Fall 2024 History UN3507 section 001

A Trans History of the United States

A Trans History of the US

Call Number 18671
Day & Time
Location
T 12:10pm-2:00pm
602 Northwest Corner Building
Points 4
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Nikita Shepard
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description

This course explores the diversity of gendered experiences across the history of the United States with an emphasis on the individuals, communities, and movements that have been interpreted as trans. The course has three goals: 1) to offer an in-depth survey of the history of trans and gender nonconforming experiences across the history of the United States; 2) to critically explore the emergence of “transgender” as a social, medical, and historical category, with attention to its assumptions and exclusions; 3) to provide experience with critical interpretation of primary sources documenting gendered lives in the past. Key historical themes include experiences of trans/gender in relation to race and colonialism, labor, migration, medicine, kinship and sexuality, legal and carceral systems, activism, performance, media, and technology. Key historiographical themes include: changing interpretations of gender/sexuality by successive generations of historians, identities such as “trans” as both categories of analysis and objects of historical inquiry themselves, the challenges presented by sources that overlook, misrepresent, or obscure gendered subjectivity, and the political stakes of trans history during times of backlash and hostility towards trans communities. Course meetings include discussion of secondary readings and analysis of primary sources, and in-class activities and assignments emphasize developing skills to identify, analyze, and use a wide range of sources to understand shifting frameworks of gender throughout US history. No prerequisites necessary.

Web Site Vergil
Department History
Enrollment 10 students (15 max) as of 10:07AM Friday, December 13, 2024
Subject History
Number UN3507
Section 001
Division Interfaculty
Note Instructor: NIkita Shepard; Add to waitlist & see instructio
Section key 20243HIST3507W001