PSYC285

Description

This course takes an intersectional, life course approach to the topic of sexual orientation, considering the various social locations that intersect with sexual orientation (e.g., gender, race) as well as the shifting nature and meaning of sexual orientation at different stages of development. The course begins with an overview of the history and politics of sexual orientation research, attending to controversial and timely issues such as the causality of sexual orientation, the assessment and measurement of sexual orientation in surveys, and dominant models of sexual orientation development. We then move to interrogating "compulsive heterosexuality" and the construction of masculinity and femininity, attending to how family, peers, schools, the media, and other key socialization agents (re)enforce our ideas about sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender. We examine sexual identity development across the life course, tackling complex topics such as the changing use and meaning of various sexual identity labels and the relationship between gendered role (non)conformity and sexual orientation. We explore how certain sexual orientations and gender identities are privileged and marginalized in school settings. We consider intimate relationship dynamics (including intimacy and violence) in same-sex and different-sex couples, as well as relational/sexual orientations that are often invisible or marginalized in society (i.e., asexuality, consensual nonmonogamy). We address family-building and parenthood, as well as aging issues, in LGBTQ communities. We end the course by discussing LGBTQ community tensions and possibilities, in the past, current, and future. As a course carrying the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) attribute, this seminar emphasizes critical analysis of topics such as power, intersectionality, inequality, marginality, and identity-and is highly interdisciplinary, drawing from other fields such as sociology and education. Course assignments include weekly readings and discussion questions, a reflective essay on a graphic novel/memoir, a class project involving all students, and an individual class presentation. Active class participation is a must; this is intended to be an engaged, dynamic seminar with conscientious and enthusiastic participants who are dedicated to thinking, learning, and growing. This course fulfills the Capstone requirement of the Psychology major.