UCC/UGC/ECCC
Proposal for New Course
Please attach proposed Syllabus in approved university format.
1. Course subject and number: WGS 470
2. Units:
See upper and lower division undergraduate course definitions.
3. College:
Social & Behavioral Sciences
4. Academic Unit:
3
Women’s & Gender
Studies
5. Student Learning Outcomes of the new course. (Resources & Examples for Developing Course Learning
Outcomes) Students will:





Build upon prior knowledge and understanding about the intersectionality between race, ethnicity, class, gender,
sexuality, ability, and national citizenship.
Develop rigor in critical thinking, analysis, and close reading through seminar discussions and application
exercises.
Develop clarity in effective writing, through creative and scholarly writing assignments.
Practice effective oral communication through regular participation in class discussion and presentations.
Learn to analyze and interpret queer film/video, visual art, theatre/performance, and literature alongside
theoretical frameworks of the field.
6. Justification for new course, including how the course contributes to degree program outcomes,
or other university requirements / student learning outcomes. (Resources, Examples & Tools for Developing
Effective Program Student Learning Outcomes).
This course offers to fulfill three important goals at Northern Arizona University:
First, this course will support the development of a Queer Studies Minor in the Women’s and Gender
Studies Program. In particular, this course provides interdisciplinary methods and queer theories that
offer students opportunities to engage literary, filmic, performance-theatrical and artistic productions in
multiple contexts that speak to the intersectionality of identities. The course transcends traditional
academic boundaries, while applying concepts of space and temporality to open student’s critical
imagination.
Second, there are no courses currently offered at NAU that specifically and centrally address queer issues
that focuses on the politics of space/place as they relate to time, including notions of home, immigration,
and diaspora. This course offers important background in changing global and transnational
relationships that ultimately affect future workplaces.
Third, NAU’s focus on student retention calls for institutional and curricular strategies that deliberately
support LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning) students. LGBTQ students
face lower rates of retention and higher rates of social alienation in university contexts. Courses of this
nature allow both a safe space where LGBTQ students can recognize themselves in the curriculum and
where other groups of students can deepen their understanding of the wide range of human diversity and
the advantages it offers us all.
Effective Fall 2012
7. Effective BEGINNING of what term and year?
See effective dates calendar.
Fall 2013
8. Long course title: Advanced Readings in Queer Studies
(max 100 characters including spaces)
9. Short course title:
Adv Readings in Queer Studies
10. Catalog course description (max. 60 words, excluding requisites):
Students read recent scholarship in queer studies. Readings will be focused on a particular area of expertise; some
examples might include: Queering History and Memory, Transgender Scholarship, Heteronormativity, Queering Kinship,
or Locating Queer in a Transnational World.
11. Will this course be part of any plan (major, minor or certificate) or sub plan (emphasis)?
WGS Queer Studies Minor
Yes
No
If yes, include the appropriate plan proposal.
12. Does this course duplicate content of existing courses?
Yes
No
If yes, list the courses with duplicate material. If the duplication is greater than 20%, explain why
NAU should establish this course.
13. Will this course impact any other academic unit’s enrollment or plan(s)?
If yes, include a letter of response from each impacted academic unit.
14. Grading option:
Letter grade
Yes
Pass/Fail
No
Both
15. Co-convened with:
none
14a. UGC approval date*:
(For example: ESE 450 and ESE 550) See co-convening policy.
*Must be approved by UGC before UCC submission, and both course syllabi must be presented.
16. Cross-listed with:
none
(For example: ES 450 and DIS 450) See cross listing policy.
Please submit a single cross-listed syllabus that will be used for all cross-listed courses.
17. May course be repeated for additional units?
9 units max;
16a. If yes, maximum units allowed?
with different
topics
16b. If yes, may course be repeated for additional units in the same term?
Yes
No
Yes
No
18. Prerequisites:
WGS 250
If prerequisites, include the rationale for the prerequisites.
Students need to be familiar with queer theory terms, concepts, and basic theory to be able to
successfully complete this coursework.
Effective Fall 2012
19. Co requisites:
None
If co requisites, include the rationale for the co requisites.
20. Does this course include combined lecture and lab components?
Yes
If yes, include the units specific to each component in the course description above.
No
Jaclyn Pryor, Arianne Burford
21. Names of the current faculty qualified to teach this course:
Answer 22-23 for UCC/ECCC only:
22. Is this course being proposed for Liberal Studies designation?
Yes
If yes, include a Liberal Studies proposal and syllabus with this proposal.
