Since the 1990s Latin America has witnessed increasing societal and political debates over sexual and reproductive rights. Issues such as contraceptives, abortion, gay marriage, transgender rights, sexual education and assisted reproductive technology have risen to the top of some countries' agendas after decades of silence, taboos, and restrictive or non-existent legislation.

In this advanced seminar we will focus on thinking about the Middle East, its politics and geographies, through reading and engaging with a fine collection of contemporary ethnographies of urban life in the region. The course requires reading and engaging both orally and in written form with one book per week.

While many have criticized "postmodernism" as a-political, Judith Halberstam has argued that conventional radical politics is not postmodern enough, insofar as it accepts a stable relationship between representation and reality, foreclosing any space (in fantasy, in representation) for political rage and unsanctioned violence on the part of subordinate groups against their powerful oppressors.

This Division III seminar will be organized around students' Division III Independent Study Projects. The primary reading for the course will be one another's chapters. Students will be responsible for presenting their Division III's in progress four times during the semester and for providing serious, thoughtful written feedback on one another's work. Three students will present each week, and an hour will be devoted to each. The purpose of the seminar is to provide a supportive and stimulating intellectual community while writing your Division III's.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.

To register for an Independent Study with Hampshire College faculty you need to communicate the faculty member's name to your Registrar's office along with your Course Request and Instructor Permission form.