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| Representing Desire and Difference English 212 Anne Dalke Fall 2003 Syllabus |
"There are times in life when the question of
knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive
differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on
looking and reflecting at all."
Michel Foucault, The Use of Pleasure
"sex is good for thinking....Levi-Strauss argues
that many people do not think in the manner of philosophers, by
manipulating
abstractions. Instead,they think w/. . . concrete things from
everyday life . . . some things are especially good to think about.
They can be arranged in patterns, which bring out unsuspected
relationships and define unclear boundaries. Sex, I submit, is one of
them. As carnal knowledge works its way into cultural patterns, it
supplies endless material for thought, especially when it appears in
narratives--dirty jokes, male braggadocio, female gossip, bawdy
songs, and erotic novels. In all these forms, sex is not simply a
subject but also a tool used to pry the top off things and explore
their inner works. It does for ordinary people what logic does for
philosophers; it helps make sense of things."
Robert Darnton, "Sex for Thought."Sexualities in
History: A Reader
This is a Praxis I course which combines classroom-based
thinking with practical applications.
The students will be assigned to a variety of field sites where the
language and education of sexuality is a matter of interest. They
will interview their program directors about the parameters of the
projects, review the current programs, observe and participate in
current activities, and interact in a range of other ways with the
clients served at the site. They will then devise a project that will
meet the needs they have identified in that particular context, and
submit copies at
semester's end both to the site director and the course instructor.
Anne Dalke |
Nell Anderson |
Maxwell's Triangle:
An image for the conjunction of
SEX, LANGUAGE AND THINKING
which this course will explore....
Day 2, Thurs, Sept. 4: "The time has come to think about
sex"
Gayle Rubin, "Thinking Sex," 3-64.
Robert Darnton, "Sex for Thought," 203-221.
Day 3, Tues, Sept. 9: Sexual Experience In/Outside Language?
Is it possible to put sex into language?
Is it necessary? If so, why? What does it accomplish?
Diana Fuss, "Inside/Out," 233-240.
Samuel Delany, "Aversion/Perversion/Diversion," 119-143.
Completed Fieldsite Preference Forms due
Day 4, Thurs, Sept. 11: Orientation to Fieldwork
Nell Anderson, Praxis Coordinator
Ellie Esmond, Program Assistant, Community Service and Accessibility
Services Office
Day 5, Tues, Sept. 16: A Range of Languages
What academic languages do we have for
thinking/talking/teaching sex?
How effective is each, what does each tell us, invite us to
feel/think/know/do?
Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan, What Is Sex? 15-24,
45-47, 217-228.
Michelle Fine,
"Sexuality Schooling and Adolescent
Females," 31-60.
Dorothy Allison, "Femme,"151-158.
Day 6, Thurs, Sept. 18: The Language of Humor
Mikita Brottman,
"The Scholar Who Found a Life's Work in Dirty
Jokes," B14
Gershon Legman, No Laughing Matter, 9-23.
Leonore Tiefer, "The Capacity for Outrage: Feminism, Humor and
Sex,"22-38.
FIND A SEXUAL JOKE; POST IT IN THE FORUM AREA AND BRING IT TO CLASS.
Day 7, Tues, Sept. 23: Finding Your Own Language
Choose a sexual sub-group with which you are familiar.
Write a 3 pp. paper about how this group uses language to talk
about sex. Bring two copies to class for a thinking-and-writing workshop.
Completed Field Placement Agreement forms are also due today.
Field visits start this week.
Day 8, Thurs, Sept. 25: Sex Across the Life Span--in Childhood
Play, Middle Schools and Nursing Homes
In-Class Panel with Jeannie Gustafson and Justin Lee, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Norristown
Sharon Lamb, The Secret Lives of Girls
Anne Jarrell, "The Face of Teenage Sex Grows Younger."
Laura Sessions Stepp. "Unsettling New Fad Alarms Parents: Middle
School Oral Sex."
Marsha Low, "Casual Sex Becomes Subject for Middle Schoolers."
Linda Villarosa, "At Elders' Home, Each Day Is Valentine's Day."
Farrukh Hashmi, et. al. "Sexually Disinhibited Behavior in the
Cognitively Impaired Elderly."
