EGS4066F - Geographies Of Sexualities: Identity, Place, &

Course Outline:

This course explores and critically engages with geographical research related to sexuality, with a particular focus on the interrelationships between identity, place and health. The course explores how geographical thinking on sexuality – and in particular on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) groups – has evolved over time, and the key relationships that have emerged between the study of sexuality and the study of health needs and inequalities. Starting with an exploration of the historical roots of the geographies of sexualities literature the course will go on to explore the connections such work has had with wider post-structuralist queer theories, globalization debates, and research on sexualities drawn from sub-Saharan Africa. The course will then situate such work in relation to the development of work on HIV/ AIDS prevention, treatment and care, by considering how sexualities have been variously framed, and the at times limited conceptual space for an appreciation of diverse sexual identities. The course then draws together these various strands to consider the options and possibilities for current HIV programming in Cape Town for LGBT groups together with a critical examination of the epidemiological logics and conceptual challenges of the public health deployment of ‘men who have sex with men’(MSM).