Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Media and identity centers the idea of "social position" and that media are created and interpreted from and through specific perspectives and experiences of the world. Media and public discourse are shaped through various axes of social position that include gender, race, sexuality, ability, nationality, and other markers of identity.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course introduces the idea of "social position":  that all media are created and interpreted from and through specific perspectives and experiences of the world.  Media and public discourse are shaped through various axes of social position that include gender, race, sexuality, ability and other markers of identity.  This course explores elements that intersect to construct social position, how social position informs and shapes an individual’s perspective and relationship to larger collectives, and the role of social position in mediated representation.

When marginalized groups or identity-based groups form around political demands in specific historical moments, they adopt new representational strategies and tactics and produce new material texts.  What activates a group’s coherence?  What social positions engendered these representations?  Who are the thinkers and theorists, and what are the methods for understanding them?  This course challenges historical and often problematic representations of minorities and marginalized populations in media, popular culture, and public discourse by engaging with multiple theoretical and methodological traditions from Indigenous, Black, feminist, critical race, trans, queer, and disability studies.  Through course readings, assignments, and class discussions, we will consider:  1) how we perceive, interpret, and understand representation,  2) construct self-representation, and  3) how our fluid experiences of self and contexts inform the process and outcomes of inquiry.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: