ILS 2180:  SEXUALITY:  SCIENCE/CULTURE/LAW
Spring 2024
Tentative Course Schedule
11:00-12:15
GWC 408

NOTE:  This schedule may change as needed.  Your presence in class ensures correct assignments


ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF OUR CLASS MEETING TIME (11:00AM)



WEEK 1     WEEK 2     WEEK 3     WEEK 4     WEEK 5     WEEK 6     WEEK 7

WEEK 8     WEEK 9     WEEK 10     WEEK 11     WEEK  12     WEEK 13     WEEK 14

WEEK 15      WEEK 16




WEEK 1

T 1/9b          Course Introduction; FW:  What is the value of art in a culture?  Gluck Image 
                     (1936);  Francis Bacon, Two Figures (1953); We Two Boys Clinging Together 
                      (1961), David Hockney; Gay Liberation, George Segal (1979)

                    HOMEWORK (DUE 1/11):
  •           Complete Syllabus Quiz
  •           Set Up Blog; email the Web address to your page (http://wordpress)
                   to Professor Harmon: [email protected] by class time.
                  Do first blog post: What do you see as the cultural, historical, and political 
                  value of a film like Before Stonewall? Your response should be a minimum of 
                  300 words; post to your newly created blog.


R  1/11       Important Terms; Binaries, Behavior, and Identities; 

                    HOMEWORK (DUE 1/16):
                   Read "Is There a History of Sexuality?" by David Halperin & "Since Intimate    
                   Matters" by John D'Emilio & Estelle B. Freedman (SEE WEEK 1 FOLDER)
  •          Be prepared to answer this question about your reading and be able to support
  •          your answer with specific evidence from the text:  What important lessons do 
  •          these two articles teach us about the history of sexuality?  

WEEK 2
T 1/16      Blog Post and Discussion of Halperin

                  HOMEWORK (DUE 1/18):
                  Read "Run, Mourner, Run" by Randall Kenan (see week 2 folder)
                  Do Reader Response 1:  Argue what you see as the theme of this story and why.  
                  Theme = the central idea communicated by the work. Identify the theme as a 
                   one word idea. Your response should be a minimum of 300 words.



R 1/18     Fiction Terms and Discussion of Kenan Story   

                 HOMEWORK (DUE 1/23): 
  •       Read "Queer" by Frank Bidart
  •       Do Reader Response 2:  Thematically, what do these two works have in   
               common? Why is that significant and how does this relate to the other works we
               have examined thus far (Kenan, Freedman, and Halperin)?

WEEK 3
T 1/23       Discuss Proulx and Bidart

                  HOMEWORK (DUE 1/25):
  •          Complete Reader Response 3:  In a minimum of 600 words by class time on R
                   1/27 answering the following question:   Weeks argues that "the invention of 
                  sexuality was not a single event, now lost in a distant past.  It is a continuing 
                  process in which we are simultaneously acted upon and actors, objects of 
                 change, and its subject."  What do you think he means by this and what 
                 connections might this statement have to Audre Lorde's poem?  Support your 
                 argument with evidence from both texts as well as 
                 Lorde's bio. 
  •        Upload completed Response to Turnitin folder



R 1/25     Discuss Weeks and Lorde 

                  HOMEWORK (DUE 1/30):
                   WARNING:  SEXUAL SITUATIONS AND SOME NUDITY​



WEEK 4
T  1/30     Discuss Undertow (Contracorriente) & Gender Performance

                  HOMEWORK (DUE 2/1):
  •        Read "The U.S. Should Apologize to Gay People" (see week 4 folder of Ulearn)
                 2/3 answer the following questions:  How could one use information presented 
                 in this piece as evidence of heteropatriarchy's goal of using social institutions 
                 to erase gay/queer identity, experience, and history? Do you find the author's 
                argument convincing, why or why not?  Was there evidence presented that you 
               found to be less convincing?  Social institutions = government/law, family, 
              religious institutions, educational institutions, and media.  Lastly, does this 
              article provide you greater insight into some of the literary texts/films we've 
              discussed so far?  Explain and include at least one example from a literary text. 
              You must include a minimum of one quote from the article and a minimum of one
              quote from a literary text or film (Kenan, Proulx, Bidart, Lorde, or Undertow).  
              Clearly explain  your position and support your argument with evidence.
                 

