Courses

Courses

Fall 2008

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016. Sex and the Church
Elizabeth Pritchard T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
An examination of the themes, varieties, and conflicts of Christian teachings and practices regarding sex and sexuality. Source materials include the Bible, historical analyses, Church dogmatics, and contemporary legal cases. Although the focus of the course is on Catholic traditions, the course will include comparative analyses of the sexual ethics of other Christian denominations.

201. Gay and Lesbian Studies
Guy Foster T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55
An introduction to the materials, major themes, and defining methodologies of gay and lesbian studies. Considers in detail both the most visible contemporary dilemmas involving homosexuality (queer presence in pop culture, civil rights legislation, gay-bashing, AIDS, identity politics) as well as the great variety of interpretive approaches these dilemmas have, in recent years, summoned into being. Such approaches borrow from the scholarly practices of literary and artistic exegesis, history, political science, feminist theory, and psychoanalysis—to name only a few. An abiding concern over the semester is to discover how a discipline so variously influenced conceives of and maintains its own intellectual borders. Course materials include scholarly essays, journalism, films, novels, and a number of lectures by visiting faculty.

229. Science, Sex, and Politics
David Hecht M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55
Seminar. Examines the intersection of science, sex and politics in twentieth-century United States history. Issues of sex and sexuality have been contested terrain over the past hundred years, as varying conceptions of gender, morality, and "proper" sexual behavior have become politically and socially controversial. This course explores the way that science has impacted these debates-- often as a tool by which activists of varying political and intellectual persuasions have attempted to use notions of scientific objectivity and authority to advance their agendas. The course explores debates over issues such as birth control, sex education, same-sex marriage, and abortion. Readings include Margaret Sanger, Margaret Mead, and Alfred Kinsey.

266. The City as American History
Matthew Klingle M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55
Seminar. America is an urban nation today, yet Americans have had deeply ambivalent feelings toward the city over time. Explores the historical origins of that ambivalence by tracing several overarching themes in American urban history from the seventeenth century to the present. Topics include race and class relations, labor, design and planning, gender and sexual identity, immigration, politics and policy, scientific and technological systems, violence and crime, religion and sectarian disputes, and environmental protection. Discussions revolve around these broad themes, as well as regional distinctions between American cities. Students are required to write several short papers and one longer paper based upon primary and secondary sources.