ENG31990 Reading Gender and Sexuality

Academic Year 2020/2021

In this module, we will explore some key LGBTQ works of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. As well as considering these works within the political and cultural moments and movements that they have been part of, we will explore the ways in which gender and sexuality, the body and desire, are constructed in literary and cultural representation in the later 20th and 21st centuries. We will read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts - novels, autobiography, auto theory, graphic novels/short stories, documentary – in their political, social and cultural contexts using critical and theoretical frameworks that will enrich and deepen our understandings and analyses of literary texts. We will pay close attention to the way in which gender and sexuality are shaped by race, class, migration and other structures of power, paying attention to key concepts in feminist, gender, queer, race critical, and trans theory. We will think about the relation between literary and cultural representation, social change, and identity.

Required Reading/Viewing:
Audre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982)
Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)
Paris Is Burning, documentary dir. Jennie Livingston (1991)
Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues: A Novel (1993)
Imogen Binnie, Nevada (2013)
Kai Cheng Thom, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir (2016)
Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts (2015)
Akwaeke Emezi, Freshwater (2018)
Bernadine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other (2019)
Bikhash Som, excerpts from Ansara Engine and Spellbound (2020)


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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should have:
- a good understanding of major currents in queer, feminist and trans theories and methods of analysis;
- a good understanding of a wide variety of queer and trans literary and aesthetic modes and uses of genre and form;
- a good understanding of the interconnections between race, sexuality, gender, class, citizenship, location etc;
- a solid understanding of the connections between queer, trans and feminist cultural production, politics, and movements;
- the ability to research and write an academic essay of a standard appropriate to this stage of your studies.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Specified Learning Activities

76

Autonomous Student Learning

100

Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module uses a variety of teaching and learning strategies, including class discussion, group work, short lectures, critical writing and reflection. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: FInal essay Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

60

Assignment: Mid-term close reading exercise Unspecified n/a Graded No

15

Assignment: Short essay plan (to be submitted before individual essay consultation) Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Continuous Assessment: Discussion posts for class Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

15


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback in class on discussion posts; individual feedback on mid-semester assignment, building to final essay proposal with individual consultation and feedback prior to completing the final essay