Past Special Topics Courses

This course will explore diverse Indigenous genders and sexualities from Indigenous feminist and Indigenous ways of knowing and being, including critical examination of colonial constructions of gender and sexuality. We will survey the effects colonization, from colonial history and politics to the contemporary experiences surrounding issues, resistance and resurgence of diverse Indigenous gender and sexuality identities. Students will engage in a variety of learning activities, from lectures, guest speakers, readings, class discussions, to creative practices and reflections. 

Instructor: WHISKEYJACK, Lana
Days & Time: M, W, 10:00 - 13:10
Units: *3.00
Note: Taught in conjunction with GSJ 598 Sem A1

While some might say that with the dawn of a new millennium, the era of queer theory had passed, work in queer studies is without a doubt as vibrant as ever. Queer theory has had a major influence on the academy and continues to be integrated and transformed in today’s academic culture. One of the goals of this course will be to consider the relation between the past and present of “queer studies,” but the main focus of the course is on very recent work in queer studies (much of it published after 2000). As a group, we will engage with some of the main threads of contemporary queer theory--queer of color critique, trans studies, disablility studies, Indigenous studies--to think through some of the key issues, questions, and debates in this wing of gender studies. As this course is not a survey of the full trajectory of queer theory, we will not read the “classics” of queer theory (e.g. Butler, Foucault) per se, but much of the recent critical work that employs these thinkers as jumping-off points in order to (re)consider those classics and think about how they have recently been reworked and reread by various thinkers. 

Throughout the course, students will learn about and discuss theoretical readings and develop an understanding of how normative ideas around identities and bodies have impacted the construction of social hierarchies and shaped an unequal distribution of power. Students will learn to critically engage with various topics pertinent to the field of queer studies both in interactions with others as well as in their own intellectual engagement and utilize the debates and impulses of scholarship in contemporary queer theory to discuss the role that subjectivity, intimacy, and affect play in thinking critically about intersecting concepts such as gender, sexuality, race, class, nationality, Indigeneity, and disability. These critical skills and new knowledge bases will be developed and homed in regular engagement with the readings through synchronous and asynchronous discussions, short written responses or blog posts, and a collaborative community service learning (CSL) project. At the end of the course, therefore, students will have gained considerable insight into a variety of topics within the field of queer studies. 

Based on the co-taught nature of the course, students from one institution will be paired with a fellow classmate from the other institution to foster cross-cultural exchange and a truly transatlantic experience through project-based work. This form of engagement and exchange is particularly valuable for all participants and instructors for the purpose of enhancing the project of internationalization at the respective home institutions. With this aim in mind, all students will be exposed to a variety of approaches and ideas that will expand their understanding of how to engage with academic scholarship and activism beyond one’s own academic training and framework.

Instructor: PFLEGER, Simone
Days & Time: T, R, 10:00 - 12:50
Units: *3.00
Note: Taught in conjunction with GSJ 598 Sem A2

This is an all hands-on deck, intensive course in which students will collaborate with each other and a community organization to create an online information archive. In this process we will explore the capabilities and limitations of standardized information practices and develop an alternative digital archive inspired by intersectional feminist principles. Both existing and innovative information tools and techniques will be studied and evaluated. Topics such as open data, information inequality, collections as data, vernacular ontologies, data sovereignty and serendipitous discovery will be interrogated. No prior technical expertise is required for this course.

As many of us are now working remotely (although not perhaps as remotely as me – in Melbourne) we can especially understand the value of libraries, archives, and museums that share their collections online as digital resources. However, as consumers of these collections, many of us take for granted what happens “under the hood”, blissfully unaware of the conceptual underpinnings that structure these collections, the human labour and decision-making that go into their construction, and the intellectual property or authorship issues that need to be resolved before they are made available. In this course, by collaborating together and with a community organisation to build an online collection you will be better able to appreciate and critically evaluate these resources. 

Instructor: VERHOEVEN, Deb
Days & Time: Online
Units: *3.00
Note: Class taught from July 12 - August 18

This course will address how globalization has impacted the roles of men and women as social and economic producers. Using comparative and transnational frameworks, this course will address the evolving relationship between gender, migration, and global capitalism. We will discuss how the introduction and spread of globalization has defined, modified, and deconstructed gender relations and roles within local and global communities. 

