Sexualities, Citizenship, and Social Action
SAGES University Seminar
USSY 230
Spring Semester 2007
TR 2:45-4:00
Instructor:
Jeffrey Longhofer, Ph.D., LISW
Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Room 309
Phone: 368-0160
Office Hours: By appointment
Overview
This three-credit course, Sexualities and Citizenship, will consider how social scientists and humanists describe, explain, interpret, and understand the diversity of the human sexual experience. We will consider, as we read and write, the differences among explanation and interpretation, explanation and prediction, In this course we will focus on how arguments are constructed and the various rhetorical strategies used to describe and understand the cultural and political history of the struggle for marital rights and recognition of sexual minorities in the United States. And because in this course we will focus on rhetoric and writing, we will look in particular at how humanists and social scientists communicate about human sexualities. Throughout the course, we will learn to apply key concepts from the philosophy of social science to the literature we read and the class discussions.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this semester, students should be able to:
Evaluation
1. Attendance: Because this class has a logical progression, failure to regularly attend will inevitably result in poor performance and certain disappointment. I have, moreover, discovered that successful discussion of the readings requires attendance: those who fail to attend often disrupt the class.
2. 2 Synopses (40 points)
Thoughtful and timely reading of the assigned articles is essential! You will be held accountable for the reading, each day! They require your close attention. The 2 synopses will count for 40% of the grade. You will be expected to effectively use the synopses and participation will be measured by your willingness to contribute to the discussion during the session for which you prepare a synopsis. And because this class is organized as a seminar, you will have numerous opportunities to demonstrate your preparation. In short, you will be favorably evaluated for participation if you have attended class and completed the assigned readings and synopses in a timely manner.
The purpose of the synopsis is to identify the central thesis or controlling ideas of the reading and to briefly examine the evidence and ideas used in their development. In addition to summary, it is the purpose of the synopsis to evaluate. You will be expected to pose questions regarding the logic of the work, its merits and shortcomings. Where the author uses data or cites evidence, you must examine the evidence and the conclusions drawn. They must be no more than two pages, typed, and single-spaced (12 pt, 1” margins): no exceptions. See attachment for more detailed description of what is expected from the synopses. Please bring to class two copies of the synopses, one for me and a second for your use in class. Synopses will be used in organizing our discussions. You will each lead these discussions using the synopses (frequency to be determined).
Finally, I advise that you purchase a binder for the readings. And please make sure you bring the readings to class, always.
3. Film Analysis (60 points)
You will also be expected to write a film analysis (not a report or summary). The analysis, 8-10 pages in length, should compare and contrast films from the list below using concepts developed in the readings and class discussion.
Film Viewing: Make arrangements to view—in Kelvin Smith or available in local video stores—two of the following films. You should complete the viewing of the films by the end of week 4. If possible, watch them all; you’ll find them worth the effort. And we will throughout the term make reference to these films.
Easy Rider
American Beauty
Talented Mr. Ripley
Brokeback Mountain
Johnny Guitar
Distribution:
2 Synopses: 40%
Film Analysis: 60%
Readings:
See Course Schedule for each week
Recommended Reading:
Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies, Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, Chapters 1 and 2.
Resources
AskOxford.com Not the dictionary but a very useful cite.
Berkeley’s College Writing Resources http://writing.berkeley.edu
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html
New York Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com
Webgrammar http://www.webgrammar.com/
Computers and Composition Online http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/theory.htm
Purdue Owl http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
The Writing Center at Virginia Tech http://www.composition.english.vt.edu/wc/WC%20Home.html
Course Schedule
Week 1: Tuesday, January 16 and Thursday, January 18
Introductions
The Syllabus and Requirements
Conducting a seminar: The Protocol and the Process
The Writing Assignments
The synopses
The film brief
Writing Resources
How to read a scholarly article
Using the synopsis
Process writing
Modes of Representation
In Film
In Literature
In Ethnography
Readings:
Orwell, G. The Politics of Language (attached)
Begin film viewing (make arrangements to view— in Kelvin Smith or available in local video stores) during the two weeks. Do not delay. See Blackboard for Website that offers useful information about writing film analyses.
Week 2: Tuesday, January 23 and Thursday, January 25
For today’s class, we’ll read the introduction to a scholarly article and consider the following questions:
• note how the author(s) provide an overview of the problem. Refer specifically to rhetorical strategies, use of the first person, and anything else that will allow us to engage in a meaningful discussion of reading and writing introductions.
• note how the author(s) show why the problem is worth exploring.
• note how the author(s) argue that the study is apt to make a contribution to theory or practice.
• note how (if) the author(s) offer a broad context and narrow the problem.
Readings: The introduction will be distributed and read in class.
