Author Archives: pflegers

Intersections of Gender, Sexuality and Race In “Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body,” Siobhan Somerville cites 19th-century sexual scientist Havelock Ellis who proclaimed: “And now that the problem of religion has practically been settled, and that the problem of labour has at least been placed on a practical foundation, the question ofContinue reading “BIG IDEAS + LESSON FOR REGULATING SEXUALITY AND RACE”

This lesson is composed of 2 short lessons and one Big Idea. You can listen to the audio lectures here and/or read along with the transcripts. The first of these short lessons is called Gender Matters: Political Representation. With a focus on Canada, it describes the history of women’s struggle to attain full voting rights,Continue reading “BIG IDEAS + LESSON FOR THINKING ABOUT POWER”

This week we’ve discussed the significance of Michel Foucault and The History of Sexuality. Through an examination of the philosopher’s work, we discussed the notion of silence and talking in relation to sex and identity politics. Even though Foucault’s works were published decades ago, his importance for the field of Sexuality Studies continues to shape howContinue reading “SUMMARY FOR KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND MICHEL FOUCAULT”

The first volume of History of Sexuality is arguably Foucault’s most influential work. In it, he attempts to trace those historical moments when human sex and sexuality were studied and the ways these studies on sex were key to producing the “truth” of who people are. Foucault’s work seeks to uncover if this “truth” about an individualContinue reading “ASSIGNED RESOURCES FOR KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND MICHEL FOUCAULT”

When attempting to trace a history of sexuality (studies), many scholars in the field often consider Michel Foucault (1926-1984), French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic, a key figure. He published many important works, among them The History of Sexuality (1976), which consists of three volumes:  Vol I: The Will to Knowledge, Vol II: The Use of Pleasure,Continue reading “BIG IDEAS AND LESSON FOR KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND MICHEL FOUCAULT”

Let’s begin this course with a historical overview of Sexuality Studies that takes us all the way back to the nineteenth century As you will see in the next section of this module, this week does not contain any assigned articles. It is meant to give you a historical overview of how what approaches haveContinue reading “BIG IDEAS + LESSON FOR INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES”