First-Year Seminars 110NQ - Nature Is Queer

Queerness is all over the natural world. This class will highlight the diversity of sexual strategies in nature, and help dispel the notion that biology describes sex as binary or only heterosexual. In reality, biologists are well aware of the queerness of nature, but have struggled with how to study this sexual diversity and have often settled for convenient categories. Four billion years of evolution have produced myriads of sexual and reproductive strategies in diverse organisms: from the widespread occurrence of homosexual sex, to sex change, multiplicity of mating types, male pregnancy, selfing, etc; Nature has done it all! Class discussion will require an open mind, and developing comfort around conversations related to sex, reproduction, and the sometimes disturbing history of science. Students will be expected to write several assignments for the general public. One such assignment requires students dive deeply into the queerness of one organism of their choosing to produce a printed catalog page for public display.

Mount Holyoke first-year students only, by placement.