ENGL 218 - Literature, Gender, and Sexuality

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2014/15a: Gay Male Narratives in America after 1945. An exploration of various narrative modes and genres through which modern gay male identity has both expressed and created itself. The first half of the course will focus on the evolution of the gay male literary novel, and may include works by Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, Christopher Isherwood, Andrew Holleran and Mark Merlis. For the second half of the course we will organize the class into affinity groups of four or five students who will investigate and present an aspect of gay narrative of their own choosing. Possibilities include: gay pulp fiction, gay porn narratives, the literature of AIDS, gay blogs, genre writing (science fiction, detective, slash, etc.), children’s and young adult literature, film adaptation and gay comics. Mr. Russell.

Topic for 2014/15b: Gender, Sexuality, Disability. (Same as WMST 218 ) This course is an introduction to disability studies, with a focus on the difference(s) that gender can make, both in social constructions of disability and in the lives of men and women with disabilities. Topics include: the languages of disability; cultural ideals of beauty and the acceptable/desirable body; disability and representation; the impact of disability on sexuality and gender identity; and intersections of disability studies with feminist and queer theory. A particular focus of the course will be the self-representation of disabled subjects–how they use writing, art, and performance to overcome stigma and shame, to challenge stereotypes, to re-imagine identities, and to engage in disability activism. Ms. Dunn.

Two 75-minute periods.