WMST 0002. Introduction to LGBT Studies/Queer Theory
Units: 3
Also known as LGBT 1
Hours: 54 lecture
A broad and general exploration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Studies and its relationship to Feminism. Emphasis on Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and Expression and their intersections with Race/Ethnicity, Class, the LGBT Rights movement in the United States and globally. (C-ID SJS 130) (CSU, UC)
WMST 0002 - Introduction to LGBT Studies/Queer Theory
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/course-outlines/wmst-0002/
Catalog Description Also known as LGBT 1 Hours: 54 lecture Description: A broad and general exploration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Studies and its relationship to Feminism. Emphasis on Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and Expression and their intersections with Race/Ethnicity, Class, the LGBT Rights movement in the United States and globally. (C-ID SJS 130) (CSU, UC) Course Student Learning Outcomes CSLO #1: Describe and analyze the philosophical underpinnings of Queer Theory as found in the writings of Nietzsche and Foucault. CSLO #2: Describe the history of the LGBT rights movement in the United States including historically significant lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and their contributions to the movement. CSLO #3: Compare and contrast central issues and tensions between the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer movements. CSLO #4: Describe and analyze the intersection of sexual orientation and gender identity with race and ethnicity, class and other identities from a global perspective. Effective Term Fall 2025 Course Type Credit - Degree-applicable Contact Hours 54 Outside of Class Hours 108 Total Student Learning Hours 162 Course Objectives Students will, through oral and written work, 1. describe, compare and contrast the differing strains of feminism including but not limited to liberal feminism, radical feminism, cultural feminism, Marxist feminism and postmodern feminism; 2. describe the feminist divorce of the social from the biological and the "non-essential" nature of gender; 3. define, compare and contrast essentialism and social constructionism; 4. describe, compare and contrast, and evaluate essentialist approaches to gender versus social constructionist approaches to gender; 5. compare and contrast various global understandings of orientations and identities, as well as policies and laws regarding those orientations and identities; 6. compare and contrast various understandings of orientations and identities within the United States, e.g. Native American, African American, Chicano/a and Latino/a, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Rural and Metropolitan, as well as policies and laws regarding those orientations and identities 7. describe the history of the LGBT Rights movement and the ways that public policies regarding health, rights, incarceration, have intersected with that movement; 8. chart the emergence of Gay and Lesbian studies as the academic arm of the gay rights movement; 9. describe, compare and contrast, and evaluate essentialist approaches to sexuality versus social constructionist approaches to sexuality; 10. compare and contrast Gay and Lesbian Studies with Queer Theory; 10. describe the oeuvre of both Nietzsche and Heidegger and the nascent roots of Postmodernism found therein; 11. trace both Postmodernism and Social Construction theory as they progress from the genealogical works of Nietzsche and the early Existential works of Heidegger to Foucault's History of Sexuality and Derrida's deconstructionism; 12. examine and evaluate Queer Politics including Race and Sexual Difference, Separatism vs. Unity, and LGBT community issues; 13. examine and evaluate Queer readings of contemporary film and television; 14. examine and evaluate Queer readings of contemporary music; 15. examine and evaluate Queer readings of contemporary dress, fashion and appearance; 16. create a Queer reading of some contemporary popular culture artifact. General Education Information Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability AA/AS - Social Sciences AA/AS - Multicultural Studies CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval) CSUGE - D4 Gender Studies Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval) Cal-GETC 4 - Social and Behavioral Sciences IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval) IGETC - 4D Gender Studies Articulation Information CSU Transferable UC Transferable Methods of Evaluation Classroom Discussions Example: In small groups, construct one solid paragraph that represents the response for your group to the film "How to Survive a Plague." Your paragraph must have a strong, descriptive thesis that represents the response of each individual in your group. The remainder of your paragraph should be devoted to explaining/justifying that thesis. After each group has read their paragraph aloud to the entire class, students will have the opportunity to a) ask clarifying questions of other groups, i.e., When you said, "x," what did you mean by that?, b) make agreement/disagreement statements to other groups, i.e., I disagree with your claim that x or I agree with your claim y. Agreement/disagreement statements should also be supported by one or two pieces of evidence from the film. Groups will have the opportunity to briefly respond, citing evidence from the film. Essay Examinations Example: On an essay exam, students will be asked to select one film from a provided list and a) explain the historical time frame in which the film was produced, b) describe the key characteristics of the film/narrative that place the film within that time frame, and c) evaluate the film as if it were produced in today's cinema. The exam question will be graded in accordance with an instructor-prepared rubric. Objective Examinations Example: _____1. Traditional transnarrative _____2. Genderqueer _____3. Gender binary _____4. Transman _____5. Transwoman A. Posits that the world comes in two types of people: male and female. B. Assigned the sex of male at birth but currently identifying/expressing female. C. Assigned the sex of female at birth but currently identifying/expressing male. D. Rejects the gender