GNDR 3671 - Gender and Colonialism in the Pacific

This class examines the significance of gender and sexuality in the Pacific Islands and its diaspora. It explores how instilling Western norms of gender and sexuality has been key to various forms of colonialism, imperialism, and militarism across Oceania. It also investigates how revitalizing Indigenous Pacific Islander epistemologies about gender and sexuality have also been central to decolonizing movements in the Pacific. The class provides students with tools to critically analyze and go beyond the popular idea of the Pacific as a feminized tropical paradise, and consider the importance of gender and sexuality to Indigenous knowledges and political movements. Readings and topics are drawn from interdisciplinary sources, including History, Literature, Pacific Island Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Indigenous Studies.