No
23. Is this course being proposed for Diversity designation?
If yes, include a Diversity proposal and syllabus with this proposal.
No
Reviewed by Curriculum Process Associate
Yes
Date
Approvals:
Department Chair/ Unit Head (if appropriate)
Date
Chair of college curriculum committee
Date
Dean of college
Date
For Committee use only:
UCC/UGC/ECCC Approval
Date
Approved as submitted:
Yes
No
Approved as modified:
Yes
No
Effective Fall 2012
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Women’s & Gender Studies
WGS 470: Advanced Readings in Queer Studies:
Queering History and Memory (sample syllabus of
topics course)
Fall 2013
3 credit hours
Dr. Jaclyn Pryor, (or Dr. Arianne Burford)
Office: SBS West 222
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-3:30 and by appointment
Prerequisites: WGS 250 or permission of the instructor
Course Description, Structure, and Approach:
In the last decade, the field of queer studies has made a turn towards re-thinking the politics of temporality, history, and
memory. From Judith Halberstam's In A Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives (2005) to Elizabeth
Freeman's Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories (2010), scholars are investigating the ways in which
heteronormativity—and related dominant frameworks such as capitalism and colonialism—produce and reproduce an
idealized sense of time that is linear and progress-oriented. At the same time, scholars are examining the ways in which
LGBTQI subcultures “produce alternative temporalities by allowing their participants to believe that their futures can be
imagined according to logics that lie outside of those paradigmatic markers of life experience-namely, birth, marriage,
reproduction, and death” (Halberstam 1). How do queers queer time-through sex, art, gender, ritual, and kinship? Why
do the politics of temporality matter at this historical moment? In this course, we will read recent scholarship in queer
studies and look at case studies within queer subcultural practices and production. Attention will be paid to the politics
of space/place as they relate to time, including notions of home, immigration, and diaspora.
Student Learning Expectations/Outcomes
1) Build upon prior knowledge and understanding about the intersectionality between race, ethnicity, class,
gender, sexuality, ability, and national citizenship.
2) Develop rigor in critical thinking, analysis, and close reading through seminar discussions and
application exercises.
3) Develop clarity in effective writing, through creative and scholarly writing assignments.
4) Practice effective oral communication through regular participation in class discussion and
presentations.
5) Learn to analyze and interpret queer film/video, visual art, theatre/performance, and literature alongside
theoretical frameworks of the field.
Effective Fall 2012
Required Texts and Materials:
Books:
Samuel Delaney, Time Square Red, Time Square Blue
Douglas Crimp, Melancholia and Moralism: Essays on AIDS and Queer Politics
Judith Halberstam, In A Queer Time and Place: Trangender Bodies, Subcultural Lives
Gayatri Gopinath, Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures
Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures
Jasbir Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times
Elizabeth Freeman, Time Binds
José Esbeban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia: The Then and Now and Queer Futurity
Lauren Berlant, Cruel Optimism
Judith Halberstam, The Queer Art of Failure
Films/Videos:
Fast Trip Long Drop
By Hook or By Crook
Fire
The Bee Movie
Plays:
Peggy Shaw, Must: The Inside Story
Additional texts are available as downloadable .pdfs on Blackboard. Students are responsible for printing out assigned
readings; reading them in hard copy; taking notes in/on the readings (it’s yours: mark it up!); organizing them in binder
or notebook; and bringing the readings to class. Note: Students are expected to have all course readings to date with
them in each class meeting, organized for easy reference in class discussions. Films/videos are available on Blackboard
or on reserve at the library.
Effective Fall 2012
Grading System:
Critical Reaction Papers
Author Presentation
Annotated Bibliography
Application Exercise
Final Paper (take-home)
Attendance and participation
Grading Scale:
90-100%
80-89
70-79
60-69
Less than 60%
10%
15%
15%
15%
15%
30%
A
B
C
D
F
Critical Reaction Papers:
Critical Reaction Papers are opportunities for you to practice your critical thinking and analytical writing, through short,
regular writing assignments connected to the course texts. Periodically throughout the semester, I will assign a Critical
Reaction Paper, posing a question I’d like you to write about for the next class. These short papers will range from 1-3
pages, and they will typically interrogate a lingering question or idea from the evening’s class, or anticipate a
question/idea for the next. You cannot make up missed Critical Reaction Papers: the idea behind this is that you are
present for the discussion to present your ideas. They will be graded on your ability to analyze, communicate your
perspective, and think about the implications of the readings.
