Yesterday was the anniversary of the Comstock Act of 1873. The act was geared towards preventing the sale of birth control through the mail. It was eventually expanded to include the complete prohibition of birth control distribution and use. The Comstock Act received a major blow in 1916, when Margaret Sanger opened the first birth […]
Essentialism vs. Social Constructivism (This picture isn’t mine, credit and rights belong to Green Eyed Grin. Just stumbled upon this.)
As the hour of last week’s This American Life was coming to close, I realized how Foucauldian this story was. “81 Words” is about how the American Psychiatric Association came to the decision to remove homosexuality as a disease from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973. This tale not only deals with power […]
The issues of sexual sin within colonial culture are examined in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Documents 1. and 3. of Chapter 3 in Major Problems in the History of American Sexuality, and in Richard Godbeer’s essay Sodomy in Colonial New England. What stands out in the study of said documents is the focus on […]
The museum managed to create a traceable history of our modern attitudes towards sex. I especially liked how all of the exhibits (and items in the gift shop) were presented in an open and informative manner.
Re: Weeks and Norton Before I embark on my scintillating, Charlie-Rose-like monologue about this week’s reading, I would like to reinstate one of my comments during last week’s class. This won’t take too long (a quickie if you will). Last week, I said that discourse, despite its therapeutic qualities, is perhaps the most nocuous player […]
Course objectives: Knowledge Bases Students should: develop ability to understand and analyze texts with sexual themes and images develop understanding of literature and print and visual media in their interdisciplinary contexts (e.g., cultural, social, historical, scientific, psychological, and political) understand rhetorical strategies and power relations of sexualized discourse learn to appreciate textual and imagistic complexity, […]
Course Requirements Attendance is required for all of our classes and more than 2 absences from regularly scheduled classes will result in a lowered grade (one full level). In the event of an illness or unexpected reason for missing class, an official excuse must be obtained to avoid the grade penalty. Attendance includes a visit […]
REQUIRED TEXTS (in order of assignment) Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality Kathy Peiss, ed., Major Problems in the History of American Sexuality Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita Toni Morrison, Sula Tony Kushner, Angels in America, Parts I and II Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
SPRING 2010 CALENDAR Feb. 2 Introduction to Class Feb. 9 Foucault: Parts 1, 2, 3 Feb. 16 Peiss: Preface and Chapter 1’s essays by Weeks and Norton Meet at Museum of Sexuality, 233 Fifth Avenue Post response by Feb. 18 Feb. 23 Foucault: Parts 4 and 5 Mar. 2 Hawthorne: “The Custom-House” and Chapters 1-12 […]