binary and places everyone on a scale from masc to fem. E. Accepts the gender binary and understands self as having transitioned. Projects Example: The project for this course requires you to create a ten page graphic novel. Each page may have up to six frames or as few as one large frame. The size of the frame should be used to designate significance of the scene. For examples of what a graphic novel is, go to a local bookstore and look up Maus or Maus II, Persepolis or Persepolis II, or any other graphic novel series like Preacher or Lucifer, etc. Your graphic novel should include the following: - A presentation of a queer approach to some element of culture. You may use "camp" or "hyper-exaggeration" to accentuate the queer reading of culture that you are presenting. Your topic may be a television show, a series, a movie, a genre of movies, popular dress or advertising, theology or popular spiritual movements, etc. - A story, situation or context in which the queer reading of culture arises and is developed. - Yes, artwork of some sort to match the dialogue and action. (You will not be graded based upon your artwork.) - A two page explanatory essay describing the significance and meaning of your graphic novel. - An oral presentation to the class describing the significance and meaning of your graphic novel. Projects will be graded in accordance with an instructor-prepared rubric. Reports Example: For this position paper, you will be required to compare and contrast the essentialist approach to the study of sexuality (as presented in the copies packet essay on the potential biological origins of homosexuality) with the social constructionist view of sexuality (as described in Foucault's History of Sexuality, volume 1). Are these views mutually exclusive? Which approach do you believe to be most primary and why? The formal requirements for this paper are as follows: Three page maximum, typed, double-spaced, size 12 font, title page and stapled in the upper right hand corner. This is a formal paper assignment. Repeatable No Methods of Instruction Lecture/Discussion Distance Learning Lecture: The instructor will use trigger films such as episodes of PeeWee's Playhouse and films such as Cuckor's The Women, accompanied by small group discussions and classroom discussions on queer readings of these films. These discussions would involve the application of theory to popular culture and be based upon models of such application provided in texts such as Alexander Doty's Making Things Perfectly Queer. Students will describe and recognize aspects of LGBTQ+ culture, and explain their origins in societal context. Instructor lecture on the origins of Queer Theory in the philosophical works of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, Feminist Philosophy and its Postmodern turn. Students will then compare and contrast lecture topics. Distance Learning The instructor will facilitate small group discussions of LGBTQ+ Political events, tracing their origins to philosophical assumptions, and have students, in oral and written work, evaluate them from an intersectional perspective. Typical Out of Class Assignments Reading Assignments 1. Read Audre Lourde's "Sister Outside" and be prepared to discuss both the strengths and struggles of living at the intersection of multiple identities, e.g., being black, female and lesbian. 2. Read "Bi-America" and create a list of misunderstandings that the heterosexual community has about bisexual identities and a separate list of misunderstandings that the lesbian and gay community has about bisexual identities. 3. Read "Body Counts" and be prepared to discuss seven big social activism events in the history of the AIDS epidemic in terms of context that ignited the event, participants in the event and consequences following from the event. Writing, Problem Solving or Performance 1. Paper or Video Assignment: Write a four to five page paper or record a ten minute video on one of the following topics: A) Why is Stonewall hailed as the start of the LGBT Rights movement in the United States rather than the Black Cat Riots, the Compton Riots, or the Cooper's Donuts Riots. B) List, explain and evaluate five important events after the Stonewall Riots in the history of the LGBT Rights movement in the United States. 2. Writing Assignment: Construct an essay describing the strengths and weaknesses claimed by Audre Lourde to follow from being a black, lesbian woman at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, the "Gay" Rights Movement and the Women's Rights Movement. Do you agree with Lourde? Why or why not? Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.) 1. Create a chart illustrating the theoretical progression from Feminism and Gay and Lesbian Studies to Queer Theory. 2. Create a chart delineating similarities and differences between traditional approaches to Christ and the Gospels and queer approaches to Christ and the Gospels. Required Materials Transgender History Author: Susan Stryker Publisher: Seal Press Publication Date: 2017 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: The ABCs of LGBT Author: Ashley Mardell Publisher: Mango Press Publication Date: 2016 Text Edition: 1st Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God and Race Author: Clay Cane Publisher: Cleis Press Publication Date: 2017 Text Edition: Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: The Heart's Invisible Furies Author: John Boyne Publisher: Hogarth Press Publication Date: 2018 Text Edition: Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Audre Lourde Author: Sister Outsider Publisher: Crossing Press Publication Date: 2007 Text Edition: Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Beyond the Binary: Thinking about Sex and Gender Author: Shannon Dea Publisher: Broadview Press Publication Date: 2023 Text Edition: 2nd Classic Textbook?: OER Link: OER: Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.
Humanities
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/departments/humanities/
...Queer Theory (also WMST 0002 ) LGBT 0002 Queer (LGBTIQ) Film History MUS 0002 Music Appreciation...
Sociology
http://catalog.sierracollege.edu/departments/sociology/
...LGBT 0002 Queer (LGBTIQ) Film History SOC 0002...Feminism and Social Action WMST 0001 Introduction to...
