Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A specific theme within the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, not otherwise covered in depth in regularly scheduled courses, will be dealt with as occasion and demand warrant.

COURSE DETAILS:

Youth literature and other popular forms of media are incredibly sensitive to sociocultural shifts and many scholars of critical youth studies and young adult literature must work within a liminal and constantly shifting theoretical space. With the emergence of books, films, and TV shows that feature more empowered female characters and nuanced male characters, more LGBTQ+ characters, and more racially diverse representation, how do we know what theoretical frame to use for critical analysis? Some engagement with literature and media relies on formalistic components of the work. This course, however, will focus more specifically on intersectional representation in media, critical youth studies, and audience reception to the treatment of gender and sexuality on screen and on the page.

This course will encourage the development of strong critical thinking skills, engaging students in multiple ways of reading a number of books throughout the term. After an examination of YA literature as a literary form, the course will move toward an examination of numerous theoretical frames through which YA texts can be read, including queer theory, transgender studies, various feminist lenses, and masculinity studies. Additionally, we will be examining the emergence of young adults as a separate demographic through a frame of critical youth studies and exploring connections with pop culture representation in other forms of media. Students taking this course should be prepared to engage in close readings of texts and other widely available forms of media online, and approach various types of representation through multiple perspectives throughout the term.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Engage in critical thinking on theories of gender and sexuality in relation to literature and other forms of visual media;
• Understand the emergence of the young adult as a demographic with a unique approach to institutions, popular culture, and contemporary and historical events;
• Prepare and defend a well-argued research paper arguing on some aspect of representations of gender/sexuality in a particular YA novel or film adaptation;
• Examine gender/sexuality through multiple theoretical lenses reading the novels as textual representations of current cultural phenomena;

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/Educational_Goals.html

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: