Women,Gender,Sexuality Studies 291N - S-Crit Relationship Studies

Grounded in queer, feminist, and decolonial concerns with social belonging, this class begins from the critical insight that "the family" is neither an inevitable nor ideal way to organize our social worlds. The nuclear family has a history. The first half of the course considers "monogamy" from a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. From histories of marriage to sciences of mating systems to politics of polyamory, we will explore monogamy's meanings and how its logics shape our worlds. In the second half of the class we will explore a broader world of relationality. Drawing on indigenous, multispecies, crip, and queer feminist insights, we will explore relating and belonging beyond the settler family. Over the course of the semester students will become familiar with debates about human nature and belonging and a variety of critical and creative approaches to reading and engaging them.