Queer Ecology [Durham, NC]
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $300 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Stillman | 5-weeks | Sundays | October 22 - November 19 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET | IN-PERSON
If being queer is unnatural, no one told nature. In a political moment that finds queer and trans folks under attack, we’ll study the queerness of nature itself and refute specious claims about what is “natural.” For example: What about clownfish who begin life as males and then develop into females? Or kobudai, who develop from female to male? Or gobies, who change back and forth often? What about lichens, which are hybridizations of plants and a fungi, or slime molds that literally go from being several distinct individuals to one single organism and back? What about the fact that human beings are now widely believed to be the hybrid offspring of premodern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals? No plants could survive without thousands of cross-species encounters, sexual reproduction involving varieties of partners of every conceivable sex and gender, and more than a dash of aesthetic flare. And without plants? Nothing else would have much of a chance. If we want to look at the biological world with anything like clarity, we must accept not only that queerness is natural, but that nature is queer.
Queer Ecology will teach you to understand how queer theory and ecology can become mutually informative. Indeed, if we are to avert the worst consequences of the Anthropocene then queer theory and ecology MUST become mutually informative. We will engage with works ranging from published scientific articles to performance art, from fiction to the fight against climate change, and from the heights of high theory to the mud beneath the rotting leaves. Join us in person in Durham, NC for Queer Ecology! It's going to be an awesome way to meet, think, and imagine with a bookish bunch of eco-friendly queers and fellow travelers!
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Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class, and one full scholarship per person per term. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After that point, we are able to offer 50% refunds.