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Course descriptionand objectives

Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism

University of Southern California

MWF 1:00-3:50pmGrace Ford Salvatori Hall (SFS) 108

Dayna ChatmanOffice: ASC G6Email: dchatman@usc.eduOffice hours: TBD

COMM 395: GENDER. MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

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What is gender? How is gender different from, but established as inherently connected to, sex? What role does media play in shaping our understandings of gender? What does the study of gender have to do with the field of communication? These are just some of the questions that this course raises and aims to address. COMM 395: Gender, Media and Communication is an upper-division theory course. It is designed to help students gain awareness about media’s role in shaping and circulating communication about gender. This course seeks to help students cultivate the ability to reflect upon and analyze representations of gender within various media spaces (e.g. film, television, advertising, social media, etc.). This is an interdisciplinary course where, through lecture and seminar-style discussion, students will learn theories about gender and media drawn from communication and film studies, sociology, feminist studies, and cultural studies. We will use these theories to examine how media construct or produce gender as “common sense,” and thus influence how we, as gendered individuals, communicate, behave, and respond to our surroundings. This course incorporates an intersectional approach to the study of representations of gender in media, and in doing so underscores how other categories of identity--such as race, ethnicity, sex, nationality, class, and sexual orientation--nuance our characterizations and interpretations of depictions of masculinity and femininity. Topics covered in this course include: gender discourse and the body; gender and “the gaze”; gender in advertising; gender and LGBTQ identity in media; post-feminist media culture; gender in animated and actions films; and more.

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This is an intensive 7-week summer course that involves extensive reading, writing, and discussion.

You are expected to do all of the readings, attend all scheduled classes, complete all assignments, and participate fully in class discussion. As this course is about media, there will be screenings during each class that require your presence.

In recognition that there are a multiple learning styles, I will assess your learning in several different ways.

• Participation (20%)—You should come to class prepared to ask questions and ready to make lively, insightful, substantive and respectful contributions to our discussion of the course materials. There will be periodic informal writing assignments, group activities, and chances to lead discussion, which will be factored into your grade. Your mere presence in class does not constitute participation in class.

• Mini-Exams (3) (5% each)—You will have three mini-exams that test your comprehension of the course materials. These exams will be short answer questions.

• Blog posts (2) (10% each)—You will be required to write two short blog posts that will be posted to the course Wordpress blog. Each post will require something different. In the first blog post you will analyze a media artifact of your choosing and place it in conversation with at least two readings already covered in the course. For the second blog post you will construct a meme (visual/textual image) that critiques or challenges a particular gender discourse. You should then explain your meme and place it in conversation with two course readings. Posts must be between 400-600 words, checked (proofread) for grammar and spelling mistakes, and use a citation style such as APA or MLA. (Please reference the appropriate guide for the proper way to cite the texts you use. Purdue Owl is a resource where you can learn the guidelines.)

• Gender in Media Playlist (25%)—For the final project you will select a theme either covered in the class, or one not covered but that you want to explore (e.g. sexual violence in media, representations of domesticity, etc.). Using 4 to 5 forms of media (e.g. images, advertisements, movie trailers, television clips, etc.) that relate to that theme, you will 1) engage in an intertextual analysis that highlights the connections between the media examples you have selected, and 2) provide a critique that is grounded in the theories about gender we explore throughout the course. Further details about this assignment will be provided in a supplemental handout.

• Gender in Film Paper and Presentation (20%)—You will be required to write a 4-5 page essay about how gender is represented in either an animated or action film, and give a 15-20 minute presentation to the class on 7/21 or 7/23. This presentation should include the use of a visual aid (e.g. Powerpoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Presentation, etc). Further details about this assignment will be provided in a supplemental handout.

