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ENG 179ES-05 / LIT 125S-05
Sexuality, Censorship & U.S. Culture CONTACT INFORMATION

Office Hours: W 1:00-3:30 (and by appointment)
Office Telephone: 660-7075

Professor Keith Wilhite
Office: 200Y Art Building (East campus)
Email: keith.wilhite@duke.edu



COURSE DESCRIPTION
“What is at issue, briefly, is the over-all ‘discursive fact,’ the way in which sex is ‘put into discourse’” (Foucault 11).

It’s a risky venture to boil down the informing idea of a course to a single sentence, but this quote from Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality gets at a central issue for our class: How do writers “put sex into discourse” and how do these “discursive” representations give voice to, or silence, particular bodies, ideas, and practices? As critical readers and intellectual writers, our goal this semester will be to question how literary and scholarly texts produce knowledge about sexuality, and to explore how these various discourses on sex validate certain forms of expression while prohibiting others.

As the language of “silence” and “prohibition” suggests, the concept of censorship has become important to my thinking about the organization of this class since I proposed it last spring, and I hope you won’t begrudge my adding the term “Censorship” to the course title, “Sexuality & U.S. Culture,” as it originally appeared on ACES. I’d like us to think broadly about censorship as an adjunct to and effect of discourses on sexuality. In other words, we’ll consider censorship as a practice that keeps texts out of print and off stage, but we’ll also examine how binary thinking about gender and sex—male/female, homosexual/heterosexual—figuratively censors bodies and desires that don’t map neatly onto such “normative” grids.

Through our course readings, you will encounter issues that resist easy resolutions and topics that many people consider quite controversial, even objectionable. These controversies typically hinge on questions of value: What’s moral? What’s immoral? What’s normal? What’s natural? What’s deviant? What’s traditional? What’s new? Such questions may confirm or challenge our previous assumptions and experiences. That said, I do not intend for this course to “change minds,” necessarily, or to “bring you around” to a particular perspective. Rather, my intention is for us to face these questions and debates as thinkers and writers: to examine how scholars have framed their arguments about sexuality, to respond to the strengths and limitations of their work, and to advance new lines of inquiry in relation to the literary works and visual texts we encounter this semester.

REQUIRED TEXTS
AT THE BOOKSTORE
Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl.
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita.
Vogel, Paula. Hot ‘N’ Throbbing

ON BLACKBOARD
There are two crucial buttons on our Blackboard (Bb) site related to our readings: “E-Reserves” and “Course Readings.” The former will link you to essays and chapters posted by Duke University Library; the latter takes you to a folder containing articles I’ve pulled together from the Library’s electronic databases. You’ll be responsible for printing, reading, and bringing these texts with you to class on the assigned date.

ON RESERVE (LILLY)
I’ve also put three DVDs on Reserve. One is required viewing: American Beauty (DVD 115). The other two are optional, but may be of interest to your work with Nabokov’s Lolita: Stanley Kubrick’s film version of the novel (DVD 302), and Adrian Lyne’s 1998 Lolita (DVD 1456).

THE PLAN OF WORK
You’ll note that one of the attributes of our seminar—in addition to its “Cross Cultural Inquiry” and “Arts, Literature & Performance” designations—is that it is listed as a “W,” or Writing, course. As such, the assignments will emphasize the key moves that distinguish intellectual writing. Intellectual writing:

  • Locates its project within the context of previous thinking on the subject
  • Responds to and makes use of the work of others
  • Judiciously offers reasons to support its claims
  • Recognizes its guiding assumptions and the implications of its findings
I have designed the assignments to highlight your relationship as a writer to the words and ideas of others. Such a relationship carries certain responsibilities, such as careful reading, thoughtful response, and reasoned analysis and argument. The assignments will invite you to use the words and ideas of others as points of contention, extension, and departure. At times you may disagree with what a writer has concluded, but often you may choose to build upon and extend what’s been said, or take your argument and analysis in a new direction altogether.

