ANTH 342 - Language and Sexuality

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-D; Diversity
An anthropological exploration of the relations between language and various aspects of sexuality, with emphasis on the role of language in the construction of sexual identities in different parts of the world.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area D1-3 requirements.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better.
Possible Instructional Methods: Hybrid or Online-Asynchronous.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-D - Upper Division Social Sciences, Overlay - Diversity
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

define and explain essential terms and concepts in the anthropology of sexuality;
discuss the various ways in which sexuality is represented in language;
explain how language serves as an important resource for constructing heterosexuality and enforcing heteronormativity;
engage in the “identity vs. desire” debate in the field of language and sexuality;
Use basic linguistic techniques to analyze the construction of normative and non-normative sexual identities.

UD-D. Upper-division Social Sciences Learning Outcomes

analyze how power and social identity affect social outcomes for different cultural and economic groups using methods of social science inquiry and vocabulary appropriate to those methods;
demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply accurately disciplinary concepts of the social or behavioral sciences; and
demonstrate an understanding of and ability to effectively plan or conduct research using an appropriate method of the social or behavioral sciences.

Diversity Overlay Learning Outcomes

describe the histories and/or experiences of one or more U. S. cultural groups and the resilience and agency of group members;
identify structures of oppression and the diverse efforts and strategies used by groups to combat the effects of oppressive structures;
analyze the intersection of the categories of race and gender as they affect cultural group members’ lived realities and/or as they are embodied in personal and collective identities;
recognize the way that multiple differences (including, for example, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, immigration status, gender expression, color/phenotype, racial mixture, linguistic expression, and/or age) within cultural groups complicate individual and group identities.