Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - GSWS 319 D100

Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4)

Visuality: The Politics of Looking

Class Number: 3438

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Wed, Fri, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

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

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:

In an era of profound human suffering, this course will center on humanitarian visuality to explore how race, gender, and space are made and remade in the production and circulation of iconographies of suffering. The animating questions for this course will be: how does racialization frame humanitarian visuality? What analytical approach must we use to speak to and against visual representations of the injury, especially those depicting racialized people?

For an open-ended critique, this course draws on Nicholas Mirzoeff’s text The Right to Look, which asks, “how can we think with and against visuality?”

In this course, we will read both visual and textual texts through an approach that integrates a critical visual analysis. Additionally, we will carefully consider representations of blackness in humanitarian visuality to examine the historical narratives that are embedded in the political, symbolic, and aesthetic choices that shape how black life is depicted through the communicative strategies of humanitarian enterprises.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: https://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/goals

Grading

  • Attendance and Participation 20%
  • Critical Reflection 30%
  • Midterm Essay 30%
  • Class Presentations 20%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All readings will be available for download on Canvas Cloud.

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

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


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.