Day 9, Tues, Sept. 30: Finding Your Own Language (Part II)
What sort of sexual education is needed for the group you
described in your first paper? (Stop! What kind of sexual education
is already available? What are its strengths and limits?) What are
the critical issues that need to be addressed? Do some web-based
research (find 3 relevant sites) and some library research (3
additional sources, either scholarly journals or books) to answer
these questions. Drawing on these materials, sketch out 3 pp. of the
sort of sex-ed curriculum you might imagine constructing for your
group. Pay particular attention to the kind of language and
presentation that you would use in such a project.
Day 10, Thurs, Oct. 2: Sexual Language in the Classroom
Is it possible to put the language of sex into the classroom?
Is it necessary? If so, why? What does it accomplish?
Madeline Grumet and Kate McCoy, "Feminism and Education"
James Turner. "Sex as Discipline: The Idea of Erotic Education." 13-27.
Amanda Chudnow and Julia Switzer, "Sexuality Education"
"Just Say NO?"C5
Judith Levine, Harmful to Minors, 178-198.
Eric Hoover," The New Sex Scribes," A33-A34.
Peggy Orenstein, "A Graphic Life," 26-29.
Day 11, Tues, Oct. 7: The Power of Language: Only Words?
Dorothy Allison, "Public Silence, Private Terror," 101-120.
Catherine MacKinnon, "Defamation and Discrimination," 1-42.
Gayle Rubin, "Misguided, Dangerous and Wrong," 18-40.
BRING AN EXAMPLE OF PORNOGRAPHY WITH YOU TO CLASS.
Day 12, Thurs, Oct. 9: Exploring Other Language(s)
Before starting this project, please consult the Code of
Ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Write a 3-pp.
paper introducing and describing your praxis field site. Do some
research on the site: What can you find out about its history? By
whom and when was it founded? Why? How is it funded? Who are the
clients? What have you learned (and what more do you need to find
out) about the culture of the site? What language(s) are used here to
think and talk about sex? What needs can you begin to identify? In
what ways do you think you might be able to help meet them? Reflect
also on your role and relation to the work going on there.
In-Class Small Group Workshops to Discuss Your Findings
10/14-10/16: FALL BREAK
Day 13, Tues, Oct. 21: The Problem of Language/The Trouble with
Normal
Michael Warner, " What's Wrong with Normal?" 41-80.
Mary Poovey, "S/ex in America," 366-392.
Day 14, Thurs, Oct. 23: Comparing Sex in the Languages of Law and
Poetry
Mary Conway, "Oral Sex with a Capital 'O,' 1-21
Legal Age of
Consent
Pennsylvania --
Age of Consent
Sexual
Offender's Assessment Board
Article on Megan's Law
Post On-Line and Bring to Class your selection of Sexual Poetry
Days 15 & 16, Tues, Oct. 28 & Thurs, Oct. 30: The
Language of Literature
Jeanette Winterson, Written on the
Body
Day 17, Tues, Nov. 4: The Language of Social Science (or:
Telling and Re-telling Stories)
Steven Feld, "'They Repeatedly
Lick Their Own Things,'" 445-472.
Day 18, Thurs, Nov. 6: The Language of Science (or: Sex as a
Mechanism for Creating Diversity)
Nicolas Wade. "Scent of a Man is Linked to a Woman's Selection."
Lee Alan Dugatin and Jean-Guy Godin. "How Females Choose Their
Mates," 56-61.
Diana Fernandez, "Sexual Attraction Among Humans"
Jan
Norman, "The Evolutionary Theory of Sexual Attraction."
Day 19, Tues, Nov. 11: Language from the Field
Gina Smith, Sexual Assault Unit, Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, and Lisa Citron, Planned Parenthood, visit the class
Day 20, Thurs, Nov. 13: Language from the Field, Part II
Prerna Srivastava (BMC '04) talks about her summer internship
with "Point of View" in Bombay, organizing for the rights of sex workers
In preparation, read her Watson Proposal,
"Whose Ideals? Whose Realities? Listening to the Voice of Women in Sex Work," and
pp. 1-64 of Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition,
edited by Kamala Kempadoo and Jo Doezema (New York: Routledge, 1998)
[extra copies available for pick-up outside my office]
Fri, Nov. 14: Exploring Other Language(s), Part
II
Compile an initial bibliography of the sources (@ least
10) you might draw on in designing a final project to meet the needs
for sexual education at your field site. Write a 3-pp. introduction
explaining the logic of the languages and the thinking you are
drawing on for doing so.
