Wellesley College is offering a “Queer Bible” course as part of its Jewish Studies program,. It provides an “introduction to the Bible at the intersection of queer theory, biblical interpretation, and the historical study of the ancient Middle East.”
Wellesley is a well-known, staunchly progressive college that is rated one of the top liberal-arts colleges by US News. It has many prominent alumni, such as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The “Queer Bible” class includes “an examination of queer readings of the biblical canon and the canon of contemporary queer theory” and “explores the social construction of gender and examines how people in the biblical world and ancient Middle East maintained and contested gender roles.”
Students will “consider not only the complex interaction between the categories of gender and sexual orientation, but also how contemporary expectations about ‘biological sex,’ patriarchal structures, and the biblical world impede our capacity to understand the biblical text, explore the experiential varieties of gender in the ancient world, and appreciate the inherent queerness of gender.”
The “Queer Bible” instructor, Eric Jarrard, also teaches a class on “Decolonizing the Bible.” That class will “explore the Bible as a tool for decolonization by engaging biblical interpretation by marginalized groups (womanist, mujerista, indigenous, and queer approaches),” and “investigate the role of the Bible as a source of both harm and healing in the history of the world.”
Other classes in Wellesley’s Jewish Studies program include “U.S. Video Game Narratives” and “Minorities in U.S. Comics.”
Cornell University has a class teaching “Queer Marxism.”
Colleges have also offered courses on “Queering God” and “How To Be A Bitch.” Divinity schools have proclaimed that Jesus was “queer,” and have attacked marriage, capitalism, and monogamy.
The University of Chicago course “Queering God” questions if God is queer and explores what queerness has to do with the concept of God. “What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam?” the course description reads.
Westminster College offers the course “How to Be a Bitch.” Students are encouraged to explore what it means to be a “bitch” and “bossy.”
Occidental College offers the course “Black Queer Thought.” The course critiques “the demands of heteronormativity, white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism.”
The University of California at Berkeley hosted a taxpayer-funded lecture on the “Queering of Agriculture.”
Colleges have also held events such as “Queering Menstruation” and “Anal 101.”
