Queering Families

CRN

12971

Course Number

336B

Credits

5

Course Description

“To answer death with utopian futurity …. is a queer thing to do.” – Alexis Pauline Gumbs.

As the recent separation of migrant children from their caretakers has so painfully dramatized, the right to reproduce family according to one’s wishes—and thus nurture future generations—is a privilege that US empire seeks to systematically deny from many. Indeed, the annals of US history are replete with examples of this, from Native American boarding schools; to attacks upon Black motherhood under slavery and beyond; to custody battles facing queer moms in 1970s and 1980s; to current day debates over who is a suitable parent within the foster care system.

And yet, communities persist, “answering death with utopian futurity,” to quote Alexis Pauline Gumbs through the very “queer” act of lovingly kindling futures and nurturing generations. Taking on the rubric of “queering family,” this course examines entwined cases through which communities have asserted their right to reproduce family in a multitude of forms. Exploring the aforementioned histories and more, we will ask what it has meant to "queer” family as a both deeply intimate and political act to nurture generations and lay claim on the future.

Prerequisites

FAIR 203a or equivalent

Materials Fee

10.00

Required Texts

Selected articles and chapters uploaded on Canvas. Selected authors include Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Laura Briggs, Daniel Winters, Shira Hassan, Saidiya Hartman, Dean Spade, Dorothy Roberts, Jules Gill-Peterson, Mai’a Williams, Ruha Benjamin, Kim TallBear, and more.

Credit/Evaluation

Participation; Reading Response Papers; Project Proposal + Final Project

Attendance required.

S/NX grading.

Term

Winter 2024

Course Instructor(s)

Tamara Spira

Course Subject

FAIR