U. Central Arkansas Offering ‘Queer Childhoods’ English Class

U. Central Arkansas Offering ‘Queer Childhoods’ English Class

Why can’t childhood be left out of this topic, and why does the left keep pushing this?

The College Fix reports:

University of Central Arkansas offers ‘queer childhoods’ English class

“Queer Childhoods” and “Gender and Sexuality” are among the classes English students can take this semester at the University of Central Arkansas. The courses have drawn criticism from education experts who question the value of such topics.

Professor Christine Case is offering an “interdisciplinary writing” course focused on “queer childhoods” twice this semester.  The university’s course description only lists the generic information for the writing course.

Case has previously described herself as a “queer disabled poet PhD writing about fairy tales and sing-alongs, ocean critters and lava flows” in a book she wrote. Her doctorate is in “critical and cultural studies” from the University of Pittsburgh.

She wrote her doctoral dissertation on “race, gender, and dis/ability” in fairy tales. “Influenced by queer of color critique and contemporary girlhood studies, this research centers interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches to performance, race, gender, and popular culture, particularly in US contexts,” the professor wrote.

Case has not responded to an emailed inquiry asking for more information about the course in the past month.

“Gender and Language,” taught by another professor, provides “an overview of the sociolinguistics of language and its relationships to gender,” according to a course description. “The course develops awareness of language as a system of rules, codes, and prescribed attitudes to gender roles.”

The English department Chair Ty Hawkins did not respond via email or phone for comment on the courses in the past month.

However, several education experts criticized the classes.

The classes are “dubious ways to tackle great literature” and there are “many richer, more rigorous, and more constructive requirements” for the university to offer for an English major,” Frederick Hess told The Fix via email. He is the senior fellow and director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

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