HomeMy WebLinkAboutSOC-106 Bergen Community College
Division of Business, Arts Social Sciences
Department of Social Sciences
Departmental Syllabus
SOC-106 Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ)
Cultures
Date of Most Recent Syllabus Revision: March, 2021
Course Typically Offered: Fall____ Spring____ Summer____ Every Semester__x__ Other_________________
Syllabus last reviewed by: BCC General Education Committee ____ Date:____________
(Most courses need review Ad Hoc Committee on Learning Assessment ____ Date:____________
by only one of the following) Curriculum Committee: ____ Date:____________
Semester and Year:
Course and Section Number: SOC-166-xxx
Meeting Times and Locations 3 contact hours/week
Instructor:
Office Location: A-306B
Phone: 201-493-3608
Departmental/Division Secretary:
Office Hours:
Email Address:
Course Description
SOC-106 presents an introductory and interdisciplinary approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) cultures, including biopsychosocial and historical perspectives
regarding voices and experiences of LGBTQ people in the U.S. since Stonewall in 1969. Topics
include exploring 1970s gay liberation and lesbian feminism, 1980s AIDS epidemic, the rise of
“queer” theory in the 1990s, popular fiction and memoirs in the 2000s, and the emergence of
current transgender and intersex issues, research, and theory.
3 lectures, 3 credits
Prerequisites: None
Co-requisites: None
General Education Course
Diversity Course
Student Learning Outcomes/Means of Assessment
Outcomes: Upon successful completion, the
student will be able to:
Means of Assessment: This outcome will be
measured by one or more of the following:
1) Identify and critically analyze key concepts
and themes in the field of LGBTQ and/or
Queer studies using appropriate necessary
vocabulary for discussing LGBTQ people
and issues and demonstrating familiarity
with the needs, challenges and
contributions of LGBTQ people in America.
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
2) Analyze the intersections of sexuality with
gender, race, class, culture, and nation and explore
how a person’s experiences are shaped by their
identities and group memberships.
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
3) Explain how sexuality—including sexual identity,
orientation, and desire—is influenced by socially
constructed norms.
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
4) Demonstrate an understanding of the
consequences of the ways perceived differences in
sexual identity and/or orientation, or gender
identity, combined with institutional power and
privilege, often result in discrimination among
marginalized groups.
5) Analyze the role of social and cultural
institutions, including familial, religious, educational,
economic, healthcare, and criminal justice
institutions on LGBTQ populations
6) Evaluate the historical overview of LGBTQ
experience and related social movements in
America by recognizing important figures, events,
and views within LGBTQ studies
7) Discuss the importance of political power for
LGBTQ issues and social issues in general.
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
Objective tests, essay questions, oral reports, class
discussions, and writing assignments
Course Content
The sequence in which these topics are covered in class is suggested by the following outline,
but instructors are free to rearrange the suggested sequence. Exams, projects, essays, research
papers, etc. are to be scheduled accordingly.
I. Introduction to the discipline of LGBTQ studies
. Queer Axioms, Key Terms
. History: Before Identity
. Before Stonewall: Being LGBT
II.During and After Stonewall; Rising Up
. Documentary: Stonewall Uprising, (American Experience, PBS)
. Stonewall—Eyewitness Accounts
. Visions After Stonewall: 1970s – Politics of Sexuality and Sexual Identity
. Adrienne Rich, Gloria Anzaldua
. Judy Grahn, Audre Lorde
. Gay Liberation
. Inclusion/Equality/Diversity
III.Intersectionalities
. Lesbianism/Feminism
. Queer Theory & the 80s and 90s
. Pride
. AIDS & Queer Theory
. Film, “Angels in America”
IV.Trans Lives & Theories
. Guest Speaker
. LGBTQ Issues in the Present
. LGBTQ Stories
. The Law
. LGBTQ Issues—What’s Next?
