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Queer Theory Syllabus

This document provides information about a course titled "Queer Theory" being offered in the winter of 2020. It will be taught by Professor Brandon Andrew Robinson on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00-9:20 AM in room CHASS INTS 1130. The course will examine core texts and debates within queer theory, how it emerged from related fields, and interventions like queer of color critique. Assignments include reading outlines, in-class writing, a midterm exam, a paper analyzing the book Lockpick Pornography, and a final exam. The course will cover topics like the foundations of queer theory, its central concepts, HIV and queer theory, queer space and time, and trans studies.

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Augusto Obando
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231 views5 pages

Queer Theory Syllabus

This document provides information about a course titled "Queer Theory" being offered in the winter of 2020. It will be taught by Professor Brandon Andrew Robinson on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00-9:20 AM in room CHASS INTS 1130. The course will examine core texts and debates within queer theory, how it emerged from related fields, and interventions like queer of color critique. Assignments include reading outlines, in-class writing, a midterm exam, a paper analyzing the book Lockpick Pornography, and a final exam. The course will cover topics like the foundations of queer theory, its central concepts, HIV and queer theory, queer space and time, and trans studies.

Uploaded by

Augusto Obando
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Queer Theory

Winter 2020
GSST 113 | T&TH 8:00AM – 9:20AM | CHASS INTS 1130

Professor: Brandon Andrew Robinson, Ph.D.


E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: T & TH 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM and By Appt.
Office Location: CHASS INTN 2017
Course Description

What is queer theory? And can we even define it? And what are the political stakes of this field
of study for gender and sexuality studies, specifically, and for society, more broadly? In this
course, we will tackle these questions through engaging with certain core texts and some key
debates within queer theory. First, we will examine how queer theory emerged out of feminist
and gender studies, gay and lesbian studies, and queer activism and how queer theory
differentiates and positions itself alongside these other fields of studies. We will, then, turn to
queer of color critique – which emerged out of women of color feminism and an intersectional
analysis – to analyze the importance of studying sexuality and queerness through their
intersections with race, gender, class, and other social categories. We will also look at other
interventions into queer theory such as discussions around HIV and relationality,
transnationalism and the diaspora, space, bodies, disability studies, and transgender studies. A
main goal of this course is to be able to utilize queer theory to analyze social inequalities and to
see queer theory’s potential in challenging and resisting dominant modes of knowledge
production and cultural practices.

Required Texts & Readings

All required readings will be posted on iLearn.

Course Assignments & Grading

Reading Outlines and Class Discussion Questions (25%): For each class, you will bring to class
an outline of the readings for that day and a discussion question for each reading. This outline
should explicitly address the author’s argument, central concepts, and other important
information to understand the author’s writing. We will begin class by discussing our outlines
and questions. These outlines are essential to understanding theoretical arguments in order to
then discuss and critique the arguments. I will collect the outlines at the end of each class. You
must do 12 outlines throughout the quarter, allowing you to miss 4 outlines or you can do the
extra 4 outlines as extra credit. Please note, an outline consists of every reading for that day. An
example outline and template will be posted on iLearn.

In-class Writing Assignments & Quizzes (10%): There will be periodic, unannounced in-class
writing assignments and quizzes throughout the entire quarter. These in-class assignments and

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quizzes will be a way to take attendance and to make sure you are doing the readings that are
required to do well in this course. These in-class writing assignments and quizzes will also allow
me to make sure you are understanding the course content adequately to do well in the class.

Midterm Exam (20%): This in-class exam will cover the first half of the material from this
course. It will be multiple choice and short answer. The midterm exam will be on February 4th.

Lockpick Pornography Paper (25%): This paper will be 4-6 pages long. It will consist of using
theories and concepts from the class to critically analyze the book Lockpick Pornography. More
detailed instructions will be posted on iLearn. Please follow the formatting guidelines outlined
on the assignment. This paper is due March 3rd.

Final Essay Exam (20%): This online final exam will cover the entire course. This exam will be
essay prompts that you will have to respond to during the scheduled final exam time. The final
exam is on March 16th from 3pm to 6pm.

Accommodations

Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability or believe you may have a disability, you can
arrange for accommodations by contacting Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 951-
827-4538 (voice) or [email protected] (email). Students needing academic accommodations
must first register with SSD and provide required disability-related documentation. If you
already have approved accommodation(s), you are advised to notify the faculty instructor of
record for this course privately.

Religious Holy Days: If, with proper notice, you miss a class, exam, or quiz in order to observe a
religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a
reasonable time after the absence. Students should make such requests of the instructor during
the first two weeks of any academic term or as soon as possible after a particular examination
date is announced by the instructor.

Academic Integrity

During the course, you should maintain a high standard of individual honor and integrity in your
scholastic work. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to
disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the
University. Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but
is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an
extension on an exam or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written
assignment for two courses without prior permission of the instructor. For more information,
please see: conduct.ucr.edu.