Evaluation You will be evaluated on: your level of engagement with the course material (as evidenced by written work, and class participation); and your capacity to correctly and cogently apply the theories and approaches you learn in class to the analysis of media artifacts (as evidenced by written work and class participation). All written work will be graded on: how well it demonstrates your comprehension of the theories and course readings; how well it articulates, organizes, and structures its arguments and supplies supporting evidence; how well it adheres to writing standards related to spelling, grammar, citation style, etc.

Course requirementsGE

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Student learning outcomes (SLOs) By the end of this course, you will have learned:

• How knowledge about gender is produced and communicated through various media

• How to apply key concepts/theories about gender to the analysis of media

• How to analyze representational politics as it pertains not only to gender, but also race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality

• How to engage in written media criticism

• How dominant notions about gender are maintained, challenged, negotiated, and/or resisted through/within contemporary media

Assignment deadlines & attendance All assignments must be completed and submitted by the designated deadline in order to avoid a grade reduction. If you are unable to turn in an assignment or take an exam due to illness or a personal emergency, written documentation is required, and/or the instructor must be notified in a timely manner.

Attendance is mandatory; it will be taken each day that the class meets. Your participation grade will be affected by your promptness and level of attention during class. More than two absences without explanation will

result in deduction of half a grade off the final grade per absence.

Disability Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 am -5:00pm, Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Plagiarism & classroom etiquette The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to maintaining the highest standards

of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found responsible for plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course and may be dismissed as a major.

In addition to the formal academic integrity policy, our pedagogical policy is based on mutual respect; all students are encouraged to use the classroom as a space in which to speak and to voice their opinions. Our expectation is that you will respect on only the professors/instructors but also your fellow classmates when they are participating in discussion.

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4Course Readings

There is no textbook for this course. All reading materials are housed online and must be downloaded. Materials can be found in the course Google Docs folder.

Course Blog

All Blog Posts and the Gender in Media playlist will be posted to: www.comm395.wordpress.com

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4Technology Use Policy Use of laptops in the classroom is a privilege. You may use a laptop or tablet devise in class ONLY for taking notes and participating in other in-class activities. if you abuse this privilege by checking email, Facebook, etc., you will be marked as absent for that class period. All other electronic devices such as cell phones, music players, etc., must be turned off and put away before class begins.

Syllabus & course schedule (May be subject to revision)

Day Topic Readings, Scheduled Screenings & Assignments

W 7/2 Gender as a social construction: Gender and Childhood

•Judith Lorber, “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology”•Michael Messner, “Barbie Girls and Sea Monsters: Children Constructing Gender”•Recommended: Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution”•In-class screening: “You Can’t Be a Princess” from ABC’s What Would You Do?

F 7/4 ***No class, Fourth of July Holiday***

M 7/7 Not just gender: Intersectionality

•Kimberle Crenshaw, “Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism and 2 Live Crew”•L.S. Kim, “Representing Race”•Yajaira Padilla, “Domesticating Rosario: Conflicting Representations of the Latina Maid in U.S. Media”•In-class screening: “Pilot”, Devious Maids

W 7/9 Producing gender: Discourse & the body

•Michel Foucault, “Two Lectures” read pages 92-108•Sandra Lee Bartky, “Femininity, Foucault and the Modernization of the Body”•Susan Bordo, “Introduction” from Unbearable Weight•In-class screening: Fit: Episodes in the History of the Body

F 7/11 Gender, the body, and the gaze

***Blog Post #1 Due***•Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”•Aisha Durham, “Check On It”•Nicole Fleetwood, “Excess Flesh: Black Women Performing Hypervisibiliy”•Optional: Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, “Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge”

All courses readings can be found online in the COMM 395 (Summer 2014) Google Doc folder. The folder is organized by week and then day so that you can accurately locate each reading. It is suggested that you read the materials in the order that they appear listed below.

