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Queer America: Precolonial to Present | A History Summer Camp
Beth Foster | Humanities Educator
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In this four-day summer camp, learners will explore the history of LGBTQ people, activism, and rights in America from the Precolonial Era through the present.
Class experience
US Grade 9 - 12
In this four-day summer camp, learners will explore the history of LGBTQ people and rights in American history. The camp will primarily consist of lectures with slides, including photos and videos, with an emphasis placed on learner discussion. Monday: We will begin by looking at language. We will talk about the limitations of modern language to explore queer history before the twentieth century. Terms such as lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, straight, cisgender,...
The learning goal of this camp is for students to become more familiar with LGBTQ American history as a way of interpreting current events impacting LGBTQ rights in the United States.
I have a master of arts degree in American history, and bachelor of arts degrees in political science, English, and communications with a journalism emphasis. I am lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on humanities education within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of humans and non-humans living on Planet Earth. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for several years.
1 file available upon enrollmentWhile not a requirement for the course, students are encouraged to read Michael Bronski's "A Queer History of the United States for Young People" before, during, or after the class.
The content covered in this camp will include colonization, slavery, genocide, war, disease, death, oppression, police brutality, sexual orientation, gender diversity, and marriage equality. The historical realities of U.S. history are disturbing to almost all students, but may be especially difficult for some learners. Please consider whether your learner is ready to grapple with this content before enrolling. There will also be mentions of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and alcohol consumption in the content. These mentions will not be graphic and will be discussed in as age-appropriate manner as possible. Exploring American history always leads to connections with current events. Students will be encouraged to make these connections and this will lead to conversations about current political debates. My objective when this happens is to facilitate a civil, thoughtful, learner-led conversation in which students arrive at connections through their own analysis.
-- The Routledge History of Queer America by Don Romesburg -- "The 'Deviant' African Genders That Colonialism Condemned," by Mohammed Elnaiem in "JSTOR Daily" -- Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature, edited by Qwo-Li Driskill, et al. -- LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History, edited by Megan E. Springate -- Teaching LBGTQ History: Instructional Resources for California Educators, Students, & Families, https://lgbtqhistory.org/ -- A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski -- "William Dorsey Swann: From slavery to queer freedom in 1880s as America’s first drag queen," by Kittredge Cherry, QSpirit, https://qspirit.net/william-dorsey-swann-queer/ -- "But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love in the 19th Century," by Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/but-were-they-gay-the-mystery-of-same-sex-love-in-the-19th-century/262117/ -- That's So Gay: Outing Early America, https://www.librarycompany.org/gayatlcp/
Star Educator
Popular
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(340)
From ancient times, humans have used stories to better understand themselves and their place in the universe. Stories explain our past and how we can create a better time and world for ourselves and those who will come after us. This is the heart...
Group Class
$60
for 4 classes4x per week, 1 week
45 min
Completed by 6 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
2-10 learners per class
