SEXUALITY AND THE LAW
P423, Section 34004
MW 5:45 – 8:15 PM in BH 331
(Second Session 8-week Course)
Fall 2009
Dr. Stephanie C. Kane
www.indiana.edu/~culturex
Phone: 5-0896; Email: stkane@indiana.edu
Office hrs: Tues 4:00-5:00 PM & Thurs 1:00-2:00 PM
or by appointment, in Sycamore 305
Course Description:
This is an interdisciplinary course that draws upon approaches from anthropology, cultural criminology, feminist theory, queer theory, and legal studies to discuss topics in sexuality and the law. We examine sexuality and its regulation in a range of contexts—legal and illegal, local and global, physically interactive and technologically-mediated. The first book we read frames sexuality studies theoretically, putting the subject in a global context (Altman). Then we read an ethnography by Flowers of the phone sex industry that focuses on the shifting borders between desire and deceit. The third book (Weston) is an ethnography of urban queer experience and identity and how it is conceptualized in social science. Discussion of these books will reveal how the values and experiences we associate with sexuality and the law are shaped by globalized political and economic forces, attendant communication technologies, and cultural expectations and stereotypes. We will maintain a critical double focus on the substance of these topics—the ways of life that these topics invoke--as well as how such topics are re-presented in social science, legal, and mass-mediated discourses. This will provide us with a foundation for discussion of specific kinds and incidents of sex-related crime that students will choose together in class (e.g. date rape, rape as weapon of war, domestic violence, sex trafficking, intentional HIV transmission, etc.). Methodological dilemmas will arise in the context of our conversations. (For example, how do you study activities like sex that are usually done in private?) Creative development of independent research projects is an important component of the course. Films will broaden our sense of international scenes related to sexuality and the law. We will also have guest speakers who can familiarize us with local situations and initiatives.
Required Texts:
Dennis Altman. 2001. Global Sex. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Amy Flowers. 1998. The Fantasy Factory: An Insider’s View of the Phone Sex Industry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Kath Weston. 1998. longslowburn: sexuality and social science. New York: Routledge.
