FYS 149 (Un)Doing Gender
How are ideas and assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality in everyday life normalized and taken for granted? This course seeks to answer this question by drawing on the works of classic theories in gender such as those by West and Zimmerman, R.W. Connell, Judith Butler, Diana Fuss and Michel Kimmel, among many others. The first half of the class will focus on interrogating the reproduction and performance of gender in various areas of society such as sports, media, music, dating and family life. Then, in the second half of class we shift our focus to exploring and deconstructing ideas about sex and sexuality. The format of each class will rely heavily on small group work and discussions with the end goal of each student producing a final research paper and a presentation related to the performance of gender in contemporary society.