Location: MIT

Tuesdays 7:00PM - 9:00PM

October 18, 2016 - November 15, 2016

This seminar will explore the role that sports play in understanding gendered, raced, and sexed bodies in the U.S. The world of sports produces concepts and images of embodiment that effect institutionalized gender and race relations, and in turn, sexism and racism continue to structure the world of sports. Do biological differences between male and female bodies justify "separate and different, but equal" treatment in sports?  How is binary biological sex to be understood in a sports world complicated by anabolic steroids, intersexed individuals, and trans people?  Why was it considered socially inappropriate for U.S. white women to run track in the 1940’s while U.S. black women became international track stars? How are the characteristics of heavy musculature, strength, toughness, and resilience associated with gender bias in conceptions of leadership? This micro-seminar includes topics and concepts that would be relevant to students interested in gender studies, trans studies, race studies, embodiment theory, and sports theory. 

Faculty

Jo Trigilio is Director of the Graduate Program in Gender/Cultural Studies at Simmons College and Senior Lecturer of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies.  She is also Co-Chair of the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS).  Dr. Trigilio specializes in oppression/liberation theories, including feminist, gender, sexuality, race, and queer theories, with an interest in the intersection of theory and practice. Dr. Trigilio is politically active in the queer community of Boston and is currently leading the Boston Dyke March History and Archive Project.