St. Jerome’s University/University of Waterloo
SMF/HIST 318 – The History of Sexuality: The Modern Period
Winter 2014
Mondays, 2:30-5:30pm
STJ 3015
Instructor: Whitney Wood
Contact: whitney.wood11@gmail.com
Office: STJ 1026
Office Hours: Mondays – 5:30-6:30pm
Course Description
This course introduces students to the modern history of sexuality and offers a thematic survey
of some of the major topics in the history of sexuality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Topics to be discussed include definitions of sex, gender, and sexuality; sexual identities,
communities, desires, and behaviours; relationships between sexual discourses and practices; and
the various intersections between sexuality and class, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, and race.
While the focus of the class is on the history of sexuality in the Western world, predominantly
North America and Europe, Canadian examples and contexts will be highlighted whenever
possible.
This is a combined lecture and discussion course, with lectures supplemented by primary and
secondary source readings included in the course pack. The texts we will study expose students
to a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches used to interpret the history of
sexuality. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify how modern attitudes
towards sexuality are historically rooted and situated, have an understanding of historical
approaches to the history of sexuality, and will be able to conduct their own research in this field
of study.
***This course has a substantial seminar component, which requires students to carry out
close reading of texts each week as the basis for engaged discussion. Students’ active and
thoughtful participation is required to successfully complete the course. Failure to attend
more than 1/3 of classes, without proper documentation or consultation with the instructor,
will result in an automatic failure of the participation component of this course***
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will have the ability to:


Describe and critique some of the major theories and themes in the history of sexuality
and understand the development of the field;
Apply theories and methods from the history of sexuality in their own research, to a topic
of their choosing;

Critically analyze a variety of primary historical sources to develop their own
interpretation of a topic;

Reflect on and evaluate some of the major scholarly works in the history of sexuality and
assess the historiography on an area of their own interest;
Interrogate some of the basic assumptions and issues in the history of sexuality and
identify how contemporary attitudes towards sexuality, sexual identities, and sexual
behaviours are rooted in historical perspectives.

Required Texts
All readings are available on electronic reserve with the SJU library and are also available on
LEARN
Course Requirements and Assessment
Assessment
Seminar Participation
Reading Logs
Seminar Leadership
Article Analysis
Research Proposal
Research Essay
Final Exam
Total
Date of Evaluation (if known)
Ongoing
Weekly
Date varies
Date varies (same date as
seminar leadership)
February 10 (due in class)
March 24 (due in class)
April exam period (April 8-24)
Weighting
15%
10%
5%
10%
10%
25%
25%
100%
*Students must fulfill all of the course requirements in order to receive credit for SMF/HI 318*
Participation and Reading Logs (25% - 15% for participation, 10% for weekly logs)
Reading Logs
Course readings are an integral part of the learning experience for this course. Each week,
students are required to keep a journal or log as they read to indicate the nature of what they have
read and their thoughts on the readings. All students must come to class each week with their
logs, which contain their notes on the readings. At a minimum, logs should summarize the main
argument and contributions of each reading. Students should refer to specific passages of note
and make links between the different readings to show that they are thinking independently. A
log dealing with all of the readings assigned each week is to be submitted to the instructor via
LEARN by 2:00pm on Monday in advance of our class. The logs will be graded twice – at the
mid-point and end of the semester.
Remember, reading logs should be regarded as exercises in scholarly writing. The writing of
logs should not be left to the last minute. Accomplishing this weekly task in the confines of one
page/week requires careful editing and thought – regularly exceeding the page limit will be taken
as a sign that you have not spent enough time on considering the readings and carefully
articulating your entry. Be sure to allow yourself enough time to prepare your logs so that you
can clearly express your ideas.
Discussion Participation
Having prepared your reading log in advance of tutorial each week, students are expected to
participate actively in discussions. Participation grades will be determined based on student
attendance, but more significantly, on the frequency and quality of participation in our weekly
discussions. The quality of student contributions is, of course, the most important factor in
determining high participation grades. While it is not possible to get a high participation grade
without attendance, attendance alone does not constitute participation, and students who attend
class without participation will receive a grade of 50% for weeks in which they do not contribute
to the discussion. Although I will make every effort to encourage all students to participate,
students who feel as though they may have difficulty participating in group discussions are
encouraged to speak with the instructor. Participation marks will be assigned based on students’
demonstrated knowledge of the assigned readings and ability to situate them in the wider context
of both the period under study and the major themes and trends in the history of sexuality.
Seminar Leadership (5%)
Each student will also be responsible for leading (or, more accurately, co-leading) one of our
weekly discussions. As discussion leaders, students will prepare a series of 6-10 thoughtful
questions (and responses, to be used to prompt discussion as appropriate) based on the reading
they have been assigned. These will be submitted to the instructor and will be considered when
determining the discussion leadership mark.
Article Analysis (10%)
Students are also responsible for writing a 2-3 page analysis on their assigned reading, due at the
tutorial in which the reading is discussed. The objective of this assignment is to develop
students’ skill in analyzing scholarly secondary sources. The process of analyzing historians’
work includes discerning the author’s purpose, tracing the developing argument and the evidence
used to support it, and examining the author’s use of primary and secondary sources. In upperyear courses, students need to be able to make use of these sources in their research projects,
both for the information they contain and the direction they provide, through their footnotes, for
continuing the search for new sources.
More information and guidelines for this assignment will be provided in our first class.
Research Proposal (10%)
Students are required to write a paper that offers a critical analysis of any topic of their choosing,
relating to the history of sexuality in the nineteenth and/or twentieth-centuries. A list of
suggested topics will be provided in class and on LEARN by January 20. Students are welcome
to write on a topic of their own choosing, but are required to have their choice approved by the
instructor before submitting a proposal. After selecting or having a topic approved, students will
need to construct an outline for the paper consisting of:

