GSS 360 - Transgender Studies

A political platform, identity, field of study, and more, “transgender” holds many different meanings for different people today.  This course explores the history and present of an expansive sense of trans- transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, and more- through an array of texts, including memoir, fiction, film, television, and scholarly writings.  By thinking trans in these different contexts and through different concepts, trans studies/politics connects to queer studies, explores and challenges “umbrella”-type understandings, and critically interrogates the inheritances that shape trans activisms today.  Topics that focus our work together include histories of sexology and activisms, disability and trans politics, trans people’s experiences with prisons and carceral violences, trans people’s participation and representation in larger projects for racial justice, environmental justice and trans activisms, and more.

Satisfies a requirement in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor (society and politics track).
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.