106-020 Reading Sexuality

50 points of first year arts including at least 25 points from a specified list of subject areas, see Prerequisites, or first year gender studies, see Prerequisites.

This subject explores categories of sexuality as historically and culturally contingent rather than as natural expressions of a private self. It provides the historical and theoretical frameworks for understanding the rise of specific sexualities in relation to available medical, psychoanalytic, philosophical and popular discourses. Drawing on recent formations in lesbian and gay studies, this subject reads a diverse range of cultural texts from the proceedings of court cases to personal advertisements, from celebrity gossip columns to popular film, to argue that sexuality is a central, if incoherent, aspect of contemporary everyday life. By the end of the semester students should be able to explicate the complex imbrications of sexuality and other categories of identity such as gender and race and be able to analyse the representation of sexual identities and desires in selected cultural cinematic and literary texts.

• acquire the following particular generic skills:

• advanced research and analytic skills;

• critical and ethical self-awareness;

• an ability to develop and communicate effective arguments in both oral and written form;

• advanced skills in media and information literacy and management.

An essay of 1500 words 40% (due mid-semester) and an essay of 2500 words 60% (due at the end of the semester).

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.