Language and Sexuality (original) (raw)

Sexuality may be understood as desire, practice, or identity. In each of these conceptions, both cultural context and language play a key role. Linguistic anthropology offers important ways of understanding the concept of sexuality as related to phenomena such as globalization, politics, normativity, violence, intersectionality, and even the ways we think of sexuality in our everyday lives. Using ethnographic examples from the United States, Latin America, Africa, Oceana, and Asia, this course looks at homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, queerness, kink, polyamory, and other various understandings of sexual identities, practices, and desires. Students will engage with gender and queer theory, as well as learning methods of analysis from linguistic anthropology to understand the variation and meanings of sexuality in a comparative context. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to 1. understand different ways of approaching the study of sexuality 2. relate to the topics of human diversity and similarity 2. engage with key topics, theories, and methodological approaches of linguistic anthropology 4. understand the relationship between language, sexuality, gender, identity, class, and race 5. enhance their creative, critical, and informed thinking about language and sexuality