How has sexuality come to be imagined and theorized historically and how has it emerged as an object of inquiry in the social sciences? What are the cultural processes through which the conceptual, experiential and embodied categories of male/female, man/woman, masculine/feminine are produced? How is the relationship between nature and nurture talked about? This course addresses these questions by examining gender and sexuality as a set of social relations whose boundaries are fluid, and that occupy a range of possibilities. We will look at ideas of sex, classifications of sexuality, and ritualized practices that form a multitude of sexual cultures-from "boy insemination" in Melanesia to the "third gender hijras" in India, to the "Pride" marches in San Francisco and New York City. Through a variety of cross cultural texts, we will explore the ways in which particular sites, for instance, the domestic sphere, the work place, political movements, the clinic, the anthropological field site, become gendered spaces. In so doing, we will also reflect on anthropology and ethnographic writing as gendered pursuits. Format: seminar. Evaluation will be based on oral presentations, brief weekly response papers, and a 10-page final paper. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit:20 (expected: 20). Preference given to anthropology and sociology majors.