Author Presentation:
The Author Presentation is an opportunity for you demonstrate advanced skills of research and to practice expressing
your ideas orally. Each student will present a biography/bibliography on an author/artist we are studying this semester.
This oral presentation will 5 minutes max. in length, and will typically take place at the start of class. Each oral
presentation should be accompanied by a 1-2 page handout that summarizes the key points that you make in your
presentation. You should come prepared with enough copies to distribute to everyone in the class. At the bottom of
your handout, remember to cite the sources you used to compile your research.
The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to research an author/artist in depth. The presentation
also gives your peers an opportunity to learn about the author and frame our class discussion. Finally, your written
handout serves as a useful archival tool: at the semester’s end, each student will have a useful
biographical/bibliographical chronicle of every author we’ve studied, for future use/research.
Some questions your presentation and handout should consider: Who is this person? Where did s/he come from?
What is her/his prior work? Current work/projects/investments? Accomplishments? History or scholarship, activism,
service, and/or creative/cultural work? What is the significance of this work to the broader field(s)? What is the
relationship of her/his work to other works we are studying this semester?
Be sure to include both a biography and a bibliography. The biography is a narrative about who the author is; the
bibliography is typically a list of what s/he has published. Include books, essays, published speeches, films, plays—
Effective Fall 2012
whatever public work is relevant to her/his field. Feel free to allow your presentation style/format to be inspired by the
author’s work. If your author is living, try to get in touch with her/him. See Blackboard for some creative examples.
Remember, this assignment is a substantial component of your overall grade in this course. It is not an overnight
research project, beginning and ending with wikipedia. Start with the internet, but don’t end there. Go to the library!
Read/familiarize yourself with the authors’ other works and key themes/arguments and be prepared to explain this to
us. Become the expert and then teach us.
Annotated Bibliography:
The Annotated Bibliography assignment will provide you will an opportunity practice concisely summarizing and
analyzing course texts in writing. It also asks you to draw connections and conclusions between and across disparate
texts, themes, theories, and methods.
“An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief
(usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to
inform the reader of the relevance […] of the work cited.” (http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm)
Throughout this semester, you will be building an annotated bibliography covering all the works we study, including
both the written works as well as the film/video/other media. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an
opportunity to concisely and critically describe the work, its significance, and its relationship to other works we are
studying. It also gives me an opportunity to evaluate your understanding and analysis of the work.
Directions:
First, cite the article, chapter, speech, film, or other document using a consistent style (MLA, APA, or Chicago all fine).
This may require some online or library research to locate.
Example:
Reagon, Bernice Johnson. “Coalition Politics: Turning the Century.” Home Girls: A
Black Feminist Anthology. Latham, NY: Kitchen Table Women of Color Press, 1983.
Next, write a concise annotation of the work, or 1-2 descriptive paragraphs. This annotation summarizes the central
theme and scope of the work. Include one or more sentences that (a) describe the author’s argument; (b) comment on
the author’s methodology (how s/he goes about accomplishing her/his argument/goal); (c) give examples from the text
that illuminate (a) or (b); (d) connect this work with another you have cited.
You will hand in this annotated bibliography at midterms at finals (see syllabus for due dates). When you hand in the AB
at midterms, you should list the works alphabetically. When you hand it in at finals, you are asked to list the works not
alphabetically but in thematic categories of your choosing, e.g., “The Politics of Desire.” See the work sample posted on
Blackboard for more ideas and examples. Be creative. Organize the readings in a way that is meaningful to you. After
you have organized the works thematically, add a sentence to your annotation that (e) explains how this work
illuminates the bibliographical category in which you have placed it. You should update this document weekly with new
entries. You will be sharing this work periodically with your peers, and I may also collect them at any time in the
semester to review your progress.
Final Paper:
Effective Fall 2012
Your Final Paper is an opportunity for you to practice your research, critical thinking and analytical writing skills, through
a longer form writing assignments inspired by the course texts. I will provide you with a prompt for your final paper (see
schedule for dates), or you may chose a topic with approval of the instructor. The final is expected to be 8-10 pages
double-spaced and typed.
