AMST 215 Discipline and Desire: The History of Sexuality in the United States
This course examines the history of the politics of sexuality in the United States since the American Revolution. It begins with theoretical works on the intersections of sexuality and politics including writings by Sigmund Freud Wilhelm Reich Daniel Bell Michel Foucault Judith Butler and Michael Warner. It then considers important moments in the history of American sexuality including the growth of cities and erotic subcultures after the war for independence the establishment of "republican discipline" and Victorianism in the early 19th century blackface minstrelsy and the eroticization of slavery the confinement of prostitution the creation of domestic and public spheres the explosion of working-class sexual entertainment during the industrial revolution feminism and the social hygiene movement etc.