Taylor Petrey, “Gender, Sexuality, and Mormonism”
HDS 2119, Harvard Divinity School 2016
This course will examine broad theoretical questions about the interrelationship between religion, gender, and sexuality using Mormonism as a primary case study. It covers the development and abandonment of polygamy, the advent and contours of Mormon feminism, the deployment of sexuality, theological and ecclesiastical issues, and other topics.
COURSE GOALS:
- Identify important moments, institutions, movements, shifts in Mormon discourse on gender and sexuality
- Historicize these shifts/situate them in broader American context
- Explore how different theoretical/theological approaches to gender (essentialist, cultural construction, queer) inform the analysis of gender in Mormonism
- Develop analytic and research skills
COVERED TOPICS INCLUDE:
Polygamy; Women and Agency in the 19th Century; Same-Sex Dynamics and Kinship in the 19th Century; Mormon Women, Motherhood, and Social Voice; Mormon Women and Resurgent Mormon Feminism; Mother in Heaven; Women and priesthood; Masculinity, priesthood, and patriarchy; Sexuality and Reproduction; Homosexuality; Same-Sex Marriage
REQUIRED TEXTS:
- Richard L. Bushman, Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction
- Holbrook and Bowman, Women and Mormonism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
- D. Michael Quinn, Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth Century Americans: A Mormon Example
- Brooks, Steenblik, and Wheelwright, Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings
- Other readings will be made available electronically