Early Modern Trans Studies - bmc.ENGL.B305.001.F26

Section outline

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  General

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  Course Description

  Why has it been possible to envision a gay or a queer but never a trans Renaissance? This course asks what it means to imagine histories of transness that extend back to the early modern period, centuries before the development of a sexological vocabulary for gender identity. Through a series of literary, historical, and theoretical readings, we ask: how did premodern subjects imagine gender variance? Who exactly was transitioning then, and what does it mean to understand them as trans? How does the early modern history of trans life converge with histories of racism, colonialism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia? How might we construct the history of cisness? We will consider together how early modern texts speak to the historical, theoretical, and political concerns that animate contemporary trans studies.

  Required Texts (available at Bryn Mawr Bookstore)

  ·         - Margaret Cavendish, The Blazing World and Other Writings (Penguin, 1994)

  ·         - John Donne: The Major Works, ed. John Carey (Oxford World's Classics, 2009)

  ·         - C. de Erauso, Lieutenant Nun, trans. Michele and Gabriel Stepto (Beacon Press, 1997)

  ·         - John Lyly, Galatea and Midas, ed. George Hunter and David Bevington (The Revels Plays, 2007)

  ·         - The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton, ed. William Kerrigan, John Rumrich, and Stephen Fallon (The Modern Library, 2007)

  Class Information

  • Class Time: M/W 11:40-1:00
  • Classroom: English House III
  • My email: cgordon1@brynmawr.edu
  • Office: Dalton 6

  Office Hours

  • In Person: Tuesdays, 9:00-12:00 in English House 210 (sign up at this Calendly link)
  • And by appointment (email me if those times don't work)

  • Select activity Slideshows

    

    Slideshows Folder
  • Select activity Syllabus

    

    Syllabus File PDF

    114.9 KB · Uploaded 08/31/26, 10:00
  • Select activity Stage A Scene

    

    Stage A Scene Assignment

    Due: Friday, December 18, 2026, 12:00 PM
  • Select activity Rest Activity

    

    Rest Activity Assignment

    Due: Friday, December 18, 2026, 12:00 AM
• Select section Week 1

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  Week 1

  Mon., Aug. 31: Intro to Class

  Wed., Sept. 2: 

  • Shakespeare, Sonnet 3 and Sonnet 20
  • Susan Stryker, "My Words to Victor Frankenstein"
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  Week 2

  Mon., Sept 7: No Class (Labor Day)

  Wed., Sept. 9: John Lyly, Galatea, Acts 1-3
• Select section Week 3

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  Week 3

  Mon., Sept. 14: 

  • John Lyly, Galatea, Acts 4-5
  • Simone Chess, "Queer Residue"

  Wed., Sept. 16:

  • William Prynne, Histriomastix
  • Beans Velocci, Sex Isn't Real, Introduction (pgs. 1-14 only)
• Select section Week 4

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  Week 4

  Mon., Sept. 21: No Class (Yom Kippur)

  Wed., Sept. 23: John Milton, "Prolusion 6;" "The Passion;" Apology for Smectymnuus
• Select section Week 5

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  Week 5

  Mon, Sept. 28:

  • John Milton, A Maske at Ludlow Castle 
  • Jules Gill-Peterson, Histories of the Transgender Child (pgs. 1-11 only)

  Wed., Sept. 30: Meet in Special Collections (Canaday Library)
• Select section Week 6

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  Week 6

  Mon, Oct. 5: C. de Erauso, Lieutenant Nun (pgs. 3-79)

  Wed., Oct. 7: Exam 1 (In-Class)
• Select section Week 7

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  Week 7

  Mon, Oct: 12: No Class, Fall Break

  Wed., Oct 14: No Class, Fall Break
• Select section Week 8

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  Week 8

  Mon, Oct. 19: 

  • George Herbert, "Love (I)," "Love (II)," and "Love (III)"
  • Aaron Kunin, Love Three

  Wed., Oct. 21:

  • John Donne, "The Funerall," "The Relique," "Sappho and Philaenis," "The Undertaking"
  • Grace Lavery, "Egg Theory's Early Style"
• Select section Week 9

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  Week 9

  Mon., Oct. 26:

  • John Donne, "A nocturnall upon S. Lucie's day," "The Extasie," Death's Duel
  • Maxi Wallenhorst, "Dissociative Style and Trans Aesthetics"

  Wed., Oct. 28: Margaret Cavendish, Blazing World
• Select section Week 10

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  Week 10

  Mon., Nov. 2: Margaret Cavendish, Blazing World

  Wed., Nov. 4: John Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 1-2
• Select section Week 11

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  Week 11

  Mon., Nov. 9: John Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 4 and 8

  Wed., Nov. 11:

  • John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1-1061
  • Andrea Long Chu, "Did Sissy Porn Make Me Trans? "
• Select section Week 12

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  Week 12

  Mon., Nov. 16:

  • John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1062-end
  • Jules Gill-Peterson, "The Cis State"

  Wed., Nov. 18: Exam 2 (In-Class)
• Select section Week 13

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  Week 13

  Mon., Nov. 23:

  • Marie de France, Yonec
  • Holly Dugan, "Early Modern Tranimals: 57312"

  Wed., Nov. 25: No Class (Thanksgiving)
• Select section Week 14

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  Week 14

  Mon., Nov. 30: Edmund Spenser, The Mutabilitie Cantos

  Wed., Dec. 2: John Milton, Paradise Regained, Books 1-2
• Select section Week 15

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  Week 15

  Mon., Dec. 7: John Milton, Paradise Regained, Books 3-4

  Wed., Dec. 9: Last Class :(
• Select section Finals Week

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  Finals Week

  Exam 3, Self-Scheduled, due by Dec. 18