The recent uptick in politically inspired fearmongering and the villainization of the queer community in the United States has once again highlighted the importance of/for queer visibility, activism, and understanding. As Benshoff and Griffin stated in Queer Images, “It is within the sphere of popular culture that many people … learn what they know about sex and sexuality.” The movies in particular pose important questions about “desire, identification, fantasy, representation, spectatorship, cultural appropriation, performativity, and mass consumption” and thus teaches us “what it means to be heroic or villainous, masculine or feminine, homosexual or heterosexual.” This seminar aims to combine the study of queer representation throughout film history with a thorough understanding of past and present-day queer theory. The first half of the semester will follow queer representation both in front of and behind the camera from the beginnings of film to the present day. Then in the second half of the semester the seminar will focus on the major movements/ideas in queer theory and how they can be applied to various film texts.

This seminar aims to combine the study of queer representation throughout film history with a thorough understanding of past and present-day queer theory. The first half of the semester will follow queer representation both in front of and behind the camera from the beginnings of film to the present day. Then in the second half of the semester the seminar will focus on the major movements/ideas in queer theory and how they can be applied to various film texts.

Benshoff, Harry M. Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film. Manchester UP, 1997.
Benshoff, Harry M and Sean Griffin. Queer Images: A History of Gay and Lesbian Film in America. Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
Bradbury-Rance, Clara. Lesbian Cinema after Queer Theory. Edinburgh UP, 2019.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Gender. Routledge, 1990.
Farmer, Brett. Spectacular Passions: Cinema, Fantasy, Gay Male Spectatorship. Duke UP, 2000.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: Volume 1. Translated by Robert Hurley, Penguin History, 1976.
Johnson E. Patrick and Mae G. Henderson, editors. Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology. Duke UP, 2005.
McCann, Hannah and Whitney Monaghan. Queer Theory Now: From Foundations to Futures. Red Globe Press, 2020.
Miller, Lucy J. Distancing Representations in Transgender Film: Identification, Affect, and the Audience. State U of New York P, 2023.
Rich, B. Ruby. New Queer Cinema: The Director’s Cut. Duke UP, 2013.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. Columbia UP, 2015.
—. Epistemology of the Closet. U of California P, 1990.
Vallese, Joe, editor. It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror. The Feminist Press, 2022.