GE Cluster 72A,B,CW
Sex: From Biology to Gendered Society
| Lecture Schedule: | Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – Rolfe 1200 |
| Faculty: | Abigail Saguy, Sociology (faculty coordinator) Arthur Arnold, Behavioral Neuroscience and Genetics Martie Haselton, Evolutionary Psychology Eric Vilain, Human Genetics and Medicine |
From the moment of our conception, each of us has a sex. Our individual sex has a major role in determining the physical attributes of our bodies, the structure of our brains, our behavioral tendencies, the environment in which we grow up, the laws that govern our behavior, our place in society, the attitudes of others towards us, and our self-concept. Although sex may be considered to be determined primarily biologically, it is our gender (e.g., the social implications of our sex) that is arguably most important for our lives. Sex and gender can only be understood from a mixture of different perspectives. In this course we investigate some of those perspectives from the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, biology, psychology, and medicine.
The overarching goal of the course is to encourage students to think and write critically about the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors that influence our behavior and experience as human beings. We expect that many undergraduates will find the specific subject matter interesting, even fascinating. We hope, however, that by studying sex and gender, student will learn generalizable skills suitable for the analysis of complex interactions of diverse factors that influence our lives. We will deal explicitly with questions such as the following:
- How is sex determined biologically at many different levels in the body?
- How are gender differences and gender inequality “socially constructed”?
- Which human traits are products of natural selection over millennia?
- How does the law define the sex of an individual?
- How does our physical and social environment influence how our genes work? How do our genes shape our experiences?
- How do gendered stereotypes inform scientific knowledge about biological sex differences?
- What determines our sexual orientation and sexual desires?
- What do typical responses of parents and doctors to intersex babies reveal about social assumptions of gender?
- How does our gender influence the diseases we get, and how we are treated by physicians?
Spring seminars topics will include topics such as:
- Neurobiology of Love
- Sex Differences in Nonhuman Primates
- Reproductive Technologies
- Stress, Gender, and the Body
- Sexuality and Sexual Identity
- Sociology of Bodies
- The Demography and Geography of the Gay and Lesbian Population
- Legal Approaches to Sex and the Body
Foundation Area General Education Credit
Upon completion of the entire year-long cluster, students will satisfy 3 courses in the following areas of GE—2 courses in the Foundations of Society and Culture-Social Analysis and 1 course in the Foundations of Scientific Inquiry - Life Science (without lab/demonstration). Each quarter-long component of the cluster earns 5 units of course credit, for a total of 15 units for the year. On the completion of the yearlong sequence, students will earn Writing II credit, with the “W” attached to the spring seminar.
