Course Syllabus
About
512:225
Sexuality in America: The Colonial Period to the Present
Spring, 2023
Monday/ Thursday 10:20-11:40
FH-A1
Professor Rachel Devlin
Office Hours: Monday/ Wednesday 2:30-4 (online)
Contact: rachel.devlin@rutgers.edu
"Sex, which ought to be an incident of life, is the obsession of the well fed world.”
—Rebecca West, 1912
This course examines the ways in which sexuality has been an integral part of American History. Topics include sexual codes and governance in the colonial period; rape and sexual abuse from the colonial era to the present; transformations in the practices, legal codes and cultural values surrounding abortion from the 19th century to the present; perspectives on prostitution with special attention to the "vice crusaders" of the late nineteen century; how and why the sexual system of "virtue and vice" of the Victorian period was transformed into a system of "normality" and "deviance" in the twentieth century; the politics of homosexuality; the effects of mass culture and consumer values on the popular meaning of sexuality and the consumption of pornography; the "sexual revolution" of the nineteen sixties and seventies; and the question of the role of sexuality in identity formation at the turn of the 21st century.
Requirements
Reading Assignments
Each week you will be responsible for the assigned reading. Please upload a short “reading reflection” on Canvas. You may upload a reading response anytime before 12 PM Wednesday. Responses are meant to be your quick-take on the readings—things you found surprising, interesting or problematic, inclusive of questions the readings raise. The first person is fine, it is good to quote from the text but not strictly necessary. Anywhere from two paragraphs to a couple of pages will receive credit. The reflections are graded on a 10-point scale—but if you upload your response on time it is unlikely that you will receive a grade below a 6. You may also hand-write your reflections if you so wish and turn it in at the beginning of class.
Discussion
We will devote some part of each class to discussion. While this is a lecture class, I will put questions to the class, and bring in relevant reading. In order to be prepared for discussion, you should complete the reading by the day for which it is assigned.
Papers
You will write one 5-page paper, on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, to be uploaded to Canvas on Monday, Feb. 13th, and another on the #MeToo movement, which will be an in-class essay on April 13. Please bring paper copies of your papers to class the next day. Each paper counts for 20% of your final grade.
Course Materials
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions, 2009, ISBN-10: 0486419312)
Thomas Foster, Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources
Optional: John De’ Emilio and Estelle Freedman, Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality
All readings preceded by an asterisk (*) are available on Canvas
Exams:
There will be a Midterm, on March 2, and Final, given during the final exam period. Exams will have sections with IDs, requiring short answers: date, definition, historical significance. There will also be an essay section with one essay required for the midterm, and two essays for the final.
Academic Honesty
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences considers academic fraud, dishonesty and cheating serious academic misconduct. If you are unclear about the proper use and citation of sources, or the details and guidelines for any assignment, you should discuss the assignment and your questions with me. Any cheating or plagiarism will result in automatic failure. For the full policy on academic misconduct see the College’s Student Academic Handbook.
Student-Wellness Services:
Access helpful mental health information and resources for yourself or a friend in a mental health crisis on your smartphone or tablet and easily contact CAPS or RUPD.
Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
(848) 932-7884 / 17 Senior Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901/ http://health.rutgers.edu/medical-counseling-services/counseling/
CAPS is a University mental health support service that includes counseling, alcohol and other drug assistance, and psychiatric services staffed by a team of professional within Rutgers Health services to support students’ efforts to succeed at Rutgers University. CAPS offers a variety of services that include: individual therapy, group therapy and workshops, crisis intervention, referral to specialists in the community and consultation and collaboration with campus partners.
Scarlet Listeners
(732) 247-5555 / http://www.scarletlisteners.com
Free and confidential peer counseling and referral hotline, providing a comforting and supportive safe space.
Covid Policy
This is an in-person class. If you feel sick, and especially if you test positive for Covid, please let me know. I am willing to connect sick students to class via zoom on such days. However, this is only in the event of illness.
