Gender and Sexuality Courses at St. Olaf College, 2007-08
Family Studies 253: Human Sexuality
Instructor: Sharon Powell (Fall 2007 / Spring 2008)
This course explores the varied dimensions of human sexuality as they relate to, affect and are affected by past and present human relationships. Sexual problems and issues are re-examined for the development of personal value framework and for the enrichment of family life. The course emphasizes critical thinking skills applied to current issues in human sexuality (e.g. gay marriage, gender issues, sexual violence). Students examine issues in contemporary research and ethics in sexuality.
Integrative Studies 215: It's About Sex: Gender and Sexuality in 20th Century United States
Instructor: Mary Titus (Fall 2007)
This seminar will explore selected "moments" in the intertwined histories of gender and sexuality in the United States, approaching each from more than one disciplinary perspective. For example, we might begin with George Chauncey's historical study Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay male Worlds, 1890-1940, followed by selections from the fiction and poetry of Harlem Renaissance figures such as Langston Hughes, Bruce Nugent, and Claude McKay. We will probably consider the significance of Alfred Kinsey, including his current incarnation in the film, "Kinsey." We'll likely read "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, view the film version starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, and then read a revision of the play titled "Belle Reprieve," written and staged by the lesbian-feminist theater company Split Britches. Other moments we might step into and explore together include the birth control pill, the Vagina Monologues and/or performance art, and the contemporary transgender movement. At all times we will draw on historical and cultural studies, sociological and psychological writings, literature, film, and feminist and queer theory to enrich our understanding. Each seminar member will undertake an extensive research project that will contribute to the content of the seminar in the final third of the semester.
Norwegian 130: Nordic Film Today: Love, Sex, and Family
Instructor: Anne Sabo (Interim 2008)
This film course focuses on the increasingly non-traditional ways of forming relationships in the Nordic countries. Rejecting the values of previous generations, young people from different backgrounds and ethnicities form relationships according to their own integrity and sexual preferences. Students attain an understanding of these cultural trends and the technical terminology to watch, read, think, talk, and write critically and intelligently about films as text. Taught in English. Offered during Interim.
Religion: Religious Discourse on Sexuality
Instructor: David Booth (Seminar for senior religion majors / Future interim course)
We are trying to understand contemporary Christian discussions about the rights and dignity of gay people, together with the history of, and the reasons given for Christian opposition to the rights and dignity of gay people. We will address biblical interpretation, intellectual history, philosophical and theological questions, and current political debates. Key topics will include the interpretation-history of “clobber” texts in the bible; the coherence and utility of “sexual identity” as a historical category (e.g., essentialism and constructivism regarding “gay history”); philosophical and theological analysis of both denunciations and celebrations of same-sex desire (e.g., analysis of concepts of nature, pleasure, self-love, complementarity); heterosexism and gender ideology; the problem of androcentrism in discourses about sexuality (e.g., feminist perspectives on marriage, heterosexism, homophobia, and “gay” identity); and contemporary political postures (e.g., rhetoric concerning the “defense of marriage”).
Sociology/Anthropology 246: GLBT Lives and Issues
Instructor: Bruce Nordstrom-Loeb (Interim 2008)
This course explores the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from several social science perspectives. We'll look at whether gender and sexual orientation (both heterosexual and homosexual) are socially constructed or biologically natural, and what cross-cultural and historical examples can tell us. We'll look at controversies over the family and religious status of GLBT people, why homosexuality has become such a political issue, and movements for change. Offered during Interim.
Sociology/Anthropology 261: Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Instructor: Bruce Nordstrom-Loeb (Fall 2007 / Spring 2008)
This course compares gender patterns and issues in various cultures around the world, such as Latin America, the Middle East, India, the U.S., and East Asia. How do cultural expectations for women and men vary? Why do some societies have more gender equality than others? How do economic and political change, including globalization, impact gender roles? How do U.S. and Third World feminism compare? Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
Women's Studies 399: Third Wave Discourses on Gender
Instructor: Anne Sabo (Spring 2008)
In this seminar, we will explore current discourses on gender, sexuality, and intimacy. Students are expected to draw on knowledge from relevant texts read in other contexts and for other courses, in particular their intro to women’s studies course and other courses that count towards their women’s studies major, to map out the history and landscape of current discourses on gender, sexuality, and intimacy. The seminar begins by tracing the so-called pro-sex vs. anti-porn sex wars among feminists, then considers pornography as one attempt at creating a potentially feminist and gender equal minded discourse for heterosexuality. We will also consider the idea of gender performance, on the one hand, and the implications of lingering gender expectations for women as well as men, on the other hand. We will conclude by addressing new forms of intimacy and the status of marriage and motherhood.