. The Future
. Wrap up, Grades, Course Assessment
Research, Thinking, Writing, and/or Examination Requirement(s)
Writing Activity:
All students in the Introduction to LGBTQ Studies course will be expected to engage in weekly written
assignments. These assignments may be essay questions on one or more tests, short essay reading
responses, or written report based on readings or activities.
Critical Thinking:
Students should be encouraged through classroom activities to think about, analyze, and use basic
psychosocial concepts. Memorization of key concepts and theories should be thought of as the first, not
the final, stage of learning significant course materials.
Student Evaluation:
In determining a student’s semester grade, a minimum of three, and preferably more, objective and
subjective grading mechanisms will be employed. Term projects and research papers will be encouraged.
Attendance Policy
BCC Attendance Policy:
All students are expected to attend punctually every scheduled meeting of each course in which they are
registered. Attendance and lateness policies and sanctions are to be determined by the instructor for each
section of each course. These will be established in writing on the individual course outline. Attendance
will be kept by the instructor for administrative and counseling purposes.
Social Sciences Department Attendance Policy:
The department has agreed to leave attendance policies up to the discretion of each instructor.
Attendance Policy in this Course:
To be determined by the instructor
Student and Faculty Support Services
Accommodations for Disabilities: Bergen Community College aims to create inclusive learning
environments where all students have maximum opportunities for success. Any student who feels he
or she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of
Specialized Services at 201-612-5269 or via email at ossinfo@bergen.edu for assistance.
The distance Learning
Office-for any problems
you may have
accessing your online
courses
Room C-334
210-612-5581
psimms@bergen.edu
Smartthinking Tutorial
Service
On Line at: www.bergen.edu/library/learning/tutor/smart/ind
ex.asp
The Tutoring Center Room L-125 201-447-7908
The Writing Center Room L-125 201-447-7908
The Online Writing Lab
(OWL)
On Line at: www.bergen.edu/owl
The Office of Specialized
Services (for Students
with Disabilities)
Room L-115 201-612-5270
www.bergen.edu/oss
The Sidney Silverman
Library
Room L-226 201-447-7436
SAMPLE Textbook, Readings, Assignments, Format for Course Outline and Calendar
Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBT Studies, edited by Michelle Gibson, Jonathan Alexander, and
Deborah Meem (Sage, 2017—3rd edition)
Alternate: The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: An Introduction, Kyle Morgan, and Meg Rodriguez,
Humboldt State University, Copyright Year: 2020; ISBN 13: 9781947112445
Publisher: Humboldt State University Press
The Stonewall Reader, The New York Public Library, Penguin USA, 2019 (This acronym for this text is
*SWR in our syllabus).
The Routledge Queer Studies Reader, (RQSR), edited by Donald Hall, Annamarie Jagose, et al
(Routledge, 2012)
Excerpts from The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, (LGSR) edited by Henry Abelove, Michele Barale,
and David Halperin, (Routledge, 1993)
Note: Other handouts and media will be assigned. All readings need to be completed by the class date
in which they appear and be brought to class.
GRADING POLICY
A variety of objective and subjective evaluation methods can be utilized including critical and opi nion
essays, tests, related topical research papers, reviews of related agencies and organizations by
students, etc. The following is an example:
-Attendance/Participation
Your participation and input into our collective knowledge-making is valuable. You are responsible to
your classmates as well as to yourself for the success of our joint teaching and learning; therefore,
your active participation is expected. You will demonstrate your commitment to the class by
contributing respectfully to discussions and helping us to build a safe space for all ideas to be
expressed.
-Critical Response Essay
You will submit a critical response essay. This essay paper should reflect critical observations and
ideas about topics and will include discussion and analysis o f course readings. Correct quotations/
citations are required.
-Review of LGBTQ Organizations
You will explore at least three LGBTQ social, political, or activist-oriented organizations working to
challenge the oppression of or discrimination against LGBTQ communities. You may do so by
exploring their websites and/or other literature, as well as through discussion or correspondence with
their staff or volunteers. (More info to be shared later).
