1:00p-2:15p TR (70) 3 cr

TOPIC: GENDER OUTLAWS: FROM JOAN OF ARC TO XENA

This course will examine women who transgressed gender norms in their time, beginning with the medieval trial of Joan of Arc and ending with Xena, television program. Some of the issues we will be addressing are the historical construction of gender identity and the meaning and costs of gender transgression. Borrowing from the title of Kate Bornstein's book, we will read essays about gender transgression as we consider who gets to be a gender outlaw and what social practices the outlaw entails.

Some of the texts we will read are Joan of Arc By Herself and Her Witnesses : Matthew Lewis, The Monk , Hic Mulier, Shakespeare's As You Like It ; Virginia Woolf, Orlando ; and William and Ellen Craft, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom . We will be also view a few films and performance pieces in conjunction with our reading.