1.03 (V) Introduction to Queering Identities
Hello, I'm Dr. Katie Mohrman. I'm Dr. Jacob McWilliams, and we're delighted to welcome you to this course on Queer Identities and Issues. Throughout this course, we will provide an overview of key terms and concepts related to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences. This course is also designed as an introduction to queer theory which is a theoretical tool for analyzing and critiquing cultural beliefs and values. We've created this course for anybody who's interested in learning more about queer and transgender people or about key issues in LGBTQ+ inclusion. Whether you're brand new to this topic or you've been thinking and talking about LGBTQ+ issues for most of your life, we hope you'll learn and grow as you work through this class. This course is open to anybody who wants to learn more about LGBTQ+ issues and identities. It's fine if you don't yet know the language people use to talk about queer and transgender people. Throughout this course, we'll provide you with resources to help you with terminology and key concepts. We hope you'll also draw from your own experiences with gender and sexuality, as well as the experiences of other participants as personal resources that can help you during the course and after you've completed this course. As a participant in this class, we ask you to work on interacting with other participants with curiosity and a commitment to mutual respect. We'll ask you to focus on two key strategies during this course. First, do your best to avoid language that others might find offensive. One of the central terms for this course is the word "queer". For much of its history, queer was considered an insulting or offensive term for gay people or for people who don't conform to society's rules about gender. This term has recently been reclaimed by some members of the LGBTQ+ community. That is why we use it in this course as well as because it has a specific theoretical use that's important to us. We recognize though that it's still a contested word, and that for some people, it might provoke feelings of anger, sadness, or fear. We hope that we can also generate some positive associations with the term queer throughout this course. We intend to show that it's a useful term in many important ways. There are a lot of other terms that have either fallen out of use or are used only or primarily in insulting or offensive ways. It's okay to use one of these terms once or twice if you don't know that they're outdated or offensive, but if other participants or the course instructors flag a word as offensive or problematic, you will need to stop using it. The second strategy we hope you'll try is to do your best to speak only about your own experiences. It's best practice not to speak on behalf of all people who share your identities. For example, not all queer or transgender folks think or feel the same, anymore than all straight or cisgender folks think or feel the same. We hope that all participants will expand their understanding of the wide variety of experiences, beliefs, and perspectives people bring to LGBTQ+ issues as a result of taking this course. You can help us with that by ensuring that those wide varieties of experiences are represented fairly and equally. We want to thank you for devoting your time and energy to this course. We're excited to guide you on your path through course materials and topics. We hope you'll value taking the course as much as we valued creating it for you.
