Though research in psychology is increasing including LGBT perspectives, an explicitly queer theoretical lens is often missing. But might this lens be a productive way to think through issues relevant to LGBTQ people’s lives as well as the psychological study of gender and sexuality more generally? How can we build a psychology of queerness that centers gender and sexual minorities, rather than pathologizing or marginalizing deviance? And how do other social identities and structures, like race and class, influence the experience and study of queerness? In this course, we will tackle these questions and more by traversing through a multidisciplinary terrain of scholarship in LGBT psychology, queer theory, queer psychology, anthropology, sociology, and feminist studies. We will read both social theories, from early and contemporary theorists, as well as empirical research from across the social sciences.

Topics will include heteronormativity, cisgenderism, intersectionality, sexual orientation, gender identity, youth, and activism, among others. At each stage, we will ask of our readings and of ourselves: How would queer theory add to this conversation? And how might this scholarship work toward emancipatory social change for people of all genders and sexualities? These guiding questions will help us consider what queer theory has to offer the field of psychology and how incorporating queer perspectives into the study of gender and sexuality can result in a more inclusive, just, and ultimately more rigorous science.