PHIL 275 Thinking Gender, Sex, and Love
- Level 2 or above
None.
one-way Exclusions
- Lectures
- The central text of the course is Plato鈥檚 Symposium. Students must purchase an electronic copy of the Symposium through a paywall linked to the course website. Students are encouraged to also acquire a print copy of this text to bring to class. A selection of contemporary articles and chapters are available electronically for free through links to the course website.
Instructor: Jacqueline Davies
What is at stake in how we think about gender, sex, and love? How do these concepts inform each other? What else defines them? Using a classic text (Plato鈥檚 Symposium) and diverse contemporary texts (e.g. by Beth Brant, Audre Lorde, Kim TallBear, and Joan Roughgarden) we examine personal and cultural assumptions and alternative possibilities. We ask especially what eros has to do with the love of wisdom. Old and new insights are explored. Careful reading and critical thinking skills are strongly emphasized.
Assessments
Assessments
Regular attendance and classroom engagement are expected as well as completion of 15 online reading assignments (Perusalls), an essay-style in-class midterm, and an in-person final exam. Brief, in-class presentations are optional. Skills focus includes active reading and listening, advanced reading comprehension, and the ability to articulate, interrogate, and evaluate textually well-informed and well-reasoned responses to questions raised by our engagement with the text.