SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

This course will surface the ways in which LGBTQ+ people and communities have impacted the ways in which mainstream American culture has been shaped by cultural production derived from thinking that challenges heteronormativity in post-World War II America until the validation of same sex marriage in 2014 Through the lenses of queer theory, evolving queer history, Since the emergence of “homosexuality” and “transsexuality” as identities in the late 19th century, queer culture has been presumed to develop in the margins of American life, ancillary to and shaped by heterosexual norms. Yet, the vast majority of queer people in the last hundred years have lived (to at least some degree) in the closet, allowing them to exist in the mainstream while maintaining a distinctly non-normative identity. Thus, to quote bell hooks, allowing them "to bring the margin into the center." In 15 meetings over the course of the semester, through lectures, discussions, texts, slides, films and video, we will explore the ways in which transformative integration of queer designs for living have occurred. Highlighting pivotal events and shifts in American cultural, political, and creative history this course will provide food for thought about the ways in queerness is integral to American notions of progress and freedom.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Final Project Proposal: Maggie Ryan

 I will be reading Axel Madsen’s The Sewing Circle: Hollywood’s  Hollywood's Greatest Secret—Female Stars Who Loved Other Women. The book will dive into three famous Hollywood actresses of the silver screen including Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. The symbols of “lavender marriages” and “violets” in terms of queer women and its connections to these actresses. 

There is a second book titled The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid which tells the fictional story of two queer actresses during the silver screen era. I will be cross referencing these two books alongside The Celluloid Closet in order to gain insight to the lives of queer and trans actors during this time.

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Erika Bauer - Final Project

 Link to my final project https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10M3X31MtgSnCAicMzf6pDhINFAjSNRaGX8BJnh3_9Eg/edit