R 2/1      Discuss Article and Connections to Other Texts
                     

                   HOMEWORK (DUE 2/6):
  •          Watch Moonlight (1 hour 50 minutes) $2.99 at Amazon

 


WEEK 5
T 2/6        Discuss Moonlight and Connections to Tough Guise 2, Turner Article, and other 
                   Texts

                   HOMEWORK (DUE 2/8):
                   Heternormativity" (8 min)
  •          Watch "Striking Vipers," Black Mirror (Season 5, episode 1; 1 hour); Available
                   on Netflix
  •          Do Reader Response 5:  In what ways do ALL these texts and the film form a 
                   conversation/discourse about heternormativity?  What is their collective 
                   central message about it? Support your argument with evidence/quotes from
                   the texts.  Your response should be a min. of 600 words.
  •          NOTE:  YOUR READER RESPONSE SHOULD BE UPLOADED TO THE 
                  TURNIITIN FOLDER IN THE WEEK FIVE FOLDER, BUT YOU ALSO MUST 
                   COPY AND PASTE THAT RESPONSE AS A CONVERSATION THREAD ON THE
                   STRIKING VIPERS DISCUSSION BOARD AND RESPOND TO THE POSTS OF 
                   TWO OTHER STUDENTS (MIN. 300 WORDS TOTAL IN RESPONSE TO TWO 
                   STUDENTS MINIMUM). SEE RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS IN WEEK 5 FOLDER


R 2/8        NO CLASS MEETING ON CAMPUS; HARMON AT CONFERENCE; Discuss 
                   Striking Vipers on Discussion Board. RESPONSE TO TWO OTHER STUDENTS 
                   ON DISCUSSION BOARD DUE BY 11:59PM TODAY

                   HOMEWORK (DUE 2/13):
  •          Read instructions for Midterm Exam in Week 6 folder.
  •          Complete Claim and Subclaims (a complete sentence for each one).
  •          Submit completed claim and subclaims to ulearn before class on Tuesday 
                  (week 6 folder)

WEEK 6
T 2/13        Claims and Subclaims Due; PLANNING CONFERENCES

                     HOMEWORK (DUE 2/15):
  •           Revise Claim and Subclaims

R 2/15        Drafting Midterm Essay; PLANNING CONFERENCES

                    HOMEWORK (DUE 2/20):
  •           First Draft of Essay 1 (or presentation) due next class (essay, 4-6 page)
  •           Submit Essays only to Tutor.com also



WEEK 7
T 2/20          First Draft of Midterm Essay Due (or presentation); Exchange for Peer 
                       Critique; CONFERENCES

                       HOMEWORK (DUE 2/22):
                      ONLY) of partner's paper or presentation  (BOTH 
                      STEPS); Upload steps 1 and 2 of Critique to Ulearn as ONE MS WORD 
                      document 
  •              Email completed critique to partner
  •              Complete Tutor.com Report and Revision Plan (both parts) as 
                       explained in class

R 2/22         Peer Critique; CONFERENCES

                      HOMEWORK (DUE 2/27):
  •             Final Draft of Midterm Due (essay or presentation) with Reflection

WEEK 8​
T 2/27       Final Draft of Midterm Due with reflection; Watch Inside Her Sex doc (68 
                    ​  
                    HOMEWORK (DUE 2/29):

                    Read "The Changing Ideal of Womanhood During the Nineteenth Century
                   Woman Movement" by Susan Cruea

R 2/29         Discuss Cruea   

                     HOMEWORK (DUE 3/12):   
  •            Do Reader Response 6:  What does Chopin's story reveal about the changing
                     ideals of womanhood at the beginning of the 19th century? Use a minimum of
                     one quote from Cruea and one quote from Chopin; min. 600 2 FULL pages;
                     Upload to Ulearn.

3/6-3/10     NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK


WEEK 9
T 3/12        Discuss "The Storm"; NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING; PARTICIPATE IN 
                     DISCUSSION BOARD BEFORE 11:59pm (Kate Chopin's "The Storm," Week 9 
                     folder)

                     HOMEWORK (DUE 3/14):
  •            Return to the discussion for "The Storm" and respond to the posts of two other
                     students before class time.

R 3/14         Discuss "The Yellow Wallpaper"

                      HOMEWORK (DUE 3/19):​
  •             Read Act I of "In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play," pp. 1-65
  •             Complete Reading Quiz in Ulearn.
  •             Do Reader Response 7: What do you see as an emerging theme in this play                    and why? Identify something that a character does or says, or an object
                      closely associated with them, that reveals something about this theme.
                      Upload to Ulearn by class time.
  •             Post Reader Response 7 to Ulearn Turnitin Assignment (Week 9 folder) 


WEEK 10
T 3/19          Discuss Act I
                      HOMEWORK (DUE 3/21):​ 

                       Read Act II of In the Next Room, pp. 67-144
  •              Complete Reading Quiz in Ulearn.

