ENGL 5081 - LGBTQ Literature and Theory

Credit Hours 3
Prerequisite: English Major Restriction
Description: This course will offer an introduction to LGBTQ literature written in English, as well as to LGBTQ literary criticism and queer theory. The guiding questions of the course include: How have LGBTQ authors used literary forms to come to terms with their sexuality and forge their identity? What can the history of this literature reveal about the evolution of LGBTQ life? And how has queer theory changed the way that sexuality is understood within and beyond the academy? Different sections of the course will focus on different literary forms. Students will also familiarize themselves with key critics and theorists like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Gayle Rubin, and Lauren Berlant.