Application Exercise:
You are required to collaboratively co-conduct one presentation in class beginning the week of February 16th. This
presentation is guided by the question: “How might the ideas or practices within the weekly readings help us interpret
another text, event, site, or performance?” Thus, for this exercise, the facilitator will demonstrate or suggest
possibilities for an application of the issues, methods or theoretical frameworks presented in the assigned readings for
20 MINUTES. This exercise can include but is not limited to: interpreting/teaching a performance, film/video, historical
event, memorial, activist intervention, artwork, phenomena, or other cultural text not otherwise included in the course
syllabus –OR-- creating a original performance, film/video, event […] that directly engages with or is inspired by the
readings. Whichever form it takes, this application exercise should be expand upon/apply the theoretical premise or
methodological choices deployed within the weekly readings. You are encouraged to use teaching technology such as
PowerPoint etc. to make your presentation clear to your classmates, and to be imaginative. You will be evaluated on the
basis of your preparedness, organization, and clarity, rigorous engagement with the text, and creative risk-taking.
Attendance and Participation:
The most important aspect of this course is attendance and participation. Attendance is essential, as is completing all of
the assigned reading and writing assignments on time. Except in rare cases of emergency, late assignments will not be
accepted. I do not accept any assignments via e-mail or slipped under my office door. Assignments should be brought
to class and handed directly to me.
You are expected to fully participate in discussions and exercises on a regular basis. You will be evaluated not only on
the frequency of your contributions, but on the ways in which your participation rigorously engages with the course
material. I encourage you to read and listen closely so that you can to refer to, build upon, disagree with, and engage
with the course texts as well as your classmates’ insights. Participation is the most significant and important aspect of
this course.
In advance of each class, you will prepare (1) question that emerges from your engagement with the week’s readings.
The question should be “real”—pose a question that you would authentically like us to tackle as a group. I will call upon
students in class to share their question and spark our engagement. Failure to have a question prepared will be reflected
in participation grade.
More than two absences will be reflected in lowering your participation grade; more than four absences will negatively
impact your overall grade in this course. Punctuality is expected. It is best to arrive to class early.
Course Policies:
In class work and Critical Reaction Papers cannot be made up unless you have an institutional excuse. In the case of
illness, you may request turning in exams late if you provide documentation.
Computer and Cell Phone Policy:
Effective Fall 2012
This class is run like a discussion seminar; full participation, active listening, co-presence, and a sense of community are
key to our success. It is my experience that laptops and cell phones in classrooms interfere with these goals. So: unless a
student is registered with disability services and needs a laptop or other technological device as accommodation (see
more below), all computers and cell phones are prohibited during this class. Computers should be left at home or out of
sight in your backpack; cell phones must be OFF. I encourage you to take notes in a paper notebook; you may chose to
transcribe those notes to your computer after class.
READING SCHEDULE:
Unless otherwise noted, students are assigned on average one book per week. Students are expected to read
closely the introduction, 1-2 body chapters as assigned by the instructor, and the conclusion.
Week 1: Welcome and course overview
Walter Benjamin, “Thesis on the Philosophy of History”
Tom Boellstorff, “When Marriage Falls”
Week 2: Reviewing Relevant Foundations in Queer Theory
Michael Warner, “Introduction,” Fear of a Queer Planet
Gayle Rubin, “Thinking Sex”
Eve Sedgwick, “The Epistemology of the Closet”
Gloria Anzaldúa, “Movimientos De Rebuildia Y Las Culturas De Tradicional”
Judith Butler, “Performative Acts”
David Eng, “A Dialogue on Racial Melancholia”
Week 3: Current Discourses in Queering Time, History, and Memory
Elizabeth Freeman, “Introduction,” GLQ: Queer Temporalities
Carolyn Dinshaw, Lee Edelman, Roderick A. Ferguson, Carla Freccero, Elizabeth
Freeman, Judith Halberstam, Annamarie Jagose, Christopher Nealon, and Nguyen Tan
Hoang, “Theorizing Queer Temporalities: A Roundtable Discussion”
Week 4: The Temporality of Space: Work & Pleasure
Read: Samuel Delaney, Times Square Red, Times Square Blue
Read: E.P. Thompson, “Time, Work Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism”
Week 5: Queer Magic
Guest: Dori Midnight
Gina Badger, “In And Out of Time: An Interview With Dori Midnight”
Effective Fall 2012
Week 6: Emergence(ies)
Douglas Crimp, Melancholia and Moralism: Essays on AIDS and Queer Politics
Watch: Fast Trip Long Drop
Week 7: Trans/gressions
Judith Halberstam, In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives
Watch: By Hook or By Crook
Due: Annotated Bibliography to date (place in my box by 5pm)
Week 8: Diasporas
Gayatri Gopinath, Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures
Watch: Fire
Week 9: Archives
Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures
Week 10: Nationalisms
Jasbir Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times
Week 11: Utopias
José Muñoz, Cruising Utopia: The Then and Now of Queer Futurity
Week 12: Eroto/histories
Elizabeth Freeman, “Time Binds”
Week 13: Worldmaking
Jaclyn Pryor, Time Slips
Peggy Shaw, Must
Week 14: Hauntings
Guest: Randa Mirza, www.randamirza.com
Readings TBA
Week 15: Precarity
Lauren Berlant, Cruel Optimism
Week 16: Refusal
Effective Fall 2012
Judith Halberstam, The Queer Art of Failure
Watch: The Bee Movie
Due: Final Take-Home Essay and Annotated Bibliography (place in my box by 5pm)
TIPS FOR SUCCESS:







Don’t miss class.
