Hawaii university offering sexuality studies courses on ‘oceanic gender’ and ‘queer dance’

One course conducts an ‘[a]nalysis of imperialism, colonialism, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and queer(ed) relations and identities in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.’

by Emma Arns, Campus Reform, July 9, 2024

The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa is offering a selection of courses focused on gender identity and feminism this upcoming academic year.

According to UHM, the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) department aims to “emphasize multicultural and global education and innovative feminist research on gender, sexuality, ethnic and national diversity, and social justice.” 

UHM students can enroll in various WGSS classes offered by the College of Social Science. These include WGSS 371: “Oceanic Gender, Sexual, and Kinship Identities,” WGSS 343: Intersectional Feminist Geographies,” and WGSS 357: “Queer Dance Exploratory,” among others.

Courses such as SOC 625: “Feminist Criminology” and SOC 311: “Survey of Social Inequality and Stratification” are also offered through UHM’s College of Social Sciences.

Students who register for WGSS 371 will explore gender from an “Oceania-centric perspective.” The course will conduct an “[a]nalysis of imperialism, colonialism, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and queer(ed) relations and identities in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.”

The WCGS 343 course in Intersectional Feminist Geographies “explores space and place from intersectional feminist perspectives including Indigenous, Black, island, post-colonial and queer geographies.” 

SOC 625 highlights “the ways in which the criminal justice system controls women and girls.” Students will analyze “masculinities and crime” and “race and intersectionality.”

UHM is not the only university offering courses on gender and sexuality studies. 

In 2023, the University of Maryland announced a course aimed at “center[ing] Blackness to meditate upon the overlapping and interwoven categories of race, gender, and sexuality with the goal of decoupling whiteness from LGBTQ+ studies and decoupling heterosexuality from Black studies.” The university also announced a course teaching students to “speak of and imagine sex in an environment that values non-violence and respect for all bodies and genders.”

Campus Reform has reached out to the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.