General education Course Development Grant Application

Submitted by: Nancy A. Naples, Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies

Title:   Sexual Citizenship

 

Introduction. This proposal is a request for support to develop a new W course open to sophomores entitled Sexual Citizenship that can be cross-listed with Sociology and Women’s Studies. Sociology already has a W course entitle on the Sociology of Sexualities that is extremely popular. It is an upper division course open to sophomores. Each semester that it is been offered there are a large number of students on the waiting list. The Women’s Studies Institute is in the process of expanding its course offering in the area of gender and sexualities. Both units have expressed interest in cross-listing this proposed course. In addition to serving as a General Education course in Diversity and Multiculturalism (Content Area 4) and Social Science (Content Area 2), this course would also serve as an elective for students who are enrolled in Sociology and Women’s Studies. It can also serve as an elective for students in the Human Rights minor.

 

Proposed Course Description. This course will explore the diversity of ways sexuality serves as an axis of citizenship in diverse nation and international contexts. It will place this discussion in the context of broader discussions of sexual citizenship including analysis of marriage rights, heteronormativity,  compulsorary heterosexuality, sexual contract, sexual democracy, and reproductive rights. Among the questions that could be addressed in this course would be:

– What is meant by the term “sexual  citizenship”?

– How does sexual citizenship differ in different national contexts?

– How have sexual citizenship rights changed over time in different national contexts?

– How are policies regarding welfare, housing, marriage, immigration, child custody, adoption, among others, influenced by different constructions of sexual citizenship?

– What international policies are relevant for sexual citizenship?

– How has the AIDs crisis shaped the construction of sexual citizenship in different contexts?

– What are the different policies enacted by nation-states regarding sex work and sex tourism?

– How is sexual citizenship “gendered” and as a consequence how do women’s and men’s lives differ in relationship to the state and citizenship rights?

– How is sexual citizenship “racialized,” and, and as a consequence how do the lives of people of different racial backgrounds differ in relationship to the state and citizenship rights?

– What strategies have been developed to protect the human rights of women and sexual minorities in different political contexts?

– What is the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations in protecting the human rights of women and sexual minorities?

– What is the role of social justice movement for promoting social and political justice for women and sexual minorities?

– How does the heterosexual paradigm undergird social and political institutions?

– And what is the effect of this paradigm on the sexual citizenship rights of different people?

See Appendix A for a list of potential texts that have been identified to date.  

 

Justification. To date, there is only one course in Sociology with a primary focus on sexuality. While there are more courses in Women’s Studies that incorporate a focus on Sexualities none of these courses take an interdisciplinary social science perspective.     


Course Development Activities. During the summer, I would like to identify and review courses developed by faculty in other universities as well as to gather relevant texts, documents, reports, and videos that would be relevant for the course. I would develop a draft course outline and share the outline with faculty at the University of Connecticut and other universities who have taught related courses to get their feedback on the course design. I would revise and develop the course outline as well as draft lectures and course activities for the course. The goal would be to create a course that could be submitted to the Sociology and Women’s Studies faculty for approval in the Fall of 2005. I would like to offer the new course in Spring 2006 and to make subsequent changes as a result of this first offering.

 

Relation to the New General Education Requirements. The proposed course will be designed to enrich students’ knowledge of different customs, laws and histories that may differ from their own and provide them with skills that will enable them to be conversant not only on these topics, but instill in them a lifelong ability to listen, learn and exchange ideas. It will also expose them to concepts of the interlocking systems of  gender, race, and sexual stratification and enhance their understanding of politics, cultures, and religions, thus enabling them to acquire a larger, more flexible view of  the world. It will also challenge students to think about "accepted" practices, and to formulate their own opinions and decisions based on the expanded viewpoint this course can offer them. By studying laws and policies on sexual citizenship, students will become more critical analysts of what may have been previously  taken for granted legal and political practices based on gender, sexuality, race, and class. This course will also challenge students to think critically about diverse multicultural issues as they relate to sexual citizenship.

            The proposed course will be designed to meet both the Diversity and Multicultural General Education Requirements and the Social Science Requirements. The course will introduce students to social scientific theories and concepts as they relate to constructions of gender. These include the analysis of the role of gender and constructions of sexuality in a variety of law and social policies with attention to the intersection of race and class with gender and sexuality. Assignments will include opportunities to gain some experience in introductory

 research methods on sexual citizenship.gender  For each assignment that involves research methods, there will be a discussion of the ethnical dilemmas in conducing different types of research such as how to ensure confidentiality and anonymity and other responsibilities towards research subjects. The course will also examine the relationship between the social institutions through which laws and social policies are designed and enacted and individual experiences of gender and sexuality.  Since the course will be cross-listed in Women’s Studies, feminist methodology will also be taught. This approach will provide students with analytical tools to engage in critical assessment of the major debates related to sexual citizenship with particular attention to the relationship between individual experiences and social institutions such as government and law.