The proposed title and research question to be answered by the paper

A proposed argument/thesis and an outline of the evidence you will use to support this
thesis (approximately 1 double spaced page)

AND an annotated bibliography of the proposed sources you will consult for your paper
Student will be required to consult at least two primary sources and five secondary sources.
More information on finding appropriate primary and secondary sources will be provided in
class.
Research Essay (25%)
After completing and receiving feedback on a research proposal, students are required to present
a critical historical analysis of their chosen topic in the history of modern sexuality. All papers
must incorporate a minimum of two primary and five secondary sources. Papers should be 20002500 words in length, and must be referenced in proper Chicago style. More information will be
provided in class when essay proposals are returned. As always, students are encouraged to
consult with the instructor during the researching and writing process. Research papers will be
due in class March 24th.
The final exam for this course is worth 25% of your overall grade and will be scheduled during
the April examination period. Students are advised not to make travel plans before the exam
schedule is released. Exam review will take place in our final class on March 31st.
Class Schedule
Week
Date
Topic
Readings
1
January 6
2
January 13
Introduction: What is the
history of sexuality?
Science, Medicine, and the
Construction of “The Sexed
Body”
3
January 20
Female Sexuality: Maternity
and Reproduction
4
January 27
“Dangerous” Displays of
Female Sexuality
- No readings this week – Use this time to read ahead
for next week’s seminar!
- Londa Schiebinger, “Skeletons in the Closet: The
First Illustrations of the Female Skeleton in
Eighteenth-Century Anatomy,” in The Making of the
Modern Body (1987)
- Cynthia Eagle Russet, Ch. 1 “How to Tell the Girls
from the Boys,” in Sexual Science: The Victorian
Construction of Womanhood (1989)
- Constance Backhouse, “The Celebrated Abortion
Trial of Dr. Emily Stowe, Toronto, 1879,” Canadian
Bulletin of Medical History (1991)
- Heather Molyneaux, “Controlling Conception:
Images of Women, Safety, Sexuality, and the Pill in
the Sixties,” in Gender, Health, and Popular Culture
(2011)
- Patricia Jasen, “Breast Cancer and the Politics of
Abortion in the United States,” Medical History
(2005)
- Karen Dubinsky, “‘Maidenly Girls’ or ‘Designing
Women’? The Crime of Seduction in Turn-of-theCentury Ontario,” in Gender Conflicts (1992)
- Holly Karibo, “Detroit’s Border Brothel: Sex
Tourism in Windsor, Ontario, 1945-60,” American
Review of Canadian Studies (2010)
- Craig Heron, “The Boys and their Booze:
Masculinities and Public Drinking in Working-Class
Hamilton,” Canadian Historical Review (2005)
- Karen Dubinsky and Adam Givertz, “‘It was Only a
Matter of Passion’: Masculinity and Sexual Danger,”
Gendered Pasts (1999)
- Steven Maynard, “Through a Hole in the Lavatory
Wall: Homosexual Subcultures, Police Surveillance,
and the Dialectics of Discovery, Toronto, 18901930,” Journal of the History of Sexuality (1994)
- Valerie Korinek, “‘Don’t Let Your Girlfriends Ruin
Your Marriage’: Lesbian Imagery in Chatelaine
Magazine, 1950-1969,” Journal of Canadian Studies
(1998)
5
February 3
6
February 10
Film: The Oldest Profession
in Winnipeg: The “Red
Light” District of 1909-1912
Masculinity, Health, and
Male Sexuality
Homosexuality
***Research Proposal
Due***
February 17
No class – Reading Week
7
February 24
The Construction of
Heterosexuality
8
March 3
State Regulation of
Sexuality – Eugenics
Film: The Sterilization of
Lelani Muir
9
March 10
10
March 17
Individual meetings re.
research essays
Sexuality and War
Film: Mrs. Miniver
11
March 24
Sexual Violence and
“Deviance”
12
March 31
New Directions in the
History of Sexuality / Exam
Review
***Research Essay Due***
- Cynthia Comacchio, Ch. 3 “In Love: Dating and
Mating,” in The Dominion of Youth: Adolescence
and the Making of Modern Canada, 1920-1950
(2006)
- Catherine Gidney, “Under the President’s Gaze:
Sexuality and Morality at a Canadian University