The writing you do this term will take several forms. I’ll ask you to compose short, informal responses to inspire class discussion. These responses may take the form of in-class writing, “think pieces” to generate ideas, or postings to the course blog on our Bb site. I’ll also ask you to submit five Reaction Papers (500 words each) over the course of the semester. In these Reaction Papers, you may be asked to develop a more sustained response to a discussion question, offer close readings of passages you select from our literary texts, evaluate the merits and limits of source materials, or expand upon a topic or debate that arose during seminar discussion or on the blog. You are free and, in fact, encouraged to develop these Reaction Papers into the longer essays projects.

There will be two Major Projects (2,000-2,500 words each). The first will address Nabokov’s Lolita; the second will focus on Eugenides’s Middlesex. For each Major Project, you will prepare a Project Draft that I will respond to in writing and/or in a conference setting. Your classmates will also respond to your work-in-progress and review your writing in a Draft Workshop. Before submitting your final draft, you will revise your work in light of seminar discussions, my comments, and the remarks of your colleagues.

Sexuality, Censorship & U.S. Culture 3 Finally, at the end of the term, you will write a Capstone Essay on sexuality, censorship, and contemporary U.S. culture. This shorter piece (1,200-1,500 words) will allow you to reflect on the work you’ve done over the course of the semester and apply that intellectual work to an analysis of some contemporary text, image, artifact, or cultural phenomenon of your choosing.

One last note on the writing process: Drafting and revising papers involves you in a steady rhythm of work. If you fall behind, it will be difficult to catch up. Therefore, I generally do not accept late papers. If you find that you’re stuck, or feel that you cannot meet a particular deadline, please email me and we will address the problem together.

ENGAGEMENT & ATTENDANCE
Your preparation for class, your engagement in our discussions, and your responses to others (in class, in writing, or on the course blog) is central to the work of our course. As such, I’ll expect you to be in the room, on time, and ready to participate every class period this semester. If you are not present in class, or you consistently arrive late, you cannot effectively engage in the work of the course.

I do realize, however, that a situation may arise that necessitates your absence. You are permitted to miss a total of three classes over the course of the semester without penalty. Any absence beyond this limit will result in your final grade being lowered a full letter grade for each additional day missed (in other words, a grade of B would become a C). You are responsible for keeping up with any information you missed during your absence. Check our Bb Announcements and Assignments pages regularly, and please contact another student if you’re absent from class. GRADING I will calculate your grade for the course in the following way:

Major Projects 1 and 2 - 50%
Capstone Essay - 20%
Reaction Papers - 15%
Engagement in seminar - 15%


I will assess your engagement in seminar based on two questions:
  1. What observations, questions, or arguments did you bring to the table pertaining to the day’s reading?
  2. How did you respond to your colleagues’ observations, questions, and work-in-progress?

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
We’ll discuss definitions of plagiarism and various misuses of source material, and I’ll also direct you to a set of web materials on plagiarism and citing sources offered by Duke University Libraries. The penalty for plagiarism is failure of the course and/or judicial sanctions. Since academic writing draws heavily upon the work of others, it is vital that you understand the distinctions between the ethical use of others’ texts and the unethical appropriation of their work.

It has been my experience that writers who resort to plagiarism do so not out of an impulse to cheat, but rather out of desperation—they have severe writers’ block or some other troubles that put them up against an impossible deadline. If you ever find yourself in such a dilemma, it’s always best to contact me and let me know what’s up rather than risk the sanction and the lasting stigma of plagiarism.

THE WRITING STUDIO
The Writing Studio offers free help with drafting and revising any writing project associated with any course at Duke. Trained tutors are available to help students who are struggling with writing, as well as students who are confident writers in search of critical feedback to help them polish their work. You can meet with a tutor on a one-time basis or set up regular appointments. To learn more, or to make an appointment, please visit the Writing Studio website at http://uwp.aas.duke.edu/wstudio/. Sexuality, Censorship & U.S. Culture

COURSE SCHEDULE
(READING & WRITING ASSIGNMENTS DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON DATE SPECIFIED.)

