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Semester 2

Introduction to Queer Studies (DESI08141)

Subject

Design

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

**Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course will provide undergraduate students with an introduction to the study of sexual identity and sexuality across a variety of disciplines, incorporating a wide array of historical and international perspectives. It will provide a grounding in key terms and debates, and explore the ways in which diverse fields of study explore and interrogate questions of queerness. The historical development of queer studies will be traced and challenged. The course will be taught by a number of staff from across the University of Edinburgh who are renowned for their research into LGBTQ+ culture, history and politics.

Course Description

This course will be delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars. Each week, guest tutors from across the University of Edinburgh - from subject areas including Design, History of Art, Anthropology, German, Sociology, Law, African Studies, and Health Sciences - will deliver lectures which introduce key concepts and terms in queer studies in relation to their fields of research and study. The course will explore a variety of key questions and topics, such as: - The birth of queer theory, and its relation to lesbian and gay studies - Analysis of same-sex identities, communities and relationships in a global context - Issues relating to LGBTQ+ representation in the media, popular culture, and other forms of creative practice - Intersections between queerness and gender, race, class, etc - The history of LGBTQ+ activism and rights, including backlashes and anti-gay politics and movements - The relationship between queerness and various Institutional frameworks (such as law, religion, and medicine) - The evolution of trans* politics. Seminars will be centred on set readings, which will be used as the basis for class discussion.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a Design exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one Art or Design course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the extremely limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course