How have historians sought to understand sexual and gender diversity in the past? What methods might we use to interpret sources that contain evidence of gender and sexual diversity? What can the study of minority or non-normative genders and sexualities tell us about how gender and sexuality structure politics, society and culture across time and place? This course introduces PGT students to key questions in queer history and trans history, situates historical scholarship in relation to the distinct but related theoretical and methodological traditions of queer studies and trans studies, and prepares students to do their own research in these and related fields.

One weekly two-hour seminar per week for ten weeks.

HIST5194

None.

One 10-minute seminar presentation (10%).

One 1,000-word primary source research exercise (30%).

One 3,000-word historiographical review essay (60%).

This course aims to:

■ Analyse the development of queer history and trans history as fields of study

■ Engage critically with relevant historiographical and methodological debates

■ Apply the methodologies discussed to the collection and analysis of primary sources

■ Develop advanced skills in independent research and communication (oral and written)

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

■ Assess key developments in the historiographical fields of queer history and trans history

■ Analyse and engage critically with the arguments of theorists and historians 

■ Collect and analyse primary sources and use them to formulate historical arguments

■ Employ oral communication skills through substantive, collaborative contributions to seminar discussion

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.