Do all of the readings (actively) and take notes in the reading.
Bring all your readings to class.
Watch all the assigned films/videos.
Ask questions in class—when you are confused, curious, or trying to make connections between ideas.
Talk about readings with your colleagues from the class, as well as your other friends and family.
Come see me in my office hours, early in the semester, or whenever questions or inspirations arise.
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
POLICY STATEMENTS
SAFE ENVIRONMENT POLICY
NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals
within the university. The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, age,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or
retaliation by anyone at this university.
You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office or from the NAU’s Affirmative Action website
http://home.nau.edu/diversity/. If you have concerns about this policy, it is important that you contact the departmental chair,
dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (928-523-5181), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (928-523-3312).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting Disability Resources (DR) at
523-8773 (voice)or 523-6906 (TTY), dr@nau.edu (e-mail)or 928-523-8747 (fax).Students needing academic
accommodations are required to register with DR and provide required disability related documentation. Although
you may request an accommodation at any time, in order for DR to best meet your individual needs, you are urged to
register and submit necessary documentation (www.nau.edu/dr) 8 weeks prior to the time you wish to receive
accommodations. DR is strongly committed to the needs of student with disabilities and the promotion of Universal
Design. Concerns or questions related to the accessibility of programs and facilities at NAU may be brought to the
attention of DR or the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (523-3312).
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD
Any study involving observation of or interaction with human subjects that originates at NAU—including a course project, report,
or research paper—must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects
in research and research-related activities.
The IRB meets monthly. Proposals must be submitted for review at least fifteen working days before the monthly meeting. You
should consult with your course instructor early in the course to ascertain if your project needs to be reviewed by the IRB and/or
to secure information or appropriate forms and procedures for the IRB review. Your instructor and department chair or college
dean must sign the application for approval by the IRB. The IRB categorizes projects into three levels depending on the nature of
the project: exempt from further review, expedited review, or full board review. If the IRB certifies that a project is exempt from
further review, you need not resubmit the project for continuing IRB review as long as there are no modifications in the exempted
procedures.
Effective Fall 2012
A copy of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available in each department’s administrative office and each college dean’s
office or on their website: http://www.research.nau.edu/vpr/IRB/index.htm. If you have questions, contact the IRB Coordinator in
the Office of the Vice President for Research at 928-523-8288 or 523-4340.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity. As members of the academic community,
NAU’s administration, faculty, staff and students are dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and are committed to
maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education process. Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic
dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and impedes learning. Students are therefore responsible for
conducting themselves in an academically honest manner.
Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty. Faculty members then
recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity of the violation. The complete policy
on academic integrity is in Appendix G of NAU’s Student Handbook http://www4.nau.edu/stulife/handbookdishonesty.htm.
ACADEMIC CONTACT HOUR POLICY
The Arizona Board of Regents Academic Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-206, Academic Credit) states: “an hour of
work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time…at least 15 contact hours of recitation, lecture, discussion, testing or
evaluation, seminar, or colloquium as well as a minimum of 30 hours of student homework is required for each unit of credit.”
The reasonable interpretation of this policy is that for every credit hour, a student should expect, on average, to do a minimum of
two additional hours of work per week; e.g., preparation, homework, studying.
SENSITIVE COURSE MATERIALS
If an instructor believes it is appropriate, the syllabus should communicate to students that some course content may
be considered sensitive by some students.
“University education aims to expand student understanding and awareness. Thus, it necessarily involves engagement
with a wide range of information, ideas, and creative representations. In the course of college studies, students can
expect to encounter—and critically appraise—materials that may differ from and perhaps challenge familiar
understandings, ideas, and beliefs. Students are encouraged to discuss these matters with faculty.”
Effective Fall 2012