The Women and Gender Studies department at Winona State University will offer a new class for the fall 2008 semester: Queer Cinema.
Instructed by Dan Lintin, Queer Cinema is scheduled Thursdays from 6-9 p.m.
This is the first time this class has been offered at Winona State.
Students taking Queer Cinema will watch and discuss films in which gays are portrayed. The films chosen will have gay content and actors, and discussion topics will surround the issues and history of the film.
The course will examine where queer cinema has evolved in the past 30-40 years and look at the stereotypes of gays in each film.
“It is important to see these films,” says Lintin. “The experience can be powerful.”
Lintin himself has watched over 200 films portraying gays in his life and is in the process of deciding which he will show in the class.
Films included to date are Children’s Hour, Personal Best, Making Love and Brokeback Mountain.
“Most of these films are shown at film festivals,” says Lintin.
Many gay films are not shown in theaters because of the pressure to keep them out of studios.
Brokeback Mountain is one of the first widely-shown films that portrays gays as “normal.”
Lintin says most gay films portray the gay community as dark and suicidal.
His hope is for students to gain an understanding of how gay films have progressed, and rid student’s minds of stereotypes surroundings gay actors or actors who star in gay rolls.
“I want to celebrate queer cinema and where it is now,” says Lintin.
Lintin started the idea for Queer Cinema after conducting a variety of studies surrounding the subject.
He wrote a paper for a humanity conference titled “Making Love,” which was the topic of his first research on the gay community. Lintin has also had several years of involvement with the Women and Gender Studies program.
Lintin instructs a module in the Introduction to Women and Gender Studies class, as well as speech and argument courses.
In the past, Lintin instructed a Gay Rights and Pop Culture course.
He hopes to continue teaching classes on gay image.
Lintin is currently conducting research on gay images on YouTube.com.
Lintin hopes that all 50 seats will be filled in the Queer Cinema class and that new interest will arise.

Questions or comments?
Contact Jessica at
JLLarsen0487@winona.edu

Questions or comments?
Contact Lydia at
LCOglesb3075@winona.edu