During the Second World War,” CHR (2001)
- Angus McLaren, “The Creation of a Haven for
‘Human Thoroughbreds’: Sterilization of the FeebleMinded and the Mentally Ill in British Columbia,”
CHR (1986)
- Franca Iacovetta, “The Sexual Politics of Moral
Citizenship: Containing ‘Dangerous’ Foreign Men in
Cold War Canada,” Histoire Sociale/Social History
(2000)
No readings this week
- Paul Jackson, Ch. 6 “Esprit de Corps, Cohesion,
and Morale,” in One of the Boys: Homosexuality in
the Military during World War II (2010)
- Gillian Swanson, “‘So Much Money and so Little
to Spend it On’: Morale, Consumption, and
Sexuality,” in Nationalising Femininity (1996)
- Steven Maynard, “‘Horrible Temptations’: Sex,
Men, and Working-Class Male Youth in Urban
Ontario, 1890-1935,” CHR (1997)
- Elise Chenier, “The Criminal Sexual Psychopath in
Canada: Sex, Psychiatry and the Law at MidCentury,” CBMH (2003)
- Jane Nicholas, “’I was a 555-pound freak’: The
Self, Freakery, and Sexuality in Celesta ‘Dolly
Dimples’ Geyer’s Diet or Die,” Journal of the
Canadian Historical Association (2010)
Course Policies
Late Policy: All late assignments (Article Analysis, Research Proposal, Research Essay) will be
penalized 2% per day including weekends. Weekly reading logs will not be accepted after each
Monday’s seminar discussion.
Information on Plagiarism Detection: Plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) will be used to
screen assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources
in assignments is documented. In the first week of the term, details will be provided about the
arrangements for the use of Turnitin in this course.
Electronic Device Policy: Mobile devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones, may be
used in this course for educational purposes only. Audio or visual recordings or transmissions of
the course are only allowable with the express permission of the instructor.
Attendance Policy: Attendance is an important part of SMF/HIST 318, and will be recorded in
each class. Students who fail to attend at least 50% of classes can expect a failing grade for the
participation components of the course and at risk of not receiving credit.
Course Modifications: The instructor and the university reserve the right to modify elements of
the course during the term. If modification becomes necessary, reasonable notice and
communication with the students will be provided.
Other Important Information
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the
University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility.
Academic Integrity Office (UW): A resource for students and instructors
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing
academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an
action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism,
cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor,
academic advisor, or the Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary
penalties will be imposed under the University of Waterloo Policy 70 (Student Petitions and Grievances).
For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to the St. Jerome's
University Policy on Student Discipline.
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has
been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. For students who decide to file a
grievance, students should refer to University of Waterloo Policy 70 (Student Petitions and Grievances).
For more information, students should contact the Associate Dean of St. Jerome’s University.
Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under the St. Jerome’s
University Policy on Student Discipline or the St. Jerome’s University Policy on Student Petitions and
Grievances if a ground for an appeal can be established. In such a case, read University of Waterloo
Policy 72 (Student Appeals).
Note for students with disabilities: The AccessAbility Services (AS) Office, located in Needles Hall,
Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for
students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require
academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS Office at
the beginning of each academic term.