Queering Online Pedagogies in Gender & Sexuality Studies

Abstract

This chapter formulates a queer practice of program design and embodied online presence. It seeks to do so in order to structure a more plural and inclusive learning ecology within Gender and Sexuality Studies, a multi- and interdisciplinary field that houses feminist, women’s, and womanist studies as well as queer theory, transgender and nonbinary studies, traditional LGBTQ+ Studies, and beyond. We identify and theorize the queer methods we put into practice in shaping our Gender and Sexuality Studies program with particular attention to LGBTQ+ learners. Ultimately our goal is not only to advocate for enhanced inclusion and creating productive online learning environments for the LBTQ+ learners in our classrooms but also to make the claim that queer approaches and practices offer more robust and culturally relevant Gender and Sexuality Studies programs. With its acceptance of flux, change, multiplicity, and disruption, we believe a queer programmatic paradigm can help shape more generative, inclusive, and robust ecologies of online learning.