Women, Gender, Sexuality 592S - S-Sex&Science:PowerofKnowledge

Why and how has science assumed such a central role in defining the "truth" of sex? Why and how have scientific "facts" become compelling resources for grounding and asserting a sense of sexual selfhood and for expressing political demands? In this seminar, we will explore the entangled histories of sexual science, sexual subjectivities, and sexual politics. In particular, we will examine on how science has come to define biological sex and "sexual orientation" as binary and constitutive of individual identities. Our course will take an historical perspective, with a focus on developments in Europe and the United States. As we move from the past through to the present, we will consider how scientific knowledge is shaped by the perspective of the researcher and the relationship between the researcher and her subject; how expertise about sex is determined; how scientific knowledge about sex has changed over time; and what the personal and political implications of sexual scientific knowledge are.

WOMENSST 200/300 UG Undergraduates, Please contact Department.