ENGL 314: Course Description & Requirements

This course offers an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Studies from historical and multicultural perspectives. We will use literature, film, and theory to explore sex and sexuality as fundamental categories of analysis in the humanities. We will draw upon a wide variety of disciplines, though our primary focus will be upon literary texts and the historical contexts which shaped them. We will examine texts from a number of cultures and historical eras to appreciate the diversity, rather than the homogeneity, of sexual experiences, practices and identities as well as the cultural meanings attached to various forms of sexuality. Text selections will attempt to be as inclusive as possible, paying attention to differences in historical epoch, gender, race, class and sexual practice (including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered sexualities). The course does not posit a single, transhistorical or transcultural gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered "essence"; nor does it assume that sexual identity is a fixed inner essence unaffected by social and cultural forces; rather, it stresses the historically and culturally specific nature of same-sex practices and the development, since the seventeenth century, of the relatively modern concept of a sexual identity.

A question that we will examine throughout the semester is one raised by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick in her groundbreaking book, The Epistemology of the Closet: What were the structure, function, historical/cultural context, and signification of same-sex intimacy in the historical moment that produced the text, artifact or practice we are examining? Our focus will move beyond the academy to consider questions of social activism, les/bi/gay/trans identities and communities, and civil rights.

Through critical reading of literary, historical, and theoretical texts, we will work collaboratively toward a knowledge of LGBT Studies, its central concerns, and its various methods of inquiry. The course stresses a high degree of student involvement in, and responsibility for, the teaching and learning that will occur. Together, as a community of teacher/learners, we will shape the course to meet the diverse needs and interests of the group.

Course Policies

Amount of Work Expected: You should plan to devote, on the average, about six hours each week outside of class to your work for this course. Some weeks you may need to spend more time on it than that, and some weeks you will spend less on the course. I suggest that you begin reading ahead so that when we get to the longer texts, you will have a head start.

Participation and Attendance:

Regular attendance and thoughtful participation in class discussion are essential not only to your individual performance, but also to the success of this seminar. Our work together relies on collaboration in every phase of the course so that we might form an intellectual community, whose insights and power surpass those of any one of us working on our own. We are all subjects who share the responsibilities of teaching and learning in this class. Each of us has a responsibility to the group and to the learning that goes on in class.

Therefore, more than one absence will adversely affect your final grade. More than two absences will constitute failure of the course. Since we meet only once a week, missing just a single class means missing a whole week's work; missing more than two classes means missing the equivalent of three weeks of class. If you have a problem with regular attendance of classes or feel that this policy is too demanding, I suggest you drop the course now.

Late Work:

I do not accept late work unless you have requested an extension before class time. If you have an emergency and cannot complete your work, call or e-mail me well before class, explaining the circumstances and requesting an extension. If you have always been responsible about getting your work in to that point, and if you have a legitimate reason for requesting an extension, I may grant an extension. But you must request one before the due date. If you cannot attend class when a set of focus questions is due, I will accept it on the day you return to class, but no later.

Careful Critical Reading (Sometimes Re-Reading) of Texts Prior to Class Discussion:

This is also essential if we are to succeed as a community of scholars. I want to focus each class on your questions and insights. Please read actively and keep track of your questions and insights about each text. You will almost certainly have to take notes as you read.

Weekly Questions and Insights:

To facilitate our conversations about the literature, scholarship, and social history we will be reading, I ask you to prepare one question about each reading assigned every week and one insight that you have reached about one or more of the readings. At the beginning of each class period, you will discuss your questions with others in a small group to focus in on the essential issues your group thinks we should discuss each week. In this way, we will establish dialogue with each other as the foundation of our work together. See Assignments for a fuller explanation of this activity.

Academic Honesty:

All faculty are requested to distribute the following statement of the University Honor Code:

"By accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception. Violations of academic integrity will not be tolerated. This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code. Please refer to your Student Handbook for details."

Plagiarism--including the use of work submitted to another course without the consent of both instructors, the use of work by another person, or the use of someone else's words, ideas or arrangement of ideas without giving proper reference to the author--is a serious violation of the Honor Code. This applies to any materials on the Worldwide Web and electronic sources in the library. Be especially careful, as you complete your seminar presentation, that you do not use the ideas of others without attributing those ideas to their sources, even if you do not use direct quotations. Please see the section on plagiarism in your Student Handbook.

Required Texts

Baker, Moira. Readings for ENGL 314.

This is available ONLY through the Web CT version of this course. To access these readings, you must go through Web CT. I suggest that you access these readings on campus at the library since you will get the highest speed connection that way. Unless you have DSL or broadband online internet access at home, I do not recommend that you try to get these readings there. You may download all the readings through Web CT and print them free of charge in the library, using one of the computers that has a printer. Use a powerful computer with plenty of RAM to accommodate the large files.

Baldwin, James. Giovanni’s Room. New York: Vintage, 1993.

Birtha, Becky. Lover’s Choice: Stories. New York: Seal P, 2000.

Duberman, Martin, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey. Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian

Past. New York: Dutton, 1989.

Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minneapolis P, 1999.

Kaufman, Moises. Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. New York: Vintage, 1998.

Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. New York: Crossing Press, 1997.

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Sonnets. Click on hyperlink for complete text.

Sherman, Martin. Bent. New York:

Wilde, Oscar. Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Dover, 1993.

Winterson, Jeanette. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. New York: Grove, 1985.

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. New York: Harvest,