The calendar is subject to change over the course of the semester as we learn what we find most compelling and engaging. Any changes will be reflected on this page.

Week 1 | Date | Introduction

Week 2 | Date | What is Love?

• Read: bell hooks (2000) All About love preface and intro
• Read: “Love as action” (2025), Psychology Today’s Blog Post.
• Read: What Happens in Your Brain When You’re in Love?
• Read and Explore the Interactive Components: “Is the Love Song Dying?” 

Assignments Due: “What is Love?” Song Analysis.

Week 3 | Date | Valentine’s Day and the Commodification of Love

• Read: Montclair University Study, “Does the OverCommercialization of Valentine’s Day on Social Media Leave Us Living in a Sadder, Material World?”
• Read: This Valentine’s Day, Let’s Look to Marxists to Reimagine Love, Romance and Sex

Week 4  | Date | The Nuclear Family and Alternate Family Structures

• Watch: The History of Marriage (5 mins)
• Read: Modern Love, Singleness is Not a Stigma* (2022)
• Read: Modern Love, Seeking a Father for My Child (Relationship Optional)* (2022)
• Read: Two Women Redefine What it Means to Marry Your Best Friend* (2024)
• Read: Intro from Text me when you get home (2018) [digital access through CUNY library]
• Listen: Multiamory Podcast Episode 432 “The Podcast to Share with Your Parents” (54 mins)
• Read: Pleasure Activism “On Non-Monogamy” (2019) [digital access through CUNY library]

Note: All CUNY students receive a free subscription to the New York Times. Please follow this link for more details. 

Week 5 | Date | Masculinities

• Listen (37 minutes): Podcast Speaking of Psychology, American Psychological Association, episode 162: Men, Masculinity and Mental Health (2021)
• Read: How teen boys navigate the Andrew Tate Effect (2024) [digital access through CUNY Library]
• Read: Building Bridges Across Stories: Developing Cross-Cultural partnerships to challenge masculinity (Mosso, 2023)
• Watch: How Barbers Are Encouraging Men to Open Up About Mental Health Issues (3 mins)

Week 6 | Date | Queer and Trans Love 

• Read: Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality” (1980)
• Read: Queer (In)justice: Chapter 3 “The Ghosts of Stonewall: Policing Gender, Policing Sex” (2011) [digital access through CUNY library] The ghosts of stonewall
• Watch: Stonewall Forever – A Documentary about the Past, Present and Future of Pride (22 mins) 

Week 7 | Date | Field Trip: Queer History Walking Tour 

• Meet at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, Manhattan at 3:05 pm

Week 8 | Date | Interracial Love

• Read: Interracial Marriage Laws Timeline
• Read: Eugenics and Scientific Racism
• Watch: Do Interracial Couples View Racism the Same Way? (6 mins)
• Read: Modern Love, Race Wasn’t an Issue to Him, Which Was an Issue to Me* 
• Read: Modern Love, Accepting Applications for a Black Boyfriend*
• Read: Modern Love, With the Birth of My Son, I Stopped Hiding*

*Note: All CUNY students receive a free subscription to the New York Times. Please follow this link for more details.  

Week 9 | Date | Cross-Caste Love

• Read: Excerpts from Isabel Wilkerson, “Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents” (2020) (pages 62-66; pages 101-104 and 109-112  [digital access through CUNY Library)
• Watch: Segment of Ajeeb Daastans, “Geeli Pucchi” (on Netflix, the segment starts at 1:04:55 and ends at 1:47:30) (42 mins)

Assignments Due: Midterm Case Study.

Week 10 | Date | Age and Consent

• Watch: May December (on Netflix, 1 hr 57 min)
• Read: Excerpts from Jennifer Drobac, “Consent, Teenagers, and (un)Civil(ized) Consequences” (2020) [digital access through Interlibrary Loan]
• Read: “Six Sexual Health Principles” by Shelby Lueders and Michael Vigorito (2010)

In Class: Final Assignment Topic Proposal. 

DATE | NO CLASS: Spring Break 

Week 11 | Date | Love and Disability

• Watch: Season 2 Episode 2, Love on the Spectrum (available on netflix, 45 minutes)
• Read: Excerpts from Piepzna-Samarasinha, Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice “Making Space Accessible is an Act of Love for our Communities (2018) [digital access through CUNY library]
• Read: Excerpt from Pleasure Activism, “Care as Pleasure” (2019) [digital access through CUNY library]
• Listen: NPR, Millions of Disabled Americans Could Lose Federal Benefits if They Get Married (3 minutes)

Week 12 | Date | Love in Activism

• Read: Excerpt from Pleasure Activism, “Love as Political Resistance” (2019) [digital open access through CUNY library]
• Read: Excerpt from Spade, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) (2020)

Week 13 | Date | Final Project Workshop

• Bring a draft of your final project to class

Week 14 | Date | Final Project Presentations

• Assignment due: Final Project
• Due In Class: Final Presentations