-Research Paper
You will choose a topic based on the themes, readings and films discussed in class (topics to be
approved). No late papers accepted.
Course Calendar
UNIT # TOPIC ASSIGNMENT
Week 1
I. Introduction to the discipline of LGBTQ studies
Queer Axioms, Key Terms
READINGS: The
ABCs of
Week 2
History: Before Identity
L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ by
Michael Gold (NYT,
7/7/2019); The
Heterosexual
Questionnaire by
Martin Rochlin Ph.D.,
and Glossary from A
Queer History of the
United States for
Young People by
Michael Bronski Ph.D
Finding Out: intro and
Ch. 1-2 (1-64); LGSR:
Ch. 28—“Is there a
History of Sexuality”
(Halperin, 416-31);
Jeffrey Weeks, “The
Challenge of Gay and
Lesbian Studies”
(from Lesbian and
Gay Studies edited by
Theo Sandforth, et al,
pp. 1-14.)
Finding Out: Ch. 2
and 3 (pp. 43-90);
LGSR: Ch. 29 ’They
Wonder to Which Sex
I Belong’: The
Historical Roots of
Modern Lesbian
Identity” (Martha
Vicinus,432-52);
Foucault, intro &
excerpts from The
History of Sexuality,
vol 1
Week 3
Before Stonewall
Being LGBT
READINGS: (In
*SWR) Audre Lorde,
from Zami:A New
Spelling of My Name,
pp3-11; Del Martin
and Phyllis Lyon, from
“Lesbians United,”
pp24-33
READINGS: (In
*SWR) Franklin
Kameny, from Gay is
Good, pp 34-41;
Mario Martino, from
Emergence: A
Transsexual
Autobiography, pp 82-
86; Virginia Prince,
“The How and Why of
Virginia,” pp 42-48
Week 4
II. During and After Stonewall; Rising Up
. Documentary: Stonewall Uprising, (American
Experience, PBS)
. Stonewall—Eyewitness Accounts
Critical Response Essay Due
READINGS: (In
*SWR) Dick Leitsch,
“The Hairpin Drop
Heard Around the
World,” pp 99-104;
Howard Smith, “View
from Inside: Full Moon
over the Stonewall,”
pp 108-112
Finding Out: Ch. 4
and 5 (91-148);Iintro
to Letters to ONE
(Craig Loftin, 2012, 1-
12); view excerpts
from Coming Out
Under Fire (Arthur
Dong, 1994)
Week 5
Visions After Stonewall: 1970s – Politics of Sexuality
and Sexual Identity
-Adrienne Rich, Gloria Anzaldua
-Judy Grahn, Audre Lourde
-Jonathan Katz
Gay Liberation
READINGS:
(Handout)
“Homosexual Bill of
Rights,” in The
Stonewall Riots: A
Documentary History
by Marc Stein, PhD
Week 6
Inclusion/Equality/Diversity
Finding Out: Ch. 6 and
7 (151-98); view
Tongues Untied
(Riggs, 1989); RQSR
Ch. 6 E. Patrick
Johnson, “’Quare’
Studies, or (Almost)
Everything I Know
about Queer Studies I
Learned from My
Grandmother” (96-
118); Ch. 24, Jose
Esteban Munoz,
“Feeling Brown,
Feeling Down” (412-
21)
Week 7
III. Intersectionalities
Review of LGBTQ Organizations Due
Finding Out: Ch. 8
(201-30) and Ch. 9 (art
and lit, 231-60);
RQSR Ch. 7, Roderick
Ferguson,
“Introduction: Queer of
Color Critique,
Historical Materialism,
and Canonical
Sociology” (119-33);
Ch. 19, Richard T.
