ILS 2180: SEXUALITY: SCIENCE/CULTURE/LAW
Spring 2025
Tentative Course Schedule
TR 9:30-10:45
GWC 410
NOTE: This schedule may change as needed. Your presence in class ensures correct assignments
ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF OUR CLASS MEETING TIME (9:30AM)
WEEK 1
T 1/7 Course Introduction
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/9):
- Complete Syllabus Quiz
Be prepared to do FW next class : What do you see as the cultural, historical,
and political value of a film like Before Stonewall?
R 1/9 Stonewall FW; The Ethical Uses of AI
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/14):
Read "Is There a History of Sexuality?" by David Halperin (SEE WEEK 1
FOLDER)
- Be prepared to answer this question about your reading and be able to support
your answer with specific evidence from the text (quotes): What important
lessons does this article teach us about the history of sexuality?
WEEK 2
T 1/14 Journal Entry and Discussion of Halperin; Important Terms; Binaries, Behavior,
and Identities;
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/16):
Read "Run, Mourner, Run" by Randall Kenan (see week 2 folder)
Do Reader Response 1: Argue what you see as the theme of this story and why.
Theme = the central idea communicated by the work. Identify the theme as a
one word idea. Your response should be a minimum of 300 words.
R 1/16 Fiction Terms and Discussion of Kenan Story
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/21):
- Read "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx
- Read "Queer" by Frank Bidart
- Do Reader Response 2: Thematically, what do these two works have in
common? Why is that significant and how does this relate to the other works we
have examined thus far (Kenan and Halperin)?
WEEK 3
T 1/21 Discuss Proulx and Bidart
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/23):
- Read "The Invention of Sexuality" from Jeffrey Weeks' book, Sexuality
- Read Audre Lorde's "A Litany for Survival"
- Complete Reader Response 3: In a minimum of 600 words by class time on R
1/23 answering the following question: Weeks argues that "the invention of
sexuality was not a single event, now lost in a distant past. It is a continuing
process in which we are simultaneously acted upon and actors, objects of
change, and its subject." What do you think he means by this and what
connections might this statement have to Audre Lorde's poem? Support your
argument with evidence from both texts as well as
Lorde's bio.
- Upload completed Response to Turnitin folder
R 1/23 Discuss Weeks and Lorde
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/28):
- Watch Undertow (Contracorriente); 2010, 1 hour 54 minutes; $2.99 rental
WARNING: SEXUAL SITUATIONS AND SOME NUDITY
- Watch Judith Butler: Your Behavior Creates Your Gender
- Watch Judith Butler: How Discourse Creates Homosexuality
WEEK 4
T 1/28 Discuss Undertow (Contracorriente) & Gender Performance
HOMEWORK (DUE 1/30):
- Watch Moonlight (1 hr. 50 min.) $2.99 at Amazon
- Do Reader Response 4: In a minimum of 600 words by class time on R
1/30 answer the following question: In what ways does this film present gender
as a "peformance" as Judith Butler claims. What connections do you see to
Undertow? Explain and include at least one quote from each film.
R 1/30 Discuss Moonlight (analyze scene)
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/4):
- Watch Moonlight (1 hour 50 minutes) $2.99 at Amazon
WEEK 5
T 2/4 Discuss Moonlight and Connections to Undertow
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/6):
- Watch Judith Butler: Short Speech on Gender (2 min.)
- Read "When Homosexuality Stopped Being a Mental Disorder"
- Read LGBTQ+ Panic Defense
- Watch "Striking Vipers," Black Mirror (Season 5, episode 1; 1 hour); Available
on Netflix
- Do Reader Response 5: In what ways do ALL these texts and the film form a
conversation/discourse about heternormativity? What is their collective
central message about it? Support your argument with evidence/quotes from
the texts. Your response should be a min. of 600 words.
R 2/6 Discuss Striking Vipers
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/11):
- Read instructions for Midterm Exam in Week 6 folder.
- Complete Claim and Subclaims (a complete sentence for each one).
- Submit completed claim and subclaims to ulearn before class on Tuesday
(week 6 folder)
WEEK 6
T 2/11 Claims and Subclaims Due; PLANNING CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/13):
- Revise Claim and Subclaims
R 2/13 Drafting Midterm Essay; PLANNING CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/18):
- First Draft of Essay 1 due next class (essay, 4-6 page)
- Submit Essays only to Tutor.com also
WEEK 7
T 2/18 First Draft of Midterm Essay Due (or presentation); Exchange for Peer
Critique; CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/20):
Complete typed critique of partner's paper; Upload steps 1 and 2 of Critique
to Ulearn as ONE MS WORD document
- Peer Critique questions for ESSAYS
- Email completed critique to partner
- Complete Tutor.com Report and Revision Plan (both parts) as
explained in class and upload to ulearn.
