MA/PGDip Gender, Sexuality and Culture / Course details

Through analysis of literature, film, theatre, photography, and other forms of cultural representation, this course will look at the history, politics, and cultural production of the AIDS crisis in the United States (primarily) from the late twentieth century to the present.  Through close readings and wide ranging debate and discussion we will look at how the culture of AIDS and HIV emerged from an already existing political, literary, and arts discourse of gender, race, and sexuality in American culture and also produced new representations and understandings of these very categories and concepts. The course considers the legacy of illness narratives in American history and as well makes connections with more recent narratives of illness, plague, and pandemic. 

The aims of this course are: 

• to introduce students to key texts and issues from the AIDS crisis in the late twentieth century to the present; 
• to introduce students to the analysis of fiction, memoir, poetry, political history, film, theatre, photography and other visual media; 
• to consider the formal and thematic innovations made by writers, artists, filmmakers, and activists in this period; 
• to analyse the ways in which AIDS cultural texts interact with their cultural and historical precedents and contexts; 
• to analyse representations of gender, race, and sexuality in American culture during this period; 
• to read works in a range of different genres and media, including fiction, film, visual arts, poetry, political tract, and drama; 
• to engage with selected critical writings in gender and race theory. 

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

• demonstrate a thorough familiarity with a range of texts from the American AIDS crisis and their contexts; 
• demonstrate a critical understanding of how theories of gender and sexuality applies to and emerges from the history and texts of the AIDS crisis; 
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the key questions and themes of cultural representation as it emerged from the American AIDS crisis and the theories of gender and sexuality it expanded and produced. 

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

• Think critically and make critical judgments about politics, art, and literature; 
• Analyse course texts in a critical manner; 
• Identify and outline key problems and issues in American texts of illness and race and sexuality; 
• Reflect critically on the production of American identity through political and social change; 
• Develop and articulate a reasoned argument for a particular point of view of AIDS and AIDS culture. 

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

• Think critically and make critical judgments about politics, art, and literature; 
• Analyse course texts in a critical manner; 
• Identify and outline key problems and issues in American texts of illness and race and sexuality; 
• Reflect critically on the production of American identity through political and social change; 
• Develop and articulate a reasoned argument for a particular point of view of AIDS and AIDS culture. 

• Retrieve, sift, organise, synthesise and critically evaluate material from a range of different sources, including library, electronic, and online resources; 
• Produce written work using appropriate language for an academic audience;  
• Produce written work that collects and integrates evidence to formulate and test a critical argument; 
• Demonstrate good teamwork skills by acknowledging the views of others and working constructively with others; 
• Display basic negotiating skills in understanding and working with others; 
• Manage time effectively by scheduling tasks in order of importance; 
• Demonstrate the ability to improve one’s own learning through critical reflection and respect for the ideas of others.  

Numerical grade and written comments on essay within 15 working days 

One on one meetings in office 

Indicative list of readings and viewings 

Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now” 

Sarah Schulman People in Trouble  

Tony Kushner, Angels in America 

Larry Kramer, The Normal Heart 

Rabih Alameddine, The Angel of History 

Edmund White, The Married Man 

Rebecca Brown, stories from Gifts of the Body 

Carole Maso, The Art Lover 

John Weir, The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket 

Allen Barnett, stories from The Body and Its Dangers 

Jamaica Kincaid, My Brother 

Silverlake Life: The View from Here (film) 

After Louis (film) 

Parting Glances (film) 

Tongues Untied (film) 

Zero Patience (film)