Spring 2025 International Affairs U6376 section 001

Transnational LGBTI Rights

LGBT Rights Internationally

Call Number 17771
Day & Time
Location
M 2:10pm-4:00pm
To be announced
Points 1.5
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Jessica Stern
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description

In May 2016, a highly contested resolution passed the UN Human Rights Council condemning discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity and establishing the system’s first ever Independent Expert on the same themes.  The protracted fight for the resolution demonstrated how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights were, and remain, among the most controversial issues in international human rights, law, and public policy. Contestations around LGBTI rights are frequently framed in terms of ‘human rights’ versus ‘traditional values’ which underscores a central challenge to LGBTI rights claims – how to make universalizing claims based on identities that are historically contingent and culturally produced. This course will explore how LGBTI rights impact mainstream debates, such as bilateral relations and good governance, while also teaching students to understand the challenges of fulfilling LGBTI rights, such as access to legal recognition for same-sex partnerships and transgender people. The course will also explore the ways in which anti-LGBTI animus is deployed for political effect and seek to understand the processes whereby LGBTI rights become lightning rods for broader social and political cleavages. This course offers students an opportunity to reflect, in-depth, on the challenges and opportunities of working on LGBTI rights transnationally, surveys debates within the field, and equips students to competently address LGBTI rights as they manifest across a range of academic and professional interests. Breaking news and contemporary debates will be integrated into the course work.

Web Site Vergil
Department International and Public Affairs
Enrollment 9 students (20 max) as of 12:05PM Monday, December 30, 2024
Subject International Affairs
Number U6376
Section 001
Division School of International and Public Affairs
Open To SIPA
Note SIPA Subterm A
Section key 20251INAF6376U001