Week 3: Tuesday, January 30 and Thursday, February 1
Who are We and How are our deepest sexual longings produced?
Readings:
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. 1990. “Introduction: Axiomatic,” pages, 25-26, Epistemology of the Closet, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Week 4: Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 8
Critical Reflections on the Key Concepts in the Social Sciences and Humanities
• Identification, Identity, Ego Identity, Identity Formation, Identified
• Ontological Considerations
• Epistemological Considerations
• Methodological Considerations
• Theoretical Considerations
These ideas will be explored with the thought in mind of equipping you with the conceptual tools necessary for critical and reflective reading. They will also transfer to other areas of your learning. You will find that every theory or idea has embedded in it ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. You will find that as you read through the literature on sexuality and citizenship, authors and political movements take radically different stands and sometimes make competing knowledge claims, especially ontological and epistemological. It will be useful to have these ideas integrated into your conceptual vocabulary at his stage in your learning. We will return again and again to these ideas so that you can thoroughly integrate them and use them not only in this class but in related areas of study.
Readings: none
Week 5: Tuesday, February 13 and Thursday, February 15
• Modes of Representation in Film
• Film: Celluloid Closet
Week 6: Tuesday, February 20 and Thursday, February 22
For this week, we look at how scholars approach the theory or literature; we will look at the literature section of the following article to determine:
How do the author(s) narrow the literature review?
How do the author(s) move the reader along to show how the literature relates directly to the object of study.
How do the author(s) use the literature to explicate or make useful theory for their own purposes.
How do the author(s) make the transition from the literature to the statement of the problem?
Is the literature adequately critiqued?
Are both sides of an argument recognized?
Is the writer’s knowledge of the subject intensive and extensive enough
to justify the study?
Is there a coherent argument that flows from the literature review?
Do the author(s) limit their authority? (e.g., overuse the expert, quotes…).
Is the literature review convincingly used to show how “this is the exact study that needs to be done at this time?
Readings:
Week 7: Tuesday, February 27 and Thursday, March 1
Essentialism
• How to recognize the weak forms
• How to recognize the strong forms
During these two sessions, we will consider social constructivism and related debates on essentialism and anti-essentialism. The arguments used and learned in this week will apply across the human (e.g., sociology, anthropology, history, social welfare, psychology) humanities, and natural sciences (e.g., biology, genetics) and you will find it useful to know how these arguments are constructed and deployed. Once you’ve mastered these ideas, you will find it easier to grasp these arguments as they apply to other aspects of your learning. We will also look at how these ideas have been communicated and the common rhetorical strategies used.
Readings:
Horton, Richard. July 13, 1995. Is Homosexuality Inherited? New York Review of Books. Volume 42, Number 12.
Week 8: Tuesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 8
Constructivism
How to recognize the weak forms
How to recognize the strong forms
Readings:
Steven Weinberg. 1996. Sokal's Hoax. The New York Review of Books. Volume 43, Number 13.
Week 9: Spring Break Tuesday, March 12 and Thursday, March 16
Week 10: Tuesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 22
During this week, we will read again Roger Lancaster’s ethnographic study of homosexuality. We will consider the following:
Source and number of participants used (e.g., might include organizations, events, informants, documents, etc.)
How and why was the particular unit of analysis selected?
Where and how were the participants recruited?
Are the instruments described? Is it necessary to describe them?
Are the readers made aware of potential problems with the method(s)?
How was the data collected?
Is it readable and interesting? Imagine!
Over what period of time was the data collected?
Are the numbers of participants in the study adequate for the particular design?
Reading:
Week 11: Tuesday, March 27 and Thursday, March 29
Freud and Sexuality: Contributions to the Humanities and Social Sciences
Reading:
Week 12: Tuesday, April 3 and Thursday, April 5
Foucault and Sexuality: Contributions to the Humanities and Social Sciences
Readings: handout
Week 13: Tuesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 12
The Citizenship Debates
Gay Marriage
Reading:
Week 14: Tuesday, April 17 and Thursday, April 19
Discussion of Film Briefs
Week 15: Tuesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 26
Discussion of Film Briefs
Organizing the Synopses
Here are some suggestions for writing the Synopses. You will find that from reading to reading you will apply these ideas in different ways. Some articles present different kinds of data, for example (e.g., historical, case study, ethnographic, quantitative, etc.). Other articles are based strictly on the development of an argument (theoretical or conceptual arguments) and use no data. You’ll need to read through these guidelines to make a determination about how best to discuss each article. In addressing these questions, try to consider: epistemology, ontology, theory and methodology.
1. What is being assumed in this article, passage, or argument?
- relationship between events and conditions?
Adapted from Helping Students Write Well, Barbara E. Fassler Walvoord, New York: MLA Press. 1986, Pages 56-58.