HIST 378(F) History of Sexuality in America (Same as Women's and Gender Studies 344)
This course explores the shifting and contested meanings and experiences of sex
and sexuality, primarily in North America, from the pre-colonial period to the
present. We will pay close attention to changing definitions and experiences of
sexual deviance and norms. We will explore as well the role of sexual practices
and ideologies in creating and maintaining hierarchies of class, race, and gender.
Topics include the place of sex in histories of conquest and colonization; Victorian sexual ideology and behavior; the formation of diverse heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender identities, cultures, and communities, the "sexual revolutions" of the 1910s and 1960s; and representations of and responses to HIV/AIDS.
Format: discussion. Evaluation will be based on class participation, a series of
short critical responses, a mid-term essay, and a final research paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 20-25). Preference to History
majors and Women's and Gender Studies majors.
Group A