ENGL 208 - LGBTQ+ Literature

This introductory course focuses on LGBTQ+ texts: Novels, a little nonfiction, poetry, a graphic novel, and films. Our reading will reach back before Stonewall and reach forward to (and beyond) Obergefell v. Hodges. It will cross national lines; it will include authors of different races and ethnicities; and it will affirm struggles and triumphs. Some of these authors published privately or wrote almost in code; others wrote in a world only beginning to accept their identity; and still, others wrote loud celebrations of themselves and their community. The literature sometimes describes coming out stories, sometimes covert lives, often stories of love, loss, and hope for the future. Overall, our class will engage the lives and writings of authors in the LGBTQ+ canon stretching from the Greek poet Sappho born around 640 B.C. to authors flourishing in the twenty-first century (Liberal Studies P4).

Credits: 3