I. INTRODCUTION: SEXUALITY IN DISCOURSE
T 8.26 Introduction to the Course
TH 8.28 Foucault, “We ‘Other Victorians’” (History of Sexuality 1-13) Podhoretz, “‘Lolita,’ My Mother-in-Law, the Marquis de Sade, and Larry Flynt” (Bb Course Readings > Lolita Criticism > Podhoretz)
T 9.2 Foucault, “The Incitement to Discourse” (17-35) Foucault, “Scientia Sexualis” (53-73) Blog Posting (Bb)
TH 9.4 Foucault Wrap-up Reaction Paper 1 Due
II. LOLITA AND/IN CONTEMPORARY U.S. CULTURE
T 9.9 Nabokov, Lolita (3-69)
TH 9.11 Nabokov, <em>Lolita</em> (69-142)
Shelton, “The Word is Incest”
(Bb Course Readings &gt; <em>Lolita</em> Criticism &gt; Shelton)
Blog Posting (Bb)
T 9.16 Nabokov, Lolita (145-229) Goldman, “‘Knowing’ Lolita” (Bb Course Readings > Lolita Criticism > Goldman) Blog Posting (Bb)
TH 9.18 Nabokov, Lolita (229-317) Harad, “Reviving Lolita: or Because Junior Reaction Paper 2 Due High is Still Hell” (E-Reserves) Reaction Paper 2 Due
T 9.23 Film Screening: American Beauty
TH 9.25 Discuss American Beauty & Wendt Lemaster, “Nymphet as Consequence in Lolita & American Beauty”
Post to Bb before (Bb Course Readings > Lolita Criticism > Wendt Lemaster)
MP 1 Draft Due—Blog Posting (Bb)
11:59 pm
T 9.30 MP 1 In-Class Workshop  
TH 10.2 Wrap-up Discussion of Lolita
Chong, “Lolita, all Grown Up?” (Deliberations F ’06)		  


III. MIDDLESEX AND INTERSEXUALITY

T 10.7 Middlesex – Book One (3-76)MP 1 Due—Post Final Draft to Bb before 11:59 pm
TH 10.9 Middlesex – Book Two (79-148) Fausto-Sterling, “The Five Sexes” (Bb Course Readings: 5 pp.)  
T 10.14
**FALL BREAK**
  
TH 10.16 Middlesex – Book Two & Three (149-251) Serano, Whipping Girl (excerpts) (Bb Course Readings)  


T 10.21 Middlesex – Book Three (252-306)
Dreger, “Ambiguous Sex—Or Ambivalent Medicine?”
(Bb Course Readings: 15 pp.)		  
TH 10.23 Middlesex – Book Three (307-339)
Dreger, “Intersex and Human Rights” (Bb Course Readings: 13 pp.)		  
T 10.28
Middlesex – Book Three (340-397)
Butler, “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire”
(Bb Course Readings: 15 pp.)
 Blog Posting (Bb)
TH 10.30 Read Two Articles, Chapters, or Essays
of Your Choosing Related to Your
Line of Inquiry for MP 2		 Reaction Paper 3 Due


T 11.4 Middlesex – Book Four (401-477)
Sifuentes, “Strange Anatomy, Strange Sexuality”
(Bb Course Readings > Middlesex Criticism > Sifuentes)		 Blog Posting (Bb)
TH 11.6 Middlesex – Book Four (478-529)  


**Post Rough Draft of MP 2 to Bb before 11:59 pm on Friday, November 7th**


T 11.11 MP 2 In-Class Workshop: Bring Two Copies of your Rough Draft to Class  
TH 11.13 **No Class Session: Continue Work on MP 2** Peer Review due by
11:59 pm (E-mail)


IV. SEXUALITY, CENSORSHIP & DISCIPLINE: OR, FOUCAULT REARS HIS UGLY HEAD AGAIN

T 11.18 Visit to Rare Books Room: Meet in Perkins Library, 1st Floor  
TH 11.20 Ginsberg, Howl
Doty, “Human Seraphim” (E-Res)
Gates, “Welcoming Howl into the Cannon” (E-Res)		  


**Post Final Draft of MP 2 to Bb anytime before 11:59 pm on Friday, November 21st**


T 11.25 Vogel, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing
“Paula Vogel: The Signature Season”
(Bb Course Readings)		  
TH 11.27
**THANKSGIVING BREAK**
  
T 12.2 Foucault, “Right of Death and Power over Life”
(History of Sexuality 135-159)		  
TH 12.4 Wrap-up Session / Course Evaluations Reaction Paper 4 Due


**Post Final Draft of “Capstone Essay” to Bb anytime before 6:00 pm on Thursday, Dec. 11th**