STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

HIS 374: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER ORIENTATION

Fall 1999
Instructor: Helen Lemay
Office Hours: In SBS S 317: Monday and Friday 12:45-2 PM, Tues. 5-5:45 PM and by appointment
Telephone: 632-7500 (Dept.), 632-7485 (my office)
e mail: hlemay@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

COURSE GOALS:

The goals of this course are:

1. To develop skills in setting contemporary issues in historical perspective, and to form the habit of this type of analysis.

2. To provide a sound historical grounding for this type of analysis.

3. To develop skills in expressing (both orally and in writing) the results of this analysis and the process by which it was achieved.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. CLASS PARTICIPATION — 20% OF YOUR GRADE (15% + 5%)

Classwork in this course is being structured around the teaching method known as “process education.” This is a well-established methodology, with demonstrated national success in higher education. Therefore, although in some ways the class will resemble the usual lecture course, in other ways it will not.

In-class group work is important to the process, and thus important to your grade. A full 15% of your grade will be based on your in-class performance. A final paper assessing your own performance will make up another 5% of your grade in this section.

2. SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY — 5% OF YOUR FINAL GRADE.

As a member of this class, you are required to perform five hours of service to the community outside the University. This service can take the form of volunteer work for an organization whose focus is related to the focus of the course (Gay and Lesbian services, AIDS), or of an educational project for members of your home community on course-related issues (e.g. meeting with community groups, translation of informational materials into your native language, etc.). The service project that will be most convenient for students is the EDUCATIONAL SERVICE option. Besides the above-mentioned examples, you may carry this out very simply by preparing a lesson based on course material, and presenting it to three individuals [not necessarily at the same time] who are not Stony Brook students (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) Fuller directions for this project will be handed out separately.

There are a very few opportunities to carry out this service during class — specifically, students who have knowledge of a religion not covered on the syllabus (or covered only cursorily, such as Islam) may make a presentation during the “open class” to fulfill this service requirement. More details will be presented on this project during the course of the semester.

3. FORMAL ESSAYS — 30% OF YOUR FINAL GRADE (10% EACH)

This is a 300-level History course, and therefore the formal writing component will satisfy the upper-division writing requirements for majors in History, SSI, Liberal Studies, and possibly other majors as well (check with your Undergraduate Director about this). In the History Department, students must complete at least ten pages of formal writing that demonstrates mastery of historical material, competent analysis, and good English prose with a grade of B- or above to be certified for completion of the writing requirement. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU WISH TO HAVE YOUR ESSAYS CONSIDERED FOR THE WRITING REQUIREMENT, YOU MUST INDICATE THIS ON THE FRONT PAGE WHEN YOU HAND THEM IN.

In HIS 374, students will write three short papers, totaling ten pages. Each will make up 10% of your final grade. The first of these will be a comparison between ancient Greek ideas of homosexual love and ideas found in a recent gay magazine. The second will be on Heather Has Two Mommies and elementary education; the third on Prayers for Bobby and religious views of homosexuality.

3. WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS — 45% OF YOUR GRADE (15% x 3)

There will be three unit examinations on lecture and reading material. The first will take place on 11 October, the second on 10 November, and the third during finals week. Each exam will be worth 15% of your final grade.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Students are responsible for attending class regularly, for participating in class exercises, and for completing their own work. You are advised to exchange telephone numbers with one or more of your classmates in case you miss class.

Your papers are to be turned in, on time, during class. Do not stick papers in mailboxes or under doors — you do so at your own risk. Lateness will be penalized.

If you are forced to miss an exam or paper because of an emergency, you must inform the instructor of this fact by e mail or telephone. In order to receive the opportunity for a makeup, you must document the emergency.

NOTICE CONCERNING DISABILITIES:

If you have a physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned course work, please contact the staff of the Disabled Student Services (DSS) Office, Room 133 Humanities, 632 6748/TDD. DSS will review your concerns and determine, with you, what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability will remain confidential.

READINGS:

Two books plus a coursepack have been ordered for this course. The books are 1) Leslea Newman, Heather Has Two Mommies (Alyson Press) and 2) Leroy Aarons, Prayers for Bobby (Harper San Francisco). They are available at Wallace’s Bookstore on campus and at Stony Books, across the street from the railroad station. The coursepack is available at the History Department Office, SBS S 301, Monday through Friday 9AM – 4 PM.

Guides to the readings will be handed out separately during the course of the semester.

CLASS TOPIC SCHEDULE

Wed. 1 Sept. Introduction

Fri. 3 Sept. Theories

Mon. 6 Sept. LABOR DAY, NO CLASS

Wed. 8 Sept. Theories

UNIT ONE: LOVE, MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

Fri. 10 Sept. Greek Love — Male, Plato

Mon. 13 Sept. Greek Love — Male, Plato

Wed. 15 Sept. Greek Love — Male, Plato

Mon 20 Sept, YOM KIPPUR, NO CLASS

Wed. 22 Sept. Sappho and Lesbos
STATEMENT OF YOUR SERVICE PROJECT DUE

Fri. 24 Sept. Sappho and Lesbos

Mon. 27 Sept. Nineteenth-century women

Wed. 29 Sept. Nineteenth-century women
OPTIONAL FIRST DRAFTS DUE

Fri. 1 Oct. Nineteenth-century women
FIRST PAPER DUE FOR STUDENTS WHO DID
NOT DO FIRST DRAFTS

Mon. 4 Oct. Same-Sex Unions

Wed. 6 Oct. Same-Sex Unions

Fri. 8 Oct. EXAM REVIEW

Mon. 11 Oct. UNIT EXAMINATION IN CLASS

Wed. 13 Oct. Children

Fri. 15 Oct. Children

Mon. 18 Oct. Children

UNIT TWO: HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELIGION

Wed 20 Oct. Judaism and the Bible
FIRST DRAFTS OF HEATHER PAPER DUE

Fri. 22 Oct. Judaism and the Bible

Mon 25 Oct. Judaism
PAPER DUE ON HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES

Wed. 27 Oct. Christianity

Fri. 29 Oct. Christianity

Mon. 1 Nov. Christianity

Wed. 3 Nov. Islam

Fri. 5 Nov. OPEN CLASS

Mon. 8 Nov. EXAM REVIEW

Wed. 10 Nov. UNIT EXAMINATION IN CLASS

UNIT THREE: HOMOSEXUALITY AND SCIENCE

Fri. 12 Nov. Nineteenth-century Debates

Mon. 15 Nov. Nineteenth-century Debates

Wed. 17 Nov. Nineteenth-century Debates

Fri. 19 Nov. Psychology Today

Mon. 22 Nov. Psychology Today

Fri. 26 Nov. THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, NO CLASS

Mon. 29 Nov. Psychology Today

Wed. 1 Dec. AIDS
SERVICE REPORT DUE

Fri. 3 Dec. AIDS

Mon. 6 Dec. AIDS

Wed. 8 Dec. AIDS

Fri. 13 Dec. LAST CLASS — EXAM REVIEW

UNIT EXAMINATION DURING FINALS WEEK ACCORDING TO UNIVERSITY SCHEDULE

If you have appropriate syllabi, please contact CLGH chair Karen Krahulik at Karen_Krahulik@brown.edu.