Queer Theory 201: Disciplinary Intersections [4-weeks, $200 Suggested]

Instructor: Stillman | Sundays 5:00-7:00 PM | October 2-23

Have you already taken some version of Queer Theory 101? Are you interested in upping your Queer Theory game? Going beyond the basics and getting deep into the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline? Or maybe you want to know more about the methods of Queer Theory, or perhaps you want to more about the intersections of Queer Theory with Antiracism or Crip Theory? If so, then this is the course for you! In Queer Theory 201, a whole bunch of us bookish queers and pro-queer accomplices are going to get together to build community and work through the nuances of the classics and the incredible conceptual work done since the early days of the discourse! We’ll start with a thorough analysis of the revolutionary synthesis of psychoanalysis, existentialism, feminism, and post-structuralism that Judith Butler used to consolidate the foundational conception of gender performativity. Then we’ll look to the epochal work of scholars like Hortense Spillers and Roderick A. Ferguson to better understand exactly how heteronormativity is a biproduct of colonialism, slavery, and the invention of whiteness. After that, we’ll turn to thinkers like Alison Kafer and Eli Clare to ask after the extent to which Queer Theory either is or must become a challenge to queer communities’ own histories of ablism. Finally, we’ll read selections from Gleeson and O’Rourke’s Transgender Marxism and consider how decades of Trans thought and activism have reconfigured Queer Theory into what it is today. Join us for Queer Theory 201!

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For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. 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 classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.