Proposal for a Lesbian and Gay Studies Minor

1 of 3 Proposal for a Lesbian and Gay Studies Minor at Towson St~te University [Description] [Catalog Description] [Rationale] [Educational Objectives] Description of the Proposed Minor We are proposing a minor consisting of 18 credit hours to be housed in the Interdisciplinary Studies program. In structure, this minor would be similar to the existing Medieval and Renaissance Studies Minor. The minor is designed for students who would like to take a specialized core of lesbian and gay studies courses. The Lesbian and Gay Studies minor would require the following: Required Course: iDIS i O i Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies (3) Electives Five of the following: • ANTH 3 70 -- Sexual Orientation in Cross-Cultural Perspective • HIST 361 -- Gays and Lesbians in U.S. History • ENGL 376 -- Themes in Literature: Gay Themes in American Literature • ENGL 375 -- Themes in Literature: The Literature of AIDS • PSYC 457 -- Gender Identity in Transition • PSYC 470 -- Special Topics: Psychology of Lesbian Culture (Currently being proposed as a new course with permanent catalog status, Psychology Department has approved it) • WMST 338 -- Women and Sexuality We also anticipate that a new upper-division ECED course, Learner Diversity, will be offered as an undergraduate course for the first time during the 1996-1997 academic year. If it is, we would add it to the list .of electives from which Lesbian and Gay Studies minors could choose. Proposed Catalog Description for Lesbian and Gay Studies Minor Tne Lesbian and Gay Studies Minor addresses issues of sexual orientation from interdiscipiinary and multicultural perspectives. The growing public visibility and awareness of diverse sexualities and their cultural and political ramifications for individuals, social institutions, and communities is evident in increased media coverage of political activism and debate related to issues of sexual orientation. Lesbian and Gay Studies is a response to these forces in the contemporary world but also represents a growing field of scholarship which is in the forefront of developing theoretical and methodological innovations in interdisciplinary studies. The Lesbian and Gay Studies minor aims to give students the critical skills to analyze a wide range of issues including the historical evolution of sexual identities in different cultural settings, the relationship between gender systems and sexual orientation, the development of lesbian and gay cultural institutions, institutionalized forms of heterosexism and homophobia, conflict within and between lesbian and gay communities, and the social and political mobilization of lesbian and gay peoples and their allies in efforts to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Rationale for the Program 11/15/96 09:23:55