J320: Gender, Media, & Diversity

Spring 2013
Instructors: Bryce Peake (bpeake@uoregon.edu) Office: 210 Allen Hall, Mondays @ 1pm Staci Tucker (stucker@uoregon.edu) Office: 210 Allen Hall, Tuesdays @ 3pm Description: This is a course in feminist media criticism that engages with representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability across various media platforms. We will consider issues of romance, politics, sports, music, and advertising, and the ways these enable, facilitate, and challenge social hierarchies in society. Readings, class discussions, and projects will explore how media shapes our attitudes, practices, and identities in ways that produce social hierarchies. And, the large final project for this course will push students to be reflexive about the ways in which political issues of gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability affect the production of media. Required Materials This course will make use of live media usage, and students are required to bring with them a device that has access to: 1) wifi & internet, 2) blackboard and its quiz features. This can include laptops as well as tablets. Students may wish to confirm the compatibility of iPads and other tablets with Blackboards various interfaces by contacting the SOJC technology desk. Course work will be assigned with the assumption that students have access to a laptop computer. Some instructors will require in-class use of laptops. official SOJC computer policy. http://journalism.uoregon.edu/students/survivalguide/laptop There are no required books for this course. Class Etiquette Given the subject matter of this course, you should be able to relate with much of the materials and class lectures. The lectures supplement the assigned reading material so it is important that students attend class regularly in addition to completing all readings before the beginning of the class for which they were assigned. Students should also feel free to think about how their personal experiences are relevant to our class; however, it is essential that students attempt to understand how their experiences illustrate sociological concepts and general patterns or represent exception to those patterns. While you are welcome to share your experiences in appropriate class discussions, realize that once pronounced they become community property for discussion, criticism, or applause. Because many students are likely to have strong personal opinions about the issues we will cover in this course, it is imperative that we create an environment of respect; you are entitled to a wellinformed opinion based on verifiable evidence. Again, while you are welcome to share your opinion at appropriate times during class, it does become community property for discussion and

analysis. Personal attacks against individual students and explicit and purposeful bigotry will not be tolerated. Attendance Policy Attendance is required. Attendance will be taken in instances when there seem to be an unruly number of seats open in the class. More than 3 unexcused absences will result in an F (failure) for the class. No exceptions. All excused absences will only be excused after the completion of independent work to make up for the missed classroom time. Excused students will be allowed to make up quizzes; unexcused students will not. Assignments & Grades The course will be composed of the following assignments: 8 Thursday reading quizzes 7% each (will drop the lowest score) (49% total). Quizzes will be given either at the beginning, end, or middle of class at the instructors discretion. Students MUST be in attendance to take the quizzes. Uncompleted quizzes and 0%s will be counted as an absence. Midterm exam- 21% There will be a one-hour take-home midterm exam that consists of multiple choice and short answer questions. These questions will be randomized, and not all students will answer the same questions, and not all questions will appear in the same order. You are welcome to collaborate with other students in studying and taking the midterm exam. Final collaborative project 30% The final project will require teams of four students to produce: 1) a media artifact that critiques the social hierarchies discussed in class throughout the term, and reflects the ideas of one or more theorists/authors we discussed; 2) a 2-page single-spaced research paper with empirical research on the sexist/racist/ableist trends you critiqued, 1 theorist who addressed this problem, and how you materialized and responded to that critique in your project; 3) a 1-page single-spaced reflexive statement that documents the division of labor, and how you avided reproducing normative structures in the production process (i.e. hyperindividualism/sexual division of labor/etc.). More guidelines for this project will be provided by the end of week 2. Student groups will be organized randomly using the SLuG (Student Learning User Group) system developed at the UO. Extra Credit- up to 6% There are two ways to gain extra credit in this class, each worth 2 percentage points. You may attend a public lecture focused on gender, and write a short 500-word statement about how it might relate to or be about media. OR, you may write a 500 word essay about a moment when media fails to be conscious of itself reproducing sexist, racist, and other bigoted social relations. Media Fails will only be accepted for unique events, on a first-turned-in-gets-the-credit basis. All extra credit must be turned in at the beginning of class, no exceptions. Students are allowed to do up to 3 extra credit assignments.