            The focus on Diversity and Multiculturalism includes attention to the intersection of race, sexuality, national origin, and culture that influence the diversity of approaches to sexual citizenship. This course includes attention to international themes including human rights and what political, economic, and personal factors contribute to migration from one region to another. It will also provide students with an acute awareness of dynamics of social, political, and economic power.

                                                                                                           
Appendix A. Potential Texts Identified To Date for Sexual Citizenship Course

 

Agosin, Marjorie, ed. 2001. Women, Gender, and Human Rights: A Global Perspective. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Adam, Barry D. 1987. The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement. Boston: Twayne Publishers.

Altman, Dennis. 2001. Global Sex. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Anzaldua, Gloria. 1987. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute.

Berman, Kim. 1995. “Lesbians in South Africa.” In The Invisible Ghetto: Lesbian and Gay Writing from South Africa edited by M. Krouse. London Gay Men’s Press.

Booth, Karen M. 2004. Local Women, Global Science: Fighting AIDS in Kenya. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Bornstein, Kate.  1994. Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us. NY: Routledge

Carver, Terrell, and Veronique Mottier (eds.). 1999. Politics of Sexuality: Identity, Gender, Citizenship. NY: Routledge.

Cantú, Lionel. 1999. Border Crossings: Mexican Men and the Sexuality of Migration. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Irvine.

Collins, Patricia Hill. 2001. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. NY: Routledge.

Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Arlie Russell Hochschild, eds. 2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. NY: OWL Books.

Evans, David T. 1993. Sexual Citizenship: The Material Construction of Sexualities. London and New York: Routledge.

Ferguson, Ann. 1991. Sexual Democracy: Women, Oppression, and Revolution. Boulder: Westview Press..

Pateman, Carol.  1988.  The Sexual Contract.  Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Foucault, Michel. 1990. The History of Sexuality. New York: Random House.

Kaplan, Morris B. 1997. Sexual Justice: Democratic Citizenship and the Politics of Desire. NY: Routledge.

Luibheid, Eithne. 2002. Entry Denied: Controlling Sexuality at the Borders. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Luibheid, Eithne, and Lionel Cantú, eds. 2005. Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossing. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Patton, Cindy, and Benigno Sánchez-Eppler, eds. 2000. Queer Diasporas. Durham: Duke University Press.

Petchesky, Rosalind Pollack. 2003. Global Prescriptions: Gendering Health and Human Rights. NY: Zed Books.

Rubenstein, William B., ed. 1993. Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Law. NY: The New Press.

Silliman, Jael, Marlene Gerger Fried, Loretta Ross, and Elena R. Gutierrez.2004. Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Stychin, Carl F. 2003. Governing Sexuality: The Changing Politics of Citizenship and Law Reform.Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.

Yuval-Davis, Nira, and Pnina Werbner, eds. 1999. Women, Citizenship and Difference. NY: Zed Books.

 

General education Course Development Grant Application Follow-up

 

Submitted by: Nancy A. Naples, Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies

 

Title:   Sexual Citizenship

 

What measures, beyond student grades, might be used to assess whether the courses was meeting its objectives?

 

I propose three strategies to assess whether the course is meeting its objectives:

 

  1. Using a modified goal attainment scale (adopted from social work practice), I will create a list of criteria based on the goals and objectives of the course and use a brief survey at the beginning of the class to assess students’ knowledge or background as they relate to these objectives.  I will repeat the survey at the end of the course to determine intellectual growth in these areas. The themes addressed in this survey will go beyond the course assignments since it will be more focused on the broad-based themes of diversity and social science methodology rather than specific lessons. I have used this strategy in other courses I have taught and it has proven useful in evaluating the extent to which the broad-based goals of a specific course have been met.

 

  1. I will develop a mid-term evaluation to determine, from the students’ perspective, the effectiveness of the course in meeting its objectives. Results from this mid-term evaluation will be used to modify the course to enhance the possibility of meeting the course objectives.

 

  1. At the end of the course, I will hold a non-structured open-ended discussion with the students to get their feedback on the organization of the course, value of the assignments, and other aspects of the course.