Rodriguez, “Making
Queer Familia” (324-
32)
READINGS: White
Privilege: Unpacking
the Invisible Knapsack
by Peggy McIntosh,
PhD.; (Handout)
“Native Peoples—
Different Genders,
Different Sexualities”
in A Queer History of
the United States for
Young People, by
Michael Bronski, Ph.D.
Week 8
Lesbianism/Feminism
LGSR: Marilyn Frye,
Ch. 4, “Some
Reflections on
Separatism and
Power” (991-98); Ch.
16, Adrienne Rich,
“Compulsory
Heterosexuality and
Lesbian Experience”
(227-54); Ch. 19, Sue
Ellen Case, “Toward a
Butch-Femme
Aesthetic” (294-306);
Ch. 22, Audre Lorde,
“The Uses of the
Erotic” (339-43); Ch. 9,
Teresa De Lauretis,
“Sexual Indifference
and Lesbian Desire”
(141-58); and Ch. 34,
Esther Newton, “Just
One of the Boys:
Lesbians in Cherry
Grove, 1960-88” (528-
41); Finding Out Ch.
10 (lesbian and gay
pulp, 269-84);
Freeman on LBGT
fiction (Blackboard)
Week 9
Queer Theory & the 80s and 90s
Pride
Finding Out Ch. 11
and 12 (289-344);
LGSR Ch. 1 Gayle
Rubin, “Thinking Sex”
(3-44), Eve Sedgwick,
“Epistemomology of
the Closet” (45-61);
RQSR, Ch. 1, Eve
Sedgwick, “Queer and
Now” (1-17), Ch. 2,
Judith Butler,
“Critically Queer” (18-
31), Ch. 14, Tavia
Nyong’o, “Do you
Want Queer Theory
(or Do You Want the
Truth): Intersections of
Punk and Queer in the
70s” (223-35)
Week 10
AIDS & Queer Theory
Film, “Angels in America”
LGSR Ch. 13 Simon
Watney, “The
Spectacle of AIDS”
(202-11), Ch. 8, Cindy
Patton on AIDS in
Africa, “From Nation to
Family” (127-40);
RQSR, Ch. 22, Ann
Cvetkovich, “AIDS
Activism and Public
Feelings” (371-97);
watch excerpts from
United in Anger
(2012); Blackboard:
Michael Warner, “The
Politics of Shame and
HIV Prevention” from
The Trouble With
Normal
Week 11
IV. Trans Lives & Theories
RQSR, Ch. 3 Jay
Prosser, “Judith Butler:
Queer Feminism,
Transgender, and the
Transubstantion of
Sex” (32-59); RQSR,
Ch. 26, Ian Morland,
“What Can Queer
Theory do for Intersex
Lives” (443-63), Ch.
27, J. Halberstam,
“Transgender Butch”
(464-87), Ch. 28,
Robert McRuer,
“Compulsory Able-
bodiedness and
Queer/Disabled
Existence” (488-97),
Ch. 33, Lucas Cassidy
Crawford,
“Transgender Identity
without Organs” (558-
67)
Week 12
Guest Speaker
Week 13
LGBTQ Issues 2000-Present
LGBTQ Stories
The Law
- https://www.hrc.org/resources/federal-legislation
READINGS: (Handout)
”Queer in Trump’s
America,” in Real
Queer America: LGBT
Stories from Red
States.; (Handout)
“Jennifer Finney
Boylan, Love Prevails,
Mostly,” New York
Times, June 16, 2019
READINGS: (Handout)
“Homosexual Bill of
Rights,” in The
Stonewall Riots: A
Documentary History
by Marc Stein, PhD
Week 14
LGBTQ Issues—What’s Next?
The Future
Research Paper Due
READINGS: “Young
People Today: The
Future of Queer
History,” in A Queer
History of the United
States for Young
People, M. Bronski
Week 15
Wrap up, Grades, Course Assessment
Note to Students: This Course Outline and Calendar is tentative and subject to change, depending upon the
progress of the class.