Instructor: BANDOPADHYAY, Sabujkoli
Days & Time: M, W, F, 10:00 - 10:50
Units: *3.00

This course examines the ongoing struggles of women from the "developing", "underdeveloped" and the "third world" (as well as their counterparts in the diasporic communities who live in the west) with a focus on critical race analysis and intersectionality. Women’s movements from non-western and non-European backgrounds have highlighted that resistance against women’s exploitation in such pockets needs to address histories of colonialism, third-world women’s victimization in neocolonial economic situations, as well as racial and ethnic relations that add to the subjugation of women of color in the western societies. We will look at the fashion industry, food industry, media industry, care work and higher education to explore how the critical issues raised by "women of color feminisms" invite us to probe gender with an intersectional and interdisciplinary lens. We will also look at the emerging and existing networks that facilitate dialogues amongst various women's movements of the global south and also with their "western" counterparts in resisting patriarchal oppression.

Instructor: BANDOPADHYAY, Sabujkoli
Days & Time: R, 14:00 - 16:50
Units: *3.00

How do global warming, biodiversity loss, the pollution and plastification of the world’s bodies of water (including human bodies, which are mostly water), and various technofixes that are being deployed to respond to the above, impact the ways feminist theorists think about bodies, the relationship between biology and social construction, science and gender, human-animal relations, capitalist realism, and environmental racism, sexism, ableism and settler colonialism? What can feminists learn about survival, flourishing, political resistance, eroticism, wonder, and the ethics of living on a shared planet by attending to water, marine animals, mollusks, worms, dirt, fungi, and moss? In this advanced course in feminist theory, we will explore these and other questions through close readings of works by feminist philosophers and theorists. Some of the areas of feminist theory to which students will be exposed in this course are feminist phenomenology, feminist new materialisms, critical race feminisms, Indigenous feminisms, and queer feminisms, as each of these has been taken up in response to a world in crisis. This course will be taught in conjunction with GSJ 599: Special Topics in Feminist Theory.

Instructor: TAYLOR, Chloe
Days & Time: R, 11:00 - 13:50
Units: *3.00

This course will explore diverse Indigenous genders and sexualities from Indigenous feminist and Indigenous ways of knowing and being, including critical examination of colonial constructions of gender and sexuality. We will survey the effects colonization, from colonial history and politics to the contemporary experiences surrounding issues, resistance and resurgence of diverse Indigenous gender and sexuality identities. Students will engage in a variety of learning activities, from lectures, guest speakers, readings, class discussions, to creative practices and reflections. 

Instructor: WHISKEYJACK, Lana
Days & Time: W, 12:00 - 14:50
Units: *3.00

Interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of sexual consent, considering a number of complex theoretical, legal and political issues, including: unrapeable subjects; the role of sexual violence in colonization; law reform focused on consent; unwanted sex; celebration of sexual agency in context of neoliberalism; sexual fraud; challenges to heteronormative consent; critical disability and consent; and the limitations of consent-based prevention.

Instructor: GOTELL, Lise 
Days & Time: T,R, 9:30 - 10:50
Units: *3.00

In nêhiyawêwin (Cree language) our clothing represents a layer of living our best selves, "wawihisiyiho", yet clothing has come to represent other meanings based on a history of colonization, assimilation and intersectionality within this continent we now call North America. Students examine key principles and concepts of Indigenous ways of knowing and being,  gender, sexuality, feminism, colonization and decolonization through clothes they wear, from traditional to decolonizing fashion. 

