Trevor Sangrey

In this course, students will be exposed to history, vocabulary, and concepts that will assist in cultural competence with a variety of identity groups. They will also be introduced to the ways that structural inequality interacts with identity. The course provides a foundation for students to explore the kinds of literacy they need for diverse social and professional worlds, and they will be encouraged to think about how greater knowledge about varied identities can augment curricular work and extracurricular activities at Washington University. In every profession, cognizance of the difference identity can make in how people interact with the world (and how the world interacts with people) is essential to being a good citizen, but also an effective member of a team, leader or knowledgeable practitioner in one's chosen profession. What difference does understanding of gender expression make in the questions you ask a doctor, or presumptions people make in everyday conversation? How important is it to know the difference class and race has made in the development of the cities we inhabit, and the choices we make about how we interact with the city? How can learning how to have dialogues (as opposed to debates) about complex social issues help us become better listeners, citizens and professionals in whatever spaces we inhabit? This course is for first-years only. See instructor for dates and times. The first two class meetings will take place during Orientation.

This course examines the history of grassroots activism and political engagement of women in the US. Looking at social movements organized by women or around issues of gender and sexuality, class texts interrogate women's participation in, and exclusion from, political life. Key movements organizing the course units include, among others: the Temperance Movement, Abolitionist Movements, the Women's Suffrage Movements, Women's Labor Movements, Women's Global Peace Movements, and Recent Immigration Movements. Readings and discussion will pay particular attention to the movements of women of color, as well as the critiques of women of color of dominant women's movements. Course materials will analyze how methods of organizing reflect traditional forms of "doing politics," but also strategies and tactics for defining problems and posing solutions particular to women. Prerequisites: Any 100- or 200- level Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies course or permission from the instructor.

This course offers an introduction to the topics, questions, and approaches which characterize the rapidly growing field of lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans/queer studies. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we will explore such topics as the relation between gender and sexual identity, the history of same-sex relations, homophobia and heterosexism, queer cultures, and lgbtq politics, particularly in the United States. Our focus will be on asking whether and how "lgbtq" functions as a coherent category of analysis or identity, and we will pay particular attention to differences (of race, age, gender, sexual practice, class, national origin, temperament, etc.) that are contained within, and often disrupt, that category. This course is not open to students who have taken L77 203 or 3031.