Grading
Paper 1 20
Paper 2 20
Discussion 20
Midterm 20
Final 20
Additional Resources
If you need help with your papers and would like to visit the Plangere Writing Center, go here for hours and information: http//plangere.rutgers.edu/
Class Schedule
January 19: Introduction
Introduction: Sexuality in Historical Context
Module 1: Regulating Sexuality in the Colonial World
Jan. 23: Intimate Matters, ch. 1-2
*Documenting, p. 7-13
*“Bestiality Cases in New Haven, Connecticut, 1638-49”
Jan. 26: Recitation/Discussion
*Documenting, p. 14-25
*Annette Gordon-Reed, “The Hemings-Jefferson Treaty: Paris, 1789”
Module 2: “Sex Among the Rabble:” Race, Class and Sex
Jan 30: *Martha Hodes, “Adultery: Dorothea Bourne and Edmond,”
Feb. 2: Intimate Matters, ch. 3
*Documenting, 41-53
Module 3: The Rise of the Victorian Sexual Order
Feb. 6: Intimate Matters, ch. 4
*Documenting, p. 54-70
*Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, p. 1-83
You may skip: ch.3, p. 16-17, ch. 8-9, p. 39-47, ch. 12-13, p. 55-65, ch. 22, p. 98-100
Feb. 9: Recitation/ Discussion: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, p. 83-164
Monday, Feb. 13, Paper Due, upload to Canvas by 11:59 PM
Module 4: The Moral Economy of Pleasure
Feb. 20: Intimate Matters, ch. 5
Feb. 23: *Carol Smith-Rosenberg, ”The Female World of Love and Ritual,”
Module 5: Midterm
Feb. 27: Review for Midterm
March 2: Midterm
Module 6: The Sexualization of Reconstruction Politics
March 6: Intimate Matters, ch. 6
March 9: Recitation/ Discussion
*Documenting, p. 72-90
*Rickie Solinger “danger,” The Abortionist
*Lizzie Presser, “Inside the Secret Network Providing Home Abortions Across the U.S.,” The Guardian, August 27, 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/27/inside-the-secret-network-providing-home-abortions-across-the-us
March 13-16: Spring Break
Module 7: Victorian Morality Under Stress
March 20: *Documenting, p.108-123
Intimate Matters, Ch.8
March 23: Intimate Matters, ch. 9
*Ellis, “The Love Rights of Women”
Module 8: Modern Sexuality and the Construction of Deviance
March 27: *Documenting, p. 91-107
March 30: *Christina Simmons, "Companionate Marriage and the Lesbian Threat"
*”Black Entertainer Mabel Hampton Recalls Life in the 1920s and 1930s”
Module 9: The Sexual Sell: The 1920’s
April 3: Film: Our Dancing Daughters (1928)
April 6: Discussion, Dancing Daughters
Intimate Matters, ch. 10
Module 10: Modern Sexual Selves
April 10: Discussion/ Recitation
*Katie Roiphe, “Date Rape’s Other Victim,” The New York Times Magazine, 1993
Victim Statement in the Brock Turner Rape Case
Ronan Farrow, “From Aggressive behaviors to Rape,” The New Yorker Magazine, Oct. 10, 2017
“Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania, Report Says,” New York Times, August 14, 2018
“Former Students Allege Decades-Old Sexual Abuse at Maryland Private School,” Washington Post, August 19, 2018
“What Happens to #MeToo when a Feminist is the Accused?” New York Times, August 13, 2018
April 13: In Class Essay
Module 11: World War II and the Fifties
April 17: Intimate Matters, ch. 11
April 20: *“Lesbian Pulp Novels and Lesbian Identity”
Module 12: Sexual Revolutions and Sexual Postmodernity
April 24: Intimate Matters, ch. 12, 13
April 27: *Documenting, 150-171
Intimate Matters, ch. 14, 15
Arwa Mahdawi, “What Does the Dawn of Demisexuals Tell Us?” The Guardian, 2021
Module 13: Final Exam Review
May 1: Review for Final
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|