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Course Schedule

Jan 7. – Introductions, Review of Syllabus, Definitions

What is gender? What is sexuality? And what is queer theory?

Jan. 9 – The Politics of Sexualities

Rich, Adrienne. 1980. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence.” Signs.

Combahee River Collective. 1981. “A Black Feminist Statement.” This Bridge Called My Back.

Jan. 14 – The Politics of Sexualities (Cont.)

Rubin, Gayle. S. 1993 [1984]. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of
Sexuality.” The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader.

Lorde, Audre. 1984 [1978]. “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power.” Sister Outsider.

Jan. 16 – Queer Theory’s Foundations

Foucault, Michel. 1978. Excepts/Selections from The History of Sexuality.

Butler, Judith. 2004. “Introduction: Acting in Concert.” Undoing Gender.

Jan. 21 – Queer Theory’s Central Concepts

Warner, Michel. 1991. “Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet.” Social Text.

Cohen, Cathy. 1997. “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer
Politics?” GLQ.

Jan. 23 – Queer Theory’s Central Concepts (Cont.)

Duggan, Lisa. 2002. “The New Homonormativity: The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism.”
Materializing Democracy.

Ferguson, Roderick. 2005. “Race-ing Homonormativity: Citizenship, Sociology, and Gay


Identity.” Black Queer Studies.

Jan. 28 – Quare Studies/Queer of Color Critique

Muñoz, José. 1999. “Introduction: Performing Disidentifications.” Disidentifications.

Johnson, E. Patrick. 2001. “‘Quare Studies,’ or (Almost) Everything I Know About Queer
Studies I Learned from My Grandmother.” Text and Performance Quarterly.

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Jan. 30 – Quare Studies/Queer of Color Critique (Cont.)

Sommerville, Siobhan. 2000. “Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body.”
Queering the Color Line.

Ferguson, Roderick. 2004. “Introduction: Queer of Color Critique, Historical Materialism, and
Canonical Sociology.” Aberrations in Black.

Feb. 4 – Midterm Exam

***MIDTERM EXAM***

Feb. 6 – How to Survive a Plague

Watching in class the documentary How to Survive a Plague.

Feb. 11 – HIV and Queer Theory

Crimp, Douglas. 1987. “How to Have Promiscuity in an Epidemic.” October.

Bersani, Leo. 1987. “Is the Rectum a Grave?” October.

Feb. 13 – Queer Theory and the Anti-Relational/Anti-Social Turn

Edelman, Lee. 2004. “The Future Is Kid Stuff.” No Future.

Halberstam, J. 2011. “The Queer Art of Failure.” The Queer Art of Failure

Feb. 18 – Homonationalism

Puar, Jasbir and Amir Rai. 2002. “Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the
Production of Docile Patriots.” Social Text.

Morgensen, Scott Lauria. 2010. “Settler Homonationalism: Theorizing Settler Colonialism


within Queer Modernities.” GLQ.

Feb. 20 – Transnationalism, Imperialism, and Diasporas

Gopinath, Gayatri. 2005. “Impossible Desires: An Introduction.” Impossible Desires.

Patil, Vrushali. 2018. “The Heterosexual Matrix as Imperial Effect.” Sociological Theory.

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Feb. 25 – Queer Space, Bodies, and Time

Halberstam, J. 2005. “Queer Temporality and Postmodern Geographies.” In a Queer Time and
Place.

Freeman, Elizabeth. 2010. “Introduction: Queer and Not Now.” Time Binds.

Feb. 27 – Queer Bodies and Disabilities

McRuer, Robert. 2006. “Compulsory Able-Bodiedness and Queer/Disabled Existence.” The


Disability Studies Reader.

Kafer, Allison. 2013. “Time for Disability Studies and a Future for Crips.” Feminist, Queer, Crip.

Mar. 3 – Lockpick Pornography Paper Due

***NO CLASS, PAPER DUE***

Mar. 5 – Trans Studies Interventions

Stryker, Susan. 1994. “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix:
Performing Transgender Rage.” GLQ.

Namaste, Vivianne. 2000. “‘Tragic Misreadings’: Queer Theory’s Erasure of Transgender


Subjectivity.” Invisible Lives.

Mar. 10 – Trans Studies Interventions (Cont.)

Valentine, David. 2012. “Sue E. Generous: Toward a Theory of Non-Transexuality.” Feminist


Studies.

Snorton, C. Riley and Jin Haritaworn. 2013. “Trans Necropolitics: A Transnational Reflection on
Violence, Death, and the Trans of Color Afterlife.” The Transgender Studies Reader 2.

Mar. 12 – The Future of Queer Theory

Eng, David, J. Halberstam, and José Muñoz. 2005. “What’s Queer About Queer Studies Now?”
Social Text.

Warner, Michael. 2012. “Queer and Then? The End of Queer Theory?” The Chronicle of Higher
Education.

Muñoz, José. 2009. “Introduction: Feeling Utopia.” Cruising Utopia.

Mar. 16 – Final (3 – 6pm)

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