R 2/20 Peer Critique; CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/25):
- Final Draft of Midterm Due with Reflection
WEEK 8
HOMEWORK (DUE 2/27):
Woman Movement" by Susan Cruea
R 2/27 Discuss Cruea
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/11):
- Read "The Storm" by Kate Chopin; listen to the story here.
- Do Reader Response 6: What does Chopin's story reveal about the changing
ideals of womanhood at the beginning of the 19th century? Use a minimum of
one quote from Cruea and one quote from Chopin; min. 600 2 FULL pages;
Upload to Ulearn.
2/28-3/9 NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK
WEEK 9
T 3/11 Discuss "The Storm"
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/13):
- Read "Social Purity" by Susan B. Anthony
- Read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
R 3/13 Discuss "The Yellow Wallpaper"
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/18):
- Read Act I of "In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play," pp. 1-65
- Complete Reading Quiz in Ulearn.
- Do Reader Response 7: What do you see as an emerging theme in this play and why? Identify something that a character does or says, or an object
closely associated with them, that reveals something about this theme.
Upload to Ulearn by class time.
- Post Reader Response 7 to Ulearn Turnitin Assignment (Week 9 folder)
WEEK 10
T 3/18 Discuss Act I
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/20):
Read Act II of In the Next Room, pp. 67-144
- Complete Reading Quiz in Ulearn.
R 3/20 Discuss Act II
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/25):
Read "The Uses of the Erotic: the Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde
Read "Love Poem" by Audre Lorde and "A Soft Indentation" by Chrystos in
Ulearn (WEEK 10 folder)
WEEK 11
T 3/25 Discuss Lorde and Chrystos poems
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/27):
- Read "Poetry is Not a Luxury" by Audre Lorde
- Watch The Hours (2002, 1 hr. 54 min.; $2.99 @ Amazon)
- Post Reader Response 8 to ulearn Turnitin assignment AND to discussion
- board before 9:30am
- Do Reader Response 8: In her essay, "Poetry is Not a Luxury," Lorde argues,
"As we learn to bear the intimacy of scrutiny, and to flourish within it, as
we learn to use the products of that scrutiny for power within our living,
those fears which rule our lives and form our silences begin to lose their
control over us." How can we connect this statement to the film The Hours,
the documentary Inside Her Sex, and the poems by Lorde ("Love Poem") &
Chrystos ("Soft Indentation")? Your response must be a minimum of 600
words and include multiple examples and a minimum of two quotes.
R 3/27 NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING; HARMON AT CONFERENCE; upload RR 8 to
discussion board before class and Respond to two other students on the
discussion board board before 11:59pm; Discuss The Hours and "Poetry is
Not a Luxury" and connections to other texts
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/1):
- In Their Own Words:
Watch "Non-Binary Vs. Gender Non-Conforming" (20 min.)
- Read "i/dentity (packed) by Aimee Herman & "A Cut Won't Kill Me" by
Bo Luengsuraswat (in Ulearn WEEK 11 folder)
WEEK 12
T 4/1 Discuss Poems
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/3):
- Watch Trans (94 minutes)
- Read "Boy with Flowers" by Ely Shipley & (in Ulearn, WEEK 12 folder)
- Complete Reader Response 9: In a min. of 450 words, respond to the
following question: How did the documentary Trans aid you in better
understanding the poem? What do you see as some important connections?
Refer to specific examples from both the documentary and poem and include
a min. of one quote.
R 4/3 Discuss Poems Herman and Luengsuraswat
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/8):
- Watch Boys Don't Cry ($3.99 at Amazon; 2 hrs.)
- Read "Cycle Undone" by Ahmisa Timoteo Bodhran (in Ulearn)
- Do Reader Response 10: What do you see as the central theme of this film and
why? What connections do you see between the film's theme and the content
of Bodhran's poem? Your response must be a min. of 600 words and refer to
specific examples from both the film and the poem. Include a least one quote
from the poem in your response.
WEEK 13
T 4/8 Discuss Boys Don't Cry & Final Exam
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/10):
- Claim and Sub-claims for Final Exam (Essay ) Due
R 4/10 Claim and Sub-Claims for Final Exam Due; Pair up for peer critique in class
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/15):
- First draft of final exam due
- Submit essay first draft to Tutor.com
WEEK 14
T 4/15 First draft of Final Exam Due; Exchange drafts with a partner for critique;
CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/17):
- Complete Typed Critique of Partner's Essay (both parts) and submit to
Ulearn
Complete Tutor.com Report and Revision Plan to ulearn (both parts)
- Continue to Revise Your Final Essay
R 4/17 Share Critique in Class; CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/21):
Continue to Revise Presentation
WEEK 15
T 4/22 Reading Day (Work on Revisions)
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/29):
- Final Exam Due with Reflection
WEEK 16
T 4/29 Final Exam Due with Reflection by 12:30pm
