Hello! I am James Hill and this is my blog for Professor Jody Valentine’s History of Sexuality, which I’m taking spring of 2020. I am a sophomore and a classics major. I signed up for this course because I have heard that Jody is an incredible professor. Additionally, as a queer person, I am interested in looking at the classical world from a queer lens.
My aims for this course overlap fairly well with the course aims. Mainly, I hope to deepen my understanding of sexuality and its influence, or lack thereof, throughout history, especially in the classical world. I have taken multiple courses on the classical world, but there was little emphasis placed on sexuality. From personal readings, I have found various examples of interesting relationships to sexuality, but I am excited to encounter such relationships with a focus on sexuality, as well as a knowledge from Foucault’s theories.
Transgression In Action 
James!! So excited to have another class with you this semester. I really like your intentions you have set for coming into this class. I’m in here for similar reasons, and I am sure we will have our curiosities satisfied by the end of the semester. Can’t wait for what’s ahead!
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Hi James!! I had really similar reasons for signing up for this class. I think it will be interesting to read sources that aren’t just me going on Wikipedia holes looking up things about Sappho, since they’ll be a lot more informative. I have similar experiences with classics classes not talking about sexuality and I’m excited to study it from an academic perspective.
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Hi James, Your experience participating in multiple classical courses with content had little to no mention of human sexuality resonated with my own experiences in classical courses. This was also one of the reasons why I took this course and I’m excited to re-examine classical texts through the lens of this course.
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