R 3/21         Discuss Act II
                     HOMEWORK (DUE 3/26):
                     Read "The Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde
                     Read "Love Poem" by Audre Lorde and "A Soft Indentation" by Chrystos in
                     Ulearn (WEEK 10 folder)


WEEK 11
T  3/26        Discuss Lorde and Chrystos poems

                      HOMEWORK (DUE 3/28):
  •             Watch The Hours (2002, 1 hr. 54 min.; $2.99 @ Amazon)
  •             Do Reader Response 8: In her essay, "Poetry is Not a Luxury," Lorde argues,
                     "As we learn to bear the intimacy of scrutiny, and to flourish within it, as 
                     we learn to use the products of that scrutiny for power within our living, 
                     those fears which rule our lives and form our silences begin to lose their 
                     control over us."  How can we connect this statement to the film The Hours, 
                     the documentary Inside Her Sex, and the poems by Lorde ("Love Poem") & 
                     Chrystos ("Soft Indentation")? Your response must be a minimum of 600 
                     words and include multiple examples and a minimum of two quotes.


R 3/28         Discuss The Hours and "Poetry is Not a Luxury" and connections to other texts

                      HOMEWORK (DUE 4/2): 
  •             In Their Own Words:
                      "What Does It Mean to Be Genderqueer?"  (7 min.)
                      "Why I'm Genderqueer" (17 min.)
                      Watch ​"Non-Binary Vs. Gender Non-Conforming" (20 min.)
  •             Read "i/dentity (packed) by Aimee Herman & "A Cut Won't Kill Me" by 
                     Bo Luengsuraswat (in Ulearn WEEK 11 folder)

WEEK 12
T 4/2            Discuss Poems

                      HOMEWORK (DUE 4/4):
  •               Read "Boy with Flowers" by Ely Shipley & (in Ulearn, WEEK 12 folder)
  •               Complete Reader Response 9:  In a min. of 450 words, respond to the
                        following question:  How did the documentary Trans aid you in better
                       understanding the poem?  What do you see as some important connections? 
                       Refer to specific examples from both the documentary and poem and include
                       a min. of one quote.

R 4/4          CLASS MEETS ONLINE; Discuss Poems Herman and Luengsuraswat (initial 
                     post by 11:59pm Friday; responses to other students by 11am on T 4/9)

                     HOMEWORK (DUE 4/9):

  •             Return to discussion board for Herman and Luengsuraswat poems and   
                      respond to the posts of two other students (min. 300 words total between the 
                      two)
  •             Watch Boys Don't Cry ($3.99 at Amazon; 2 hrs.)
  •             Read "Cycle Undone" by Ahmisa Timoteo Bodhran (in Ulearn)
  •             Do Reader Response 10:  What do you see as the central theme of this film and
                      why? What connections do you see between the film's theme and the content
                      of Bodhran's poem? Your response must be a min. of 600 words and refer to
                      specific examples from both the film and the poem.  Include a least one quote
                      from the poem in your response.


WEEK 13
T 4/9          Discuss Boys Don't Cry & Final Exam

                     HOMEWORK (DUE 4/11):
  •            Claim and Sub-claims for Final Exam (presentation or Essay ) Due


R 4/11        Claim and Sub-Claims for Final Exam Due; Pair up for peer critique in class

                    HOMEWORK (DUE 4/16):
  •           First draft of final exam due (for presentation this includes a script if 
                    presentation)
  •           Submit Essays Only to Smarthinking also

WEEK 14
T 4/16       First draft of Final Exam Due; Exchange drafts with a partner for critique; 
                   CONFERENCES

                    HOMEWORK (DUE 4/18):
  •          Complete Typed Critique of Partner's Essay or Presentation and submit to 
                   Ulearn
  •          Continue to Revise Your Final Presentation or Essay


R 4/18     Share Critique in Class; CONFERENCES 

                 HOMEWORK (DUE 4/25):
                 Continue to Revise Presentation



WEEK 15
T 4/23     READING DAY ALL ACADEMIC CLASSES:  Work on Revisions; COURSE 
                  WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE     

                  HOMEWORK (DUE 5/3):

WEEK 16
R 4/25    Final Exam Due with Reflection by 12:30pm