Schedule
Week 1 (Aug. 25, 27, 29)
Introduction and overview
Topics
- What is anthropology?
- Introduction to sexuality
- Strategies for success in this course
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 1
Haviland, W., H. E. L. Prins et al. Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
Week 2 (Sept. 3, 5)
Sex and Human Evolution
No class Sept. 1, Labor Day
Topics
- Theory and method in sexuality research
- Sex, natural selection, and human evolution
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 2
de WaalFrans B. M. “Bonobo Sex and Society,” Scientific American 272.3 (1995): 82-88.
Diamond, Jared. Why is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality. Basic Books, 1997.
Week 3 (Sept. 8, 10, 12)
Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Topics
- Gender and gender role development
- Gender diversity across time and space
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 3
Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India. Second ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1999.
Week 4 (Sept. 15, 17, 19)
Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Reaction paper 1 due Sept. 19
Topics
- Female sexual and reproductive system
- Puberty, menstruation, menopause
- Female sexual and reproductive health
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 4
Lock, Margaret. “Menopause: Lessons From Anthropology,” Psychosomatic Medicine 60.4 (1998): 410-19.
Week 5 (Sept. 22, 24, 26)
Male Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Topics
- Male sexual and reproductive system
- Male sexual and reproductive health
- Circumcision
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 5
Darby, Robert. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Why Can’t We Stop Circumcising Boys?,” Contexts 4.2 (2005): 34-39.
Week 6 (Sept. 29, Oct. 1, 3)
Sexual Expression
Exam 1, Oct. 3
Topics
- Are we having sex now?
- Sexual arousal and response
- Solitary sex and sex with others
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 10
Christina, Greta. “Are We Having Sex Now Or What?” The Erotic Impulse. Ed. David Steinberg. New York: Jeffrey P. Tarcher/Penguin, 1992. 24-29.
Week 7 (Oct. 6, 8, 10)
Varieties and Challenges of Sexual Expression
Reaction paper 2 due Oct. 10
Topics
- Physiology and cultural construction of sexual disorders
- Variation and deviation
Required reading
Carroll, Chapters 14, 16
Tiefer, Leonore. “Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Case Study of Disease Mongering and Activist Resistance,” PLoS Medicine 3.4 (2006): e178.
Week 8 (Oct. 13, 15, 17)
Love and Marriage
Topics
- What is love?
- Mate preference in evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective
- Diversity in marriage across time and space
Required reading
Carroll, Chapters 7, 9
Week 9 (Oct. 20, 22, 24)
Sexual Orientation
Topics
- Categorizing sexual orientation
- Nature and nurture
- Homophobia and heterosexism
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 11
Sanders, “A Down Low Dirty Shame: The New Assault on Black Male Sexuality,” Bitch 28.Spring (2005): 33-35, 91.
Week 10 (Oct. 27, 29, 31)
Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth
First submission of research paper due in section
Topics
- Fertility in individuals and populations
- Pregnancy and birth in evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective
- Maternal, infant, and child health
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 12
David, Richard J., and James W. Collins, Jr. “Bad Outcomes in Black Babies: Race Or Racism?,” Ethnicity and Disease 1.3 (1991): 236-44.
Week 11 (Nov. 3, 5, 7)
Contraception and Abortion
Peer review due in discussion section
Exam 2, Nov. 7
Topics
- Contraception and culture
- Abortion, women’s rights, and health
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 13
Shorto, “Contra-Contraception.” New York Times Magazine May 7 2006, 48-55, 68, 83.
Week 12 (Nov. 10, 12, 14)
Childhood and Adolescent Sexuality
Topics
- Sexuality over the life course
- Sexuality education
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 8
Rose, “Going Too Far? Sex, Sin and Social Policy,” Social Forces 84.2 (2005): 1207-32.
Week 13 (Nov. 17, 19, 21)
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Topics
- Bacterial and viral infections
- STIs on campus
- HPV and the “cervical cancer vaccine”
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 15
Week 14 (Nov. 24, 26)
HIV/AIDS and Global Health
Final, revised research paper due Nov. 24
No class Nov. 28, Thanksgiving
Topics
- Social inequalities and health
- Globalization, power, and sex
Required reading
Parker, Richard. “The Global Hiv/Aids Pandemic, Structural Inequalities, and the Politics of International Health,” American Journal of Public Health 92.3 (2002): 343-47.
Week 15 (Dec. 1, 3, 5)
Power, Coercion, and Sexual Violence
Topics
- Rape and sexual violence in evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective
- Rape on campus
- Sexual abuse and harassment
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 17
Abramovitz, Melissa. “The Knockout Punch of Date Rape Drugs,” Current Health 2 27.7 (2001): 18-23.
Week 16 (Dec. 8, 10)
Selling Sex
No class Dec. 12
Topics
- Sexuality in the media and the arts
- Pornography
- Prostitution and sex work
Required reading
Carroll, Chapter 18
Farmer, Paul. Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2003.