CLA 236 - Queer History Ancient & Modern

This course offers an introduction to ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of gender and sexuality. How did the Greeks and Romans understand categories of gender and sexuality? What were the expectations for appropriate male and female behavior (and was there space between those two binaries)? Are sexual orientation and gender identity innate? To what degree is it appropriate to apply modern terms such as heterosexual, homosexual, and transgender to ancient historical figures? In addition to analyzing primary sources such as Homeric poetry, Athenian pottery, and Roman historiography, we will use modern scholarship, critical race theory, queer theory, and trans studies to address these important questions. We aim to examine similarities and differences between ancient and modern attitudes, and we will consider how ancient texts, art, ideas, and history have informed modern assumptions and debates.

Satisfies Classical Languages and Literature major requirement.
Satisfies Classical Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies History major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Historical Thought requirement.