FR 1065 - GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND FRENCH THOUGHT

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Course taught in English. Some of the most important thinkers about gender and sexuality are French. In this course, you will study French thought about both gender and sexuality. We will discuss and evaluate key French thinkers, including their takes on relations between men and women that they posit or critique. Simone de Beauvoir gets things started for the 20th century, but many have responded to The Second Sex, which may be the most influential work of western gender theory ever. And let’s not forget that there were feminist thinkers in the middle ages and Renaissance. What did they have to say? Are there French trans* and non-binary theories? (The short answer is yes.) And what of the theories of sexuality from Michel Foucault, whose work helped found the field of LGBTQ studies? Can someone explain what sexuality is in his hugely influential History of Sexuality? Why is Foucault critical of science? And what do the French have to say about masculinity? About intersex? About intersectionality? About pronouns? Gender and sexuality are taken in the broadest possible sense, and we will consider thought on women, equality, feminism, queerness, homosexuality, intersex, masculinity, trans*, non-binary, and race/gender intersections. We will consider the transatlantic reception of French thought in American gender theory and consider how French film and other cultural texts are in dialogue with theoretical models. French films about gender/sexuality will be used to “test” some of the theoretical models and to think about what they might mean in cultural practice. This interdisciplinary and discussion-based course is open to all students (no pre-req). As the French have been deeply influential in gender thought, this course helps students understand a key Western intellectual tradition. This course is taught in English, and all readings/texts will be in English. No French is required. Mid-term and final exams are take-home. The course counts as a course in English for the French major and minor. It satisfies the following general education requirements: DSAS Diversity, DSAS Geographic Region, DSAS Philosophical Thinking or Ethics. It also counts toward the major/minors in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Geographic Region General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Phil. Think or Ethics General Ed. Requirement, European and Eurasian Studies, Gender, Sexuality & Women’s St, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Ethical/Policy GE. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Global&Cross Cul GE. Req., West European Studies

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