Department of English

What does it mean to call oneself gay? lesbian? trans? queer? Where did these words come from, and how do their differing meanings reflect a history of changing conceptions of LGBTQIA culture? How does language, literature, and media shape gender and sexuality? This course will take a historical approach to the study of queer theory. It will consider how shifting definitions of queerness, under different guises and different terms, have shaped our understanding of sexual and gender identity today.