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M 7/14 Women, religion and fashion in the media

***Mini-Exam #1***•Jasmin Zine, “Muslim Women and the Politics of Representation”•Mennahshi Gigi Durham, “Displaced Persons: Symbols of South Asian Femininity and the Returned Gaze in U.S. Media Culture”

W 7/16 Masculinities in Media •Helene Shugart, “Managing Masculinities: The Metrosexual Moment”•Murali Balaji, “Owning Black Masculinity: The Intersection of Cultural Commodification and Self-Construction in Rap Music Videos”•Matthew Salesses, “Asian American Men and Masculinity: A Conversation”

F 7/18 Gender in advertising •Susan Bordo, “Hunger as Ideology”•Michael A. Messner and Jeffrey Montez de Oca, “The Male Consumer as Loser: Beer and Liquor Ads in Mega Sports Media Events”

M 7/21 Gender in Animated Films

***Presentations***•Ken Gillam and Shannon Wooden, “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney Pixar”•Karin Martin and Emily Kazyak, “Hetero-romantic Love and Heterosexiness in Children’s G-Rated Films”•Laura Sumera, “The Mask of Beauty: Masquerade Theory and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”

W 7/23 Gender in Action Films

*** Presentations*** ALL Papers Due•Yvonne Tasker, “Dumb Movies for Dumb People: Masculinity, the Body, and the Voice in Contemporary Action Cinema”•Lisa Coulthard, “Killing Bill: Rethinking Feminism and Film Violence”

F 7/25 Gender, and LGBTQ identity in media

•Guillermo Avila-Saavedra, “Nothing Queer about Queer Television: Televised construction of Gay Masculinities” •Lynn Joyrich, “Queer Television Studies: Currents, Flows, and (Main)streams”•Recommended: Michel Foucault, “We Other Victorians,” and “The Repressive Hypothesis”•In-class screening: Episodes from The New Normal, and Modern Family

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M 7/28 Gender, and LGBTQ identity in media

***Mini-Exam #2***•Judith Halberstam, “The Transgender Look”• McDonald, Laverne, and Williams, “Black Trans Bodies Are Under Attack” (Parts I & 2)•In-class screening: Episode from Orange is the New Black

W 7/30 Feminism as Girl Power!(?) •Rebecca Hains, “Did the Spice Girls Kill Feminism?”•Sarah Projanski, “What is There to Talk About?: Twenty-First Century Girl Films”•Optional: Sarah Banet-Weiser, “Girls Rule! Gender, Feminism, and Nickelodeon”

F 8/1 Feminism, empowerment, and popular music

•Angela Davis, “Mama’s Got The Blues: Rivals, Girlfriends, and Advisors”•Britni Danielle, “bell hooks on Beyonce: She Is a ‘Terrorist’ Because of Her ‘Impact On Young Girls’”•In-class screening: Videos from Beyonce’s visual album

M 8/4 Post-feminism and make-over reality television

***Blog Post #2 Due***•Rosalind Gill, “Post-Feminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility”•Alice Marwick, “There’s a Beautiful Girl Under All of That: Performing Hegemonic Femininity on Reality Television” •In-class screening: Episode of The Swan, clips from other make-over shows

W 8/6 Women & social media: DIY culture

•Julie Ann Wilson and Emily Chivers Yochim, “Pinning Happiness: Affect, Social Media, and Women’s Work”•Elizabeth Groeneveld, “Join the Knitting Revolution”: Third-Wave Feminist Magazines and the Politics of Domesticity”

F 8/8 Women & social media: self-branding online

•Sarah Banet-Weiser, “Branding the Post-Feminist Self: The Labor of Femininity” •Sarah Banet-Weiser and Inna Arzumanova, “Creative Authorship: Self-Actualization, Individuals and the Self-Brand”

M 8/11 Gender, Media and Fandom

***Mini-Exam #3***•Henry Jenkins, “Star Trek Rerun, Reread, Rewritten: Fan Writing as Textual Poaching”•In-class screening: Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony (2012)

T 8/12 ***Gender in Media Playlists Due***