LGBT 550 - Queering Comics
“Queering Comics” is an exploration of LGBTQ+ culture, ideas, aesthetics, relationships,
identity, and politics through the prism of sequential art. We will use the medium
of comics to explore the politics of representation, assessing both the consequences
of the absence of complex queer and trans characters, and conversely the stereotypes
that are reproduced when queer and trans people do appear. We will also explore how
queer and trans people have practiced disidentifying with comics, teaching themselves
to locate queerness even in narratives not intentionally created as queer. We will
encounter creators who have used comics and graphic narratives to communicate queer
ideas, express queer sexuality, and build queer community, sometimes subversively
when queer identities are politically suppressed. We will evaluate the backlash against
queer and trans comics, the politics of censorship, and the banning of queer visual
narratives as sexually explicit content. Finally, we will celebrate the joyful struggle
to continue to create and distribute queer and trans graphic narratives.
Course Materials
Syllabus
Assignment
Lecture 1: What's Queer About Comics?
Lecture 2: Queer Absences, Queer Presences
Lecture 3: Gender Queer in the Era of "Don't Say Gay"
About the Course Designer
Jess Whatcott is an interdisciplinary scholar working in critical disability studies, critical prison studies, queer studies/queer of color critique, political economy, American political development, and California history. In addition to their appointment in the Department of Women’s Studies, Whatcott is affiliated with LGBTQ+ studies and digital humanities.
Read the blog post about the course.