HON 432 - Queer Theory

Prerequisite, acceptance to the University Honors Program, or consent of Honors Program, Director. Overview and in-depth study of selected issues in queer theory with emphasis on intersectionality, interdisciplinarity, and students’ individual critical or creative research projects. The course will engage with foundational texts in queer theory, as well as contemporary queer theory, including, for instance, work in queer animal studies, queer disability studies, transgender theory, asexuality, intersexuality, and queer postcoloniality. Central questions we will ask include the following: Is “queer” different from “GLBT”? How does “queer” intersect/collide with gender, class, and racial identifications? How has queer theory impacted a variety of academic disciplines? Why has queer theory become so fashionable? What is the relationship between queer theory and political activism? In our pursuit of these and other questions, we’ll work with texts from multiple genres and media (including films, music videos, internet memes, tweets, zines, literature, and critical theory) that articulate, enact, embody, defy, and complicate the sexy, exciting, challenging, and rapidly changing/expanding field of queer theory. Discussion-based seminar. Letter grade. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits