WST 2611:
Humanities Perspectives on
Gender and Sexuality
Spring 2013 - Section 02E2/16H3

with Dr. Picart

Home Description Syllabus Course Materials Requirements Policies

 

General Course Description

This course considers the social construction of gender, race, class, sexuality, and other categories of identity as depicted in the Humanities (which, in this case, will include principally literature (fiction and non-fiction), film and dance). We will rely on close readings and analysis of primary texts coupled with examination of historical, cultural, and societal factors. This approach will emphasize 1) the ideologies that inhabit, haunt and shape the texts [and their authors], 2) how style elements, genre, and medium reflect and inform a text’s discourse, 3) how no text exists in an artistic or cultural vacuum, and 4) that a multitude of interpretations, based on a variety of methods of analysis, exist for various texts we will study.

 

As a result of this class, I hope you will all experience: 

1. a more nuanced and critical awareness of, as well as compassionate engagement with, issues that reveal how gender, race, class, and sexuality operate ideologically in texts;
2. a recognition of how these factors influence and shape your lives every day;
3. a curiosity for exploring texts in the humanistic tradition;
4. a competence in more careful reading and listening, reflective argumentation, and coherent and disciplined writing.

The course is divided into five sections. In all sections, we discuss how gender, sexuality, race and class issues operate in each Humanities text as well as how these factors reflect and shape (mainly Western and American) ideology:

 

 

 

Course Objectives

BY THE END OF THE SEMESTER, STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. Trace the evolving attitudes towards gender and sexuality and how they intersect with race and class within Western culture (predominantly that of the U.S.) as depicted by Humanities texts;
2. Explain the ways in which changing historical circumstances, including but not limited to changing ideals of masculinity and femininity, have shaped those attitudes embedded in these texts;
3. Apply analytical concepts developed through class reading and discussion to thoughtful, clearly written and persuasively argued independent work;
4. Understand the concept of gender as a performance undertaken within specific historical circumstances and depicted through specific forms, specifically in literature, film and dance
5. Establish a quality of writing at the level of sentences, paragraphing, and constructing arguments that complies with the requirements of a “2,000 word” Gordon Rule class

Humanities (H)

The humanities requirement enables students to think critically about what artists and thinkers (past and present) have to teach us about the nonmaterial qualities of human beings and human values. In courses in the humanities, students become acquainted with the enduring products -- in words, sounds, paint, stone, metal, and many other media -- in which thoughtful and gifted human beings have attempted to meet our individual and collective needs for emotional, spiritual, or intellectual fulfillment. Humanities courses address major intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic achievements. Students consider questions of ultimate meaning and study human activities, artifacts, and values in the context of the ages in which they were produced.

 

Diversity (D)

Diversity courses provide instruction in the values, attitudes and norms that create cultural differences within the United States. These courses encourage you to recognize how social roles and status affect different groups and impact U. S. society. These courses guide you to analyze and to evaluate your own cultural norms and values in relation to those of other cultures, and to distinguish opportunities and constraints faced by other persons and groups.

 

Gordon Rule: This class is worth 2,000 Gordon Rule Words

This section of WST 2611 satisfies the requirements for General Education Credit in the following areas: 1) Humanities and 2) Diversity.  It is also a Gordon Rule 2,000 word class.

See the policies on Gordon Rule Requirements:
http://www.ece.ufl.edu/academics/undergraduate/degrees/gordonrule.htm

 

In order to receive Gordon Rule credit for this class, you must not only pass the class with a “C” grade or higher but also demonstrate that your writing skills and abilities satisfy the Gordon Rule Requirement.  Therefore, you must pass both sections of the grading process: 1) obtain a “C” grade or higher, and 2) receive a “Y” (yes) that you have met the guidelines for Gordon Rule writing credit.

Please see the following web site for more information:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog1011/policies/advisinggordon.html

 

Note: To fulfill, if necessary, Gordon Rule 6 (6,000 words), then an additional 4,000 words will need to be added in the form of a final paper.

 

 

 

© Caroline Joan S. Picart
All rights reserved on textual content.