Queering Health and Social Sciences: LGBTQIA+ Perspectives

This course will introduce students to key theoretical, philosophical, and historical perspectives, issues and debates on queerness. At the heart of this programme is the view that emphasises a multiplicity of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and + (LGBTQIA+) experiences that are grounded within specific political and ideological contexts. The course uses a decolonial optic that challenges dominant Western centrism within queer studies. The course engages with topics such as the everyday lives of LGBTQIA+ people; the construction of normal and abnormal genders, sexualities, relationships and bodies; queer futures; intersectionality of queer experience while keeping the focus on the locality and particular socio-historical context of queer lives. The course brings resources on transgender, gender expansive, and queer lives, touching upon struggles, resistances, and possibilities from diverse geographical locations and disciplinary perspectives. The implications and applications of such concepts and perspectives to real-world contexts, communities, and disciplines within health and social sciences will be considered. The course is open to counselling students and practitioners as well as other students and professionals such as healthcare and social workers, mental health practitioners, nurses, educators, and related disciplines.

SCQF Credits: 20

Credit Level: 11

Year Taken: Postgraduate