Queer Studies: Multi-Religious Perspectives

In an increasingly changing and globalized world, the intersection of religious and queer studies is vital for understanding the construction of identities. This asynchronous online course is designed to introduce you to the place given to gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, the sexual division of labor, gender role expectations, race, and ethnicity within world religions’ theo(ideo)/logical discourses. Drawing from an interdisciplinary approach you will develop a self-critical perspective on the way that sacred texts and dogmatic corpus influence the lives and spiritual practices of queer individuals and communities. Together we will explore the mutual constitution of queerness and subjectivity of religious experiences and their social and political implications towards the deconstruction of stereotypes, power dynamics, and marginalization. The target audience is both MDiv and MASC students.

For this course students are expected to develop a final project that should make evident the learning achieved during the semester.

The course fulfills the following thresholds: Thresholds:1. Life in Religious Community and Interfaith Engagement; 2. Prophetic Witness and Work; 3. Sacred Text and Interpretation; 4. History of Dissenting Traditions and the Thea/ological Quest; 6. Thea/ology in Culture and Context; and 7. Educating for Wholeness and Liberation. The course also complies with the following MFCs: 1. Worship and Rites of Passage; 3. Spiritual Development for Self and Others; 4. Social Justice in the Public Square; 6. Administration; and 7. Leads the faith into the future.

Enrollment Max: 20. Auditors excluded.