Course Meeting Times
Seminars: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Course Description
This subject offers an introduction to the history of gender, sex, and sexuality in the modern United States, focusing on the period spanning from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first. It begins with an overview of historical approaches to the field, emphasizing the changing nature of sexual and gender identities over time. The remainder of the course flows chronologically, tracing the expanding and contracting nature of attempts to control, construct, and contain sexual and gender identities—and the efforts of those who worked to resist, reject, and reimagine the meanings and lived experiences of sex, sexuality, and gender.
Required Texts
All required readings for the course can be found in the Readings and Films section.
Graded Assignments
This subject is conducted as a discussion-based seminar. Students should complete all assigned reading, and view any assigned films, before our class meets each week. Each student’s course participation grade is calculated according to the following formula: active and engaged participation during class sessions (20% of overall course grade); weekly participation on the course discussion forum (10% of overall course grade).
Students write two one-page response papers over the course of the term. (Students may choose which weeks to do so, but must submit at least one response paper by Session 6.) These responses should provide thoughtful analysis of weekly assigned materials and are due by 5 p.m. on the day class meets. More information about response papers will be provided at the start of the term.
In addition to these brief response papers, each student (as a part of a group) will be responsible for launching and moderating one weekly forum discussion, writing one short (1,000–1,500 word) paper, and producing one final paper or project. There will be no midterm or final exam in this course.
Further information on papers and projects can be found in the Assignments section.
Grading Policy
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
|
Course Participation
|
30% |
|
Response Papers
|
10% |
| Discussion Forum Moderation | 15% |
| Short Paper | 20% |
| Final Project/Paper | 25% |
Resources and Policies
Attendance and Participation
Attendance for this subject is mandatory except in cases of illness, religious observance, or personal or familial emergencies. Absences from class will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If you have questions regarding attendance or think you will need to miss class for any reason, please contact me as far in advance as possible. The participation grade, worth 30% of the total grade for the course, is based on student contributions to conversations both in class and on the course discussion forum. To receive full credit for in-class participation, students should arrive on time, having completed all assigned materials, and having prepared to discuss them. To receive full credit for participation on the course discussion forum, students should post at least one thoughtful comment a week.
Note on Content
Over the course of the semester we will discuss events and concepts that may be disturbing or traumatizing to some students. Please read the syllabus closely before the start of the term. If you suspect that specific material is likely to cause distress, I will be happy to discuss any concerns you may have before the topic comes up in class.
Cheating and Plagiarism
MIT has strict policies concerning plagiarism. In academic writing, it is considered plagiarism to use any idea or any language from someone else without adequately crediting that source. It doesn’t matter if the source is a published author, a website without clear authorship, a generative AI, or another student. Taking credit for work that is not one’s own is unacceptable in all academic situations, whether you do it intentionally or by accident. Many cases of plagiarism are not intentional, and instead arise out of confusion concerning what counts as plagiarism and how to avoid it. To protect yourself from accidentally becoming a plagiarist, and to learn more about what constitutes plagiarism, visit Academic Integrity at MIT: A Handbook for Students or contact me directly.
Writing Assistance
The Writing and Communication Center (WCC) offers free professional advice from lecturers who are published writers and experienced teachers. The WCC offers help with all forms of academic, creative, and professional writing—including papers, applications, and theses. They also offer oral presentation assistance and help with English as Second Language questions.
Calendar
Unit 1—Ebbs and Flows: Gender and Sexual Identities as Moving Targets
Week 1: First Day of Class
Week 2: Thinking Historically about Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
Week 3: Before the Modern Era: Race, Reproduction, Intimacy, Violence
Unit 2—The Tempest: Contesting Sexual Order, c. 1900–1920
Week 4: Sex and the City: Working Class Sexuality and the Crusade against Vice
Week 5: The Birth of Feminism, Women’s Suffrage, and the Politics of Reproduction
Unit 3—Locks and Dams: Creating and Policing Boundaries, c. 1920–1960
Week 6: Regulating Sexuality and Gender through the Jazz Age, Depression, and War
Week 7: Creating, Containing, and Resisting “Normal” in Post-War America
- Short paper due
Unit 4—The Flood: Breaking Barriers, c. 1960–1980
Week 8: Revolutions I: Civil Rights, the Pill, and the Emergence of Second Wave Feminism
Week 9: Revolutions II: Feminism as a Mass Movement and the Emergence of Gay Liberation
- In-class screening: Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria. Directed by Victor Silverman and Susan Stryker. Color and black-and-white, 2005. 56 min.
Unit 5—Changing Tides: Gender and Sexuality as Battlegrounds, c. 1980–2000
Week 10: The Religious Right and the AIDS Epidemic
Week 11: Law and Economy at Century’s End
Unit 6—Sexuality and Gender in the 21st Century: Diverging Currents?
Week 12: New Trajectories in the Politics of Gender and Sexuality
Week 13: Last Day of Class
- Final project due