Instructor: WHISKEYJACK, Lana
Days & Time: F, 11:00 - 11:50
Units: *3.00

Love is often understood as a timeless universal human feeling or an emotion. But how love is understood, practiced, experienced, felt, mobilized, and represented varies greatly across different cultural, historical, and political contexts. Love is about relating to self and others. Love can be a political strategy, that underlies social justice movements, including feminism. Love is related to individual and collective freedoms as much as it can be a tool for control and dominance; love can be regulated and controlled, often is commodified, and may be utilized in creating and maintaining oppressive institutions including slavery, settler colonialism, and capitalism. Love has long played a role in maintaining patriarchy and heteronormativity. As much as love can be mobilized in the struggle for political freedom, it is utilized to justify oppression including sexism, racism and homophobia. This course will explore the multiple dimensions of love – for example as an ideal, a feeling, a practice, a doing, as a political strategy. Central attention will be paid to the intersections of love with gender and sexuality as well as race, Indigeneity, disability, and other vectors of identity.

Instructor:  BANDOPADHYAY, Sabu 
Days & Time: T, R, 14:00 - 15:20
Units: *3.00

In this course we will first consider the ways that queer theory has emerged from and diverged from feminist theory, including lesbian feminist theory, or how queer theorists have challenged feminist theory and developed uniquely queer feminisms. In the middle part of the semester we will study queer feminist explorations of intersex and trans issues, the project of queering spaces, queer female masculinities and femininities, crip queer feminisms (or the intersection of disability with sexuality and gender), and queer affect theory. 

Instructor: NIXON, Randelle
Days & Time: F, 11:00 - 13:50
Units: *3.00

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santanya, 1905) is a commonly invoked axiom. It that what we collectively remember (or forget) matters for our present and future. Traditionally, cultural memory --for example: war memorials, national days of remembrance, the names of public buildings – aimed at building national pride and identity. More recently, social justice movements have turned to memory activism to counter dominant forgetting practices to bring into public consciousness the violence and suffering experienced by minoritized groups (think: the AIDS quilt, December 6 celebrations, or the toppling of confederate and colonial monuments). This course will introduce students to central terms of the new field of memory studies to think deeply about the relationship between social justice and cultural memory. Working with specific examples (including but not limited to: the Holocaust, slavery, Apartheid, residential schools, as well as gender-based violence, heterosexism, ableism, and environmental degradation) we will ask: Can cultural memory lead to greater accountability, repair, and reparations for past injustices -- and, in the future, to reconciliation?

Instructor: LUHMANN, Susanne 
Days & Time: M, 17:00 - 20:00
Units: *3.00

An exploration of how various religious and spiritual systems (both World and Indigenous) serve contemporary socio-political goals around Human Rights, Anti-Colonialism, Anti-Racism, Peacebuilding, Disability Justice, Education, Gender-Based Violence, Poverty, Cruelty to Animals, Healing, Self-Care, Gender Identities, Sexuality, Environmental Protection, Carcerality, and Environmental Justice.

Instructor: Felice Lifshitz

This courage-based course critically examines the systemic and environmental impacts on gender diversity, health, and wellness from Indigenous perspectives in Canada. Students will be led through arts-based practices, literature, and lectures on exploring topics, ranging from language, land, kinship, culture, economy, racism, colonial trauma to activism.

Instructor: Lana Whiskeyjack

Sex/gender/sexuality as a complex social constellation. This course will explore intersections between LGBT politics and social theory. We will examine how research on sexuality involves broader critiques of social institutions, norms, and identities. The course approaches “queer” as a method of sociological analysis and applies queer theory to contemporary social questions

Instructor: Robyn Lee

Global implementation of digital technologies has been increasing steadily since the turn of this century. While this transformation of many activities has benefitted sectors such as agriculture, medicine, finance and education, equitable access to digital technologies has not been realized. This is true in the developed world as well as in emerging economies. Once dubbed the Digital Divide, this issue has more recently been framed as a problem of social inclusion. Using gender as a starting point, this course will take an intersectional approach to analyzing the nature of inclusion (and exclusion) on digital platforms. Why are the marginalized, multiply-oppressed and disadvantaged around the world not included in the opportunities afforded by technology? How can we contribute to efforts to enhance access and social inclusion? Working online, we will examine scholarly, public and policy documents and artefacts that both reveal and address this problem, and evaluate examples of digital resources that are inclusive, or exclusive. Ultimately, we will develop a social justice podcast based on autoethnographic writing about our experiences as cultural actors in a digital world.

