reading:
Tentative Weekly Schedule
I. Who Are We? Mapping the Self on the Social Script
Weeks 1 & 2: Jan. 15-24
II. The Big Bad Homo, or How Little Red Riding Hood Could Have Outsmarted the Wolf
Weeks 3 & 4: Jan. 29 - Feb. 7
III. Playing Ourselves: "Do these pants make my butt look too big?" and Other Important Questions
Weeks 5 & 6: Feb. 12-21
IV. Finding Each Other in the Enchanted Forest of Cliche: "All the good men are either married or homosexual"; "All she really needs is a good old-fashioned f___"; "If he just had a woman who really loved him..."; "She's just going through a phase."
Weeks 7 & 8: Feb. 26 - March 7
V. How I Spent My Spring Break and Other Embarrassing Confessions
Weeks 9 & 10: March 26 - April 4
VI. We're Here! - Aren't We?
Weeks 11 & 12: April 9 - April 18
VII. Phalloneous Assault, or Why Dick Still Has More Fun Than Jane
Weeks 13-14: April 23 - May 2
Requirements:
Discussion: Since this is a seminar, your active participation in class is essential. In order to participate actively you will need to complete the readings and watch the movies before class. How can you know how far into the readings we should be or which movies you should watch for any given class (the syllabus, after all, is divided into two-week clumps)? Here is my generalized vision of how each two-week period will proceed: on the first day of each two-week period (Tuesday) I will give you an overview of my understanding of the theoretical/methodological/interpretive terrain we are about to explore, and what I am particularly interested in thinking about. On the second day of each two-week period (Thursday) we will explore your insights/questions/arguments/disagreements, which means you should have read at least half of the required reading, and watched one movie. On the third day of each two-week period (Tuesday), a two-person team of students will lead us in a discussion of how the remainder of the readings fits in with/answers questions about/complicates what we've previously discussed (which means you should have read the remaing readings). On the fourth day of the two-week period (Thursday) we will tie our whole two weeks worth of conversations/debates together using the second movie to frame the discussion (which means you should have watched the second movie). Discussion is worth one-fourth of your total class grade.
Discussion Facilitation: As I mentioned above, each of you will be part of a two-person team which will lead a discussion tying together our conversations/debates with the readings. I expect your facilitation to be creative (as opposed to boring) and thorough: the object of these "expercises" ("experiences" + "exercises") is to allow you to really grapple with issues you are interested in and get us to help you think about them, using the texts (readings and movies) as evidence for our consideration in connection with your chosen issues. I will expect you to turn in notes on your reading/movie viewing/discussions with your teammate, a written general overview of what you desired to learn/accomplish, and a written evaluation of your own and the class's performance/reaction to your leadership. Your team facilitation performance will be worth one-fourth of your class grade.
Midterm Exam: This will be a three-to-five page paper (specific topic TBA) in which you explore some of the issues we have discussed in class and read about, explaining both your understanding of the issues and your analysis of how they are related, and how we might adjust our perspectives of them to facilitate our/cultural understandings. Your mid-term exam will be worth one-fourth of your grade.
Final Exam: Your final exam will be have both a written and an oral component. The written component will consist of a journal in which you keep a running account of one issue about identity/queerness that you are particularly interested in, and how your understanding of that issue changes over the course of the semester in light of the readings, movies, discussion, and your own thinking about it. The oral componant of the final will be your presentation, at a gathering at my home, of the evolution of your thinking about your chosen issue as it was shaped by the class readings, movies, and discussion. The final exam will be worth one-fourth of you grade for the class.
If you have questions, feel like a bit of conversation, or need someplace to vent, my door is always open.
*Unless otherwise indicated, I expect you to see all movies on you own at Andrews Audio Visual Center.
Last updated: January 13, 2002
© Karen J. Taylor