Course Details
Sexuality In Western Civilisation
Dates will be avalible shortly
Personal Interest
Self Awareness
Victoria University Community Continuing Education
Level 2, Rutherford House, 23 Lambton Quay, Wellington City
After Hours
6:00pm - 7:00pm
6:00pm - 7:00pm
$55.00
Early Bird Payment Fee 19/04/11 $50.00
Early Bird Payment Fee 19/04/11 $50.00
Sex may be a biological fact, but sexuality is mediated through human perceptions and, thus, through culture. This course examines attitudes toward sexuality, beginning in the Middle Ages, focusing mostly on the 19th century and ending with the Second World War. Lectures concentrate mainly on France, Britain and Germany.
The lectures are thematic rather than chronological and link sexuality with broader social structures, for example, economic growth, changing social hierarchies, political transformation, cultural attitudes and scientific progress.
The course emphasises concepts that differ sharply from contemporary thinking so as to illustrate how ideas about sexuality have evolved over time.
Target Audience:
This course is for anyone interested in how context and culture have shaped our attitudes to sex and sexuality over time.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will have:
* learned about sexuality in early-modern and modern European culture and society
* explored how the historical context informs ideas about human sexuality
* gained an appreciation of how culture shapes contemporary ideas about sexuality.
Course Outline:
Topics for this seminar series include the following.
Lecture 1 - Marriage: property relations and romantic relationships
Lecture 2 - Prostitution: sin, vice and public health
Lecture 3 - Masturbation: the history of a hysteria
Lecture 4 - Homosexuality: speaking about the unspeakable
Lecture 5 - Eugenics: sexuality and racial "science"
Tuesday, 3 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 10 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 17 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 24 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
The lectures are thematic rather than chronological and link sexuality with broader social structures, for example, economic growth, changing social hierarchies, political transformation, cultural attitudes and scientific progress.
The course emphasises concepts that differ sharply from contemporary thinking so as to illustrate how ideas about sexuality have evolved over time.
Target Audience:
This course is for anyone interested in how context and culture have shaped our attitudes to sex and sexuality over time.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will have:
* learned about sexuality in early-modern and modern European culture and society
* explored how the historical context informs ideas about human sexuality
* gained an appreciation of how culture shapes contemporary ideas about sexuality.
Course Outline:
Topics for this seminar series include the following.
Lecture 1 - Marriage: property relations and romantic relationships
Lecture 2 - Prostitution: sin, vice and public health
Lecture 3 - Masturbation: the history of a hysteria
Lecture 4 - Homosexuality: speaking about the unspeakable
Lecture 5 - Eugenics: sexuality and racial "science"
Tuesday, 3 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 10 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 17 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 24 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture
Alexander Maxwell teaches history at Victoria University of Wellington. He has taught "Sex and Society in Modern Europe" for two years and published in the Journal of the History of Sexuality.