Day 21, Tues, Nov. 18: Sex in the Language of Work
Ted
Conover, "Trucking Through the AIDS Belt," 56-75.
Prostitution and Law
Working in Nevada by Laura Anderson
Live Nude Girls Unite! (Videorecording). Dir. Julia Query and Vicky Funari. First Run/Icarus Films, 2000 (70 min.)
Day 22: Thurs, Nov. 20: discussion of sex education, sexual abuse and sex work
Day 23, Tues, Nov. 25: what shall our last shared discussion be about??
Sex in the Language of Religion?
Marriage
Law Project
Kama Sutra
"Sexuality and Prayer," 1-7
Scott Peck, "Sexuality and Spirituality," 219-231
Sex in the Language of Relationships?
Laura Kipnis, "Adultery," 289-327.
Candace Vogler, "Sex and Talk," 328-365.
Polyamory
Are You Open to an Alternative Lifestyle?
Models of Open Relationships
Unmasking the Green-Eyed Monster
THURS NOV. 27 THANKSGIVING VACATION
Day 25: Tues, Dec. 2 Presentations of final projects
Megan, Garron and Ingrid (from Planned Parenthood)
Day 26: Thurs, Dec. 4 Presentations
Heather and Tia (from Sisters' Program)
Catherine and Sarah (from Women's Center)
Day 27: Tues, Dec. 9 Presentations
Anjali and Jessie (from D.A.'s Office)
Ali and Laura (from Prevention Point)
Day 28: Thurs, Dec. 11 Presentations
Ro, Laurel, Grannis and Katie (from Women's Wisdom at Work)
Class Work:
1/2 Talking
Read the assigned texts.
Attend class regularly (I don't expect you to miss more
than two sessions) and
Contribute to our class discussion (this doesn't mean dominating
discussion w/ your thoroughly-thought-through ideas; it means
facilitating the
learning of us all by being willing to think out loud each week in
this playground
of ideas).
Post weekly in the on-line class forum: either your response
to that week's query or another reflection related to our class
discussion or reading.
1/2 Writing
I will expect @ least 25-pp. of formal written work (or
equivalent) from you
by the end of the semester; I need to see @ least 9 pp. of writing
before you leave for fall break (this is non-negotiable!)
I expect you to make two appointments w/ me to discuss your
written work. Our
first meeting should take place by October 10 (before fall break),
when we'll figure out together what sort of final project you'll be
doing, and what preparatory work you will need to do it.
Our second meeting should occur @ whatever point in this process
seems to you most fruitful for gathering feedback from me: in
brainstorming your project, reviewing your proposal, guiding your
research, responding to yourfirst draft, or after the work is
submitted . . . .
Finale
By noon Saturday December 20th, collect and reflect on the
work you have done throughout the semester, and present it in a
portfolio.
This collection should express your evolution, during the course of
the semester,
as a "thinker about sex." In order to demonstrate both what have you done,
and what you
have learned from doing it, the portfolio should include all the
artifacts you've
created, including web postings, all of your drafts and the
finished versions
of your formal written work, as well as your reflections on the
process of creation.
The required artifacts are listed below; they should be introduced
by a focused,
substantive reflection that includes a thoughtful, critical analysis of the
significance of your work.
Introduction: This introductory entry should orient your reader to the scope, content and organization of your portfolio. It might reflect both on the process of composing the portfolio (is there, for example, an organizing theme or dominant question present throughout?). It might entail an account of your important moments of learning in the course, or what you think you came to understand overall. Where were the facets of meaning located for you this semester?
An account of your participation in our ongoing conversation: what was your role in our class discussion? in our class e-conversation? @ your praxis site? (Include all relevant e-records in this account.)
Your 25pp. (or equivalent) of written work.
Assessment of Portfolios
My evaluative criteria for the portfolio include
--the quality of your reflection and analysis:
To what extent does the portfolio as a whole demonstrate a
thoughtful re-examination
of the semester’s work, and capture your developing insights
into the connections
between feminist texts and praxis? How well does the introductory essay use
evidence to support the claims made about the learning that has taken place
here?
--your understanding and application of concepts taught in the
course:
To what extent does the portfolio reflect your serious grappling
with the central
concepts in the course? How well does your portfolio make
connections across
texts, discussions and outside-of-classroom experiences?
--your range and variation:
Is your portfolio representative of a breadth of learning experiences? Does
it draw on a span of texts, experiences and other relevant
learning opportunities?
