Course Descriptions

This class is a multicultural exploration of 21st century issues in the shifting landscape of sexual and reproductive rights and freedoms for women and other oppressed genders. We will use films, personal narratives, and guest presentations along with the writings of women of color, working class people, health activists, sexual and spiritual healers, and LGBTQIAA individuals and communities to explore contemporary and historic issues in the social and medical treatment of socially targeted individuals and groups in their quest for sexual freedom, reproductive rights, and reproductive health. Topics to be reviewed include: new definitions of liberatory sexualities; holistic perspectives on ending sexual abuse and forced prostitution; the social targeting of motherhood in dominant and non-dominant populations;  the liberatory and/or marginalizing effects of new bio-technologies on diverse populations; and the activism and embodied theorizing of oppressed groups involved in the reproductive justice, and queer health movements.