Instructor: Katy Campbell

Explores the intersection of settler colonialism, coolie labor, gender, and Asian diasporas in North America and Asia. Topics will include how Asian indentured laborers and other migrants interacted with other settler groups, indigenous people, and colonial powers. Areas of study will include but are not limited to Canada, the United States, Hawai'i, Manchuria, and Taiwan.

Instructor: Clara Iwasaki

This course probes into the linkages and the breakages between feminisms and mass revolutions, through the case study of the current ongoing revolutionary movement in Iran. The slogan of the movement "Woman, Life, Freedom" was first heard in a Kurdish freedom movement that has historically been feminist and Marxist-Leninist, a rare combination. But does this movement intimate a feminist revolution? We will read theories of revolutions, feminist theory, and historical studies of modern Iran and pan-Kurdish politics to compare the current Iranian uprising to other revolutions in the history of Iran beginning with the role of women in the Constitutional Revolution and the Baqer Khan Revolt.

Instructor: Jairan Gahan

This course critically examines key ideas, issues, and debates in contemporary Black feminist thought. With a particular focus on Black feminist understandings of intersectionality, the course examines how Black feminist thinkers interrogate specific concepts including Black womanhood, sexuality, capitalism , criminality and punishment, media and popular culture.

Instructor: Domale Dube Keys

This course will cover the formations of gender and sexuality and their representation in literature and culture in China from 256 BCE to the present day.

Instructor: Clara Iwasaki

Taught in combination with RELIG 270

This is a survey course that will allow students a glimpse into the wide array of communities of interpretation and the plurality of approaches and perspectives that have existed and continue to exist in Islam. The course will approach this subject from the perspective of history, theology, as well as lived experiences, and therefore should allow students to gain a well-rounded understanding of the diversity that has been a hallmark of Islam since its earliest days, and continues to define the faith of millions. Every topic will cover not just mainstream approaches and understandings of Islam, but also alternative, minority, and modern perspectives that serve as a corollary or counterpoint. To that end, this course will use a multiplicity of resources, including primary and secondary sources, audio-visual materials, discussions, guest speakers, and may include optional site visits.

Though it is recommended that students have some familiarity with Islam (particularly by having taking either RELIG 102 and/or 220), it is not a requirement for taking this class. It is also important to note that the academic study of religion requires us to carefully reflect upon and think critically about various human phenomena that we label as ‘religious’. In order to do this, we must approach the topic with a clear understanding of empathy and the academic lens, and try to set aside (at least temporarily) our own beliefs and assumptions about various subjects that we tend to associate with the topic of religion, in this case, Islam.

Instructor: Salima Versi

Since the early years of filmmaking, German cinema has played a leading and innovative role in depicting and reflecting on diverse sexualities in society and culture. In this sense, queer German films are present throughout a variety of movements in German cinema such as Weimar cinema, New German Cinema, and the Berlin School, and therefore can also chart a path through crucial events of the 20th and 21st centuries. Thus, Queer German films not only reflect a wide range of aesthetic and formal elements of German cinema, but also confront audiences with larger social, political, and cultural developments. Throughout this class, we will engage with a variety of major directors and works important to Queer German cinema. In addition to examining the content of the films, we will acquire the vocabulary and skills to understand and interpret films and see them in their historical and cultural frameworks. We will discuss individual films and directors along with the conditions of production and reception of moving pictures from the early twentieth century to the present. Taught in English, this course will examine the depictions of gender and sexuality alongside race, socio-economic and citizenship status, disability, and other identity markers in German film.

Instructor: Simone Pfleger

Socio-political movements require multipronged engagement from advocates, including activism in the streets and in the courts, creative artivism, and scholarship. This class will address a selection of topics, untethered from chronology or geography, to explore how late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century scholars have been using their specific skills in historical research to foster progressive change and/or bring attention to structures of inequity and oppression. This class will examine examples of historical scholarship that bring feminist, queer, and Indigenous methodologies, epistemologies, and narrative strategies to bear on a diverse range of subjects.

Instructor: Felice Lifshitz