The cast from a production of the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, based on Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name. (Image courtesy of Portland Center Stage on flickr. License CC BY-NC.)
Instructor(s)
Dr. K.J. Surkan
MIT Course Number
WGS.181
As Taught In
Fall 2017
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course analyzes mainstream, popular films produced in the post-World War II 20th century U.S. as cultural texts that shed light on ongoing historical struggles over gender identity and appropriate sexual behaviors. It traces the history of LGBTQ/queer film through the 20th and into the 21st century. It also examines the effect of the Hollywood Production Code and censorship of sexual themes and content, and the subsequent subversion of queer cultural production in embedded codes and metaphors. In addition, this course also considers the significance of these films as artifacts and examples of various aspects of queer theory.