2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses

Special lecture: Gender, Sexuality and Cultural Criticism

Academic unit or major: Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s): Yuki Hanyu
Class Format: Lecture (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms): 7-8 Tue / 7-8 Fri
Class: -
Course Code: LAH.H318
Number of credits: 200
Course offered: 2025
Offered quarter: 1Q
Syllabus updated: Mar 19, 2025
Language: Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This course introduces students to basic concepts, topics and debates in feminist/queer studies, especially focusing on the importance of intersectional analysis in this field.
In so doing, it enables them to understand how deeply gender and sexuality affect our lives and to analyze various cultural phenomena from the perspective of feminist/queer studies.

Course description and aims

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- understand basic concepts and topics in feminist/queer studies and analyze contemporary culture on the basis of such understanding.
- adopt a critical stance against various norms in a given society.
- build a basis for their commitment to social justice in a broad sense.

Keywords

feminism, gender, sexuality, queer theory, culture

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

This course is lecture-based, followed by small-group discussions when necessary.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Introduction	Grasp the outline of this course and the basic terms that will be used in it.
Class 2	Feminist movements and women's studies	Learn a brief history of feminist movement and women's studies.
Class 3	Where does the term "queer" come from?—an inquiry into the history of social movement.	Understnd the term "queer" in terms of the history of LGBT movement in the US.
Class 4	Where does the term "queer" come from?—a conceptual problem.	Reconsider the term "queer" in reference to academic debates at the time when the term "queer theory" was first proposed.
Class 5	Early queer theory (Judith Butler)	Understand key concepts proposed by Judith Butler, who is one of the most prominent queer theorists in early queer theory.
Class 6	Early queer theory (Eve K. Sedgwick)	Understand key concepts proposed by Eve K. Sedgwick, who is one of the most prominent queer theorists in early queer theory.
Class 7	Critiques of early queer theory from the perspective of race and class.	Understand the importance of critiques of early queer theory which are offered from inside of it, especially those critiques that highlight the matters of race and class.
Class 8	Critiques of early queer theory from the perspective of gender discrimination and transgender experiences.	Understand the importance of critiques of early queer theory which are offered from inside of it, especially those critiques that highlight gender discrimination and transgender experiences.
Class 9	Film screening: _United in Anger_	Watch a documentary film featuring a group committed to social justice in the era of the AIDS crisis and consider the significance of social movements.
Class 10	Queer studies as a critique of neoliberalism in terms of same-sex marriage	Consider how queer studies contributes to critiques of neoliberalism, with special attention paid to the topic of same-sex marriage.
Class 11	Queer studies as a critique of neoliberalism: against homonationalism	Consider how queer studies contributes to critiques of neoliberalism, with special attention paid to the problematic of nationalism.
Class 12	Disability studies and queer studies	Explore the way disability studies and queer studies intersect with or diverge from each other, while keeping in mind the critique of neoliberalism that we will have examined.
Class 13	A critique of compulsory sexuality: from the perspective of asexuals	Understand from the perspective of asexuals how (a)sexuality intersects with gender or disability to forge social norms.
Class 14	Review	Review this course, and discuss some of the topics introduced in it that are of interest to the students.

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

N/A

Reference books, course materials, etc.

奥田暁子、秋山洋子、支倉寿子(編著)『概説フェミニズム思想史』、ミネルヴァ書房、2003年
清水晶子『フェミニズムってなんですか？』、文藝春秋、2022年
新ヶ江章友『クィア・アクティビズム：はじめて学ぶ〈クィア・スタディーズ〉のために』、花伝社、2022年
パトリシア・ヒル・コリンズ、スルマ・ビルゲ『インターセクショナリティ』、小原理乃訳、下地ローレンス吉孝監訳、2021年
森山至貴『ＬＧＢＴを読みとく：クィア・スタディーズ入門』、筑摩書房、2017年

Evaluation methods and criteria

Active participation in discussions 15%
Comment cards: 15%
Journals: 30%
Term paper: 40%
• If you are absent 5 or more times without prior notice, no credits will be given.
• The instructor will tell you how to write journals at the first class meeting.
• Students will be assessed on how they achieve the aforementioned goals of this class.

Related courses

Prerequisites

None required.