Women,Gender,Sexuality Studies 292Q - S-Queer Interact/MoreThanHuman

What is a "human"? And what is "nature"? How are these categories related to sexuality and queerness as well as heteronormativity? Using the tools of queer theory, critical race feminism, and settler-colonial studies, this course takes a critical approach to foundational notions of the division between human and non-human. We will consider the ways that a queer lens blurs naturalized boundaries such as those between human and non-human, nature and culture, and life and death. In addition to reading and discussing these concepts, we will explore how we can use all our senses to form new understandings of the world we are part of.

Assignments will include group work, writing, outdoors observation, and a cooking project where we will study the various interactions between human and non-human in the making of food. One or two very brief field trips may be part of the course.