Gender Euphoria: Exploring Gender, Identity, & Sexuality in Contemporary Art & Design

Prerequisites: All OF THE FOLLOWING: ARTDES 300: Any 300 Level Studio.

Description: “Gender Dysphoria” is the diagnosis listed in the DSM‑5 to describe individuals who experience a mismatch between their gender identity and the sex assigned at birth. While useful in accessing treatment, some critics reject the term as pathologizing difference by reinforcing a binary idea of gender. In this course, we will explore how bodies labeled ​“different,” not only in terms of gender and sexuality, but as in terms of size, ability, and race/​ethnicity, are not only sites of trauma and alienation but of desire, dissent, creativity, and celebration. An overview of social construction/​queer theory, and the history of artists/​designers who have made work by, for, and with different/​dissident bodies, will inform our creative work.