The course will focus on the tenets of queer critique as it pertains chiefly to questions of identity, elaborating on the ethico-political implications of this critique. We will begin with an introduction of the queer framework, presenting the historical and conceptual contexts from which queer theory has evolved, discussing the work of Michel Foucault, and explicating some key ideas and distinctions, as, e.g., the distinction sex/gender/sexuality, power, heteronormativity, and gender mobility. We will then proceed to discuss and critically consider the ethico-political implications of the queer critique of identity, as these emerge in the works of Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, Michael Warner, and David Halperin. Throughout the course, the significance of the sexual and gendered body as a locus of effective ethico-political work will be foregrounded. And we will also see how the critically queer endeavor originates in, and is related to, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans) realities, but is in no way confined in its ethico-political relevance to sexual and gendered others.

The course will conclude with a home exam that will determine the final grade.

Prerequisites: recommended – knowledge in feminist theory or political/moral philosophy.