Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2024 - GSWS 306 D100

Gender, Sexuality and Autobiographical Media (4)

Class Number: 2211

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Oct 11, 2024: Tue, Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

    Oct 16 – Dec 3, 2024: Tue, Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    30 units including three units in GSWS or WS or GDST.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of autobiographical expressions of gender and sexuality across diverse media, including print and visual culture, performance arts, and digital media. Students who have completed WS 306 may not complete this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

MAMMA MIA! GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEDIA


Being a mother is an experience fraught with challenges and sprinkled with rewards. Becoming a mother, the inability to become a mother, or the choice to forego becoming a mother, is also tied to societal notions, values, and ideologies including gender norms, expectations, and roles. If we view motherhood as an institution, what are the impacts of identity markers such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and socioeconomic status on one’s participation in this institution? In GSWS 306 we will examine and analyze autobiographical media that women create and produce about motherhood, relationships to mothers, and (in)fertility. We’ll explore the life stories these women share to learn about the quest to be a mother, what it means to be a mother and/or matriarch, and how the realities of motherhood collide with idealized portrayals and representations of this institution that continues to narrate, dictate, and shape the lives of women.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

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

Grading

  • Engage: Attendance & Participation 10%
  • Reflect & Edit: Three Portfolio Entries with Revisions 30%
  • Plan & Write: Course Project Proposal 15%
  • Present: Course Project Elevator Pitch & Peer Review 10%
  • Create: Course Project Final Submission 35%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Alison Bechdel. (2013). Are you my mother? A Comic Drama. HarperCollins.
  • Helen Knott. (2023). Becoming A Matriarch: A Memoir. Knopf Canada. Paperback available August 2024.
  • Michelle Tea. (2022). Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)fertility. DEYST. (An imprint of William Morrow)

Additional assigned material, including other readings, assorted media, films & videos, will be available online, through SFU’s Library, or on Canvas, whether as PDFs or in other forms. The instructor will provide more information on the detailed course syllabus.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.