Grading Scale: A+ = 97-100; A = 93-96%; A- = 90-92%; B+ = 87-89%; B = 83-86%; B- = 80-82%; C+ = 77-79%; C = 73-76%; C- = 70-72%; D+ - 67-69%; D= 63-66%; D- 60-62%; F = 59% and below. Academic Misconduct The University Student Conduct Code (available at conduct.uoregon.edu) defines academic misconduct. Students are prohibited from committing or attempting to commit any act that constitutes academic misconduct. By way of example, students should not give or receive (or attempt to give or receive) unauthorized help on assignments or examinations without express permission from the instructor. You cannot turn in someone elses work and you cannot turn in material you have used in other classes, whether at UO or elsewhere. Students should also properly acknowledge and document all sources of information (e.g. quotations, paraphrases, ideas) and use only the sources and resources authorized by the instructor. If there is any question about whether an act constitutes academic misconduct, it is the students obligation to clarify the question with the instructor before committing or attempting to commit the act. The UO website has additional information about a common form of academic misconduct, plagiarism. Suffice to say that in the field of communication and journalism, what we in the academy describe as plagiarism is a serious charge and one that will cost you your job. We take plagiarism very seriously in the School of Journalism and Communication. Workload University of Oregon policy is that students should plan to spend 2-3 hours outside of class for each hour you are in class. This means that you should plan to spend 8-12 hours on class work outside of lecture. Students having problems with completing the reading and or assignments are encouraged to make a drop-in study skills meeting with the Teaching Learning Center. http://tlc.uoregon.edu/learningservices/dropin/index.html We as instructors can also give you some direction if need be, but you will need to meet with us during office hours. Accessibility If you will need accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please let your instructor know as soon as possible. Announcements Any changes to the syllabus, class cancellations, or other matters pertaining to the class will be posted on Blackboard. You should check this site throughout the week, especially on Monday afternoons. Resources 1. Yourself: Listen carefully. Take plenty of notes. Ask questions if you arent sure about something. Participate. 2. Your Classmates: It always helps to discuss material with other students enrolled in your class. Also, in the event of an absence, you will need to rely on a classmate to help you get notes on what you missed. 3. Your Instructors: Take advantage of the instructor's office hours: we are there to help you do well in this class. We love to field questions, so please ask them of us. 4. Email: Although our preference is to deal with more complicated questions face to face, we are available via email to field questions as well. Please allow at least 24 hours for a

response to your email and note that we may not answer emails on weekends and holidays. Please include JOURN 320 in the subject line for your message. 5. Teaching and Learning Center: TLC offers resources for students ranging from workshops on improving your writing to help taking quizzes and exams. You can find their hours and make appointments at their website.

Brief course calendar Week 1 Day 1- Syllabus Day 2- Terms & definitions Week 2 Day 3- What is feminism? And, feminist media studies? Day 4- Advertising & gender Week 3 Day 5- Journalism & white masculine power Day 6- Young Adult Fiction and the feminized reader Week 4 Day 7- Erotic literature, class, and masculine taste Day 8- Production and the politics of technology Week 5 Day 9- Femininity on television Day 10- Masculinity on television (MIDTERM THURSDAY SATURDAY) Week 6 Day 11- Sports, race, and sexuality Day 12- Music & the Black Atlantic Week 7 Day 13- Alternative Media, Alternative Subjects Day 14- Social Media, race, and gender Week 8 Day 15- Social Media and moral crisis Day 16- Accessibility & Accessible Media Week 9 Day 17- Videogame Audience & Representation Day 18- Videogame Bodies & the Military Readings Day 2 (April 4) Audre Lorde, Age, race, class, and sex Chandra Mohanty, Pedagogies of dissent Day 3 (April 9) Shira Tarrant, Overview and Introductions: this is what a feminist looks like Lisa Maria Hogeland, Fear of feminism: why young women get the willies Day 4 (April 11) Sut Jhally, Image-based culture: advertising and popular culture J. Kilbourne, The more you subtract, the more you add: cutting girls down to size J. Kilbourne, Dog bites man: 92 percent of Super Bowl ad-makers are white guys Optional & Recommended April Flores, American apparel and the plus-size demographic Ads still push Asians into the tech guy stereotype, Jezebel

Day 5 (April 16) Richard Perloff, The press and lynchings of African Americans Pierre Bourdieu, Journalism and politics and The power of journalism Elizabeth Lester, Discursive strategies of exclusion: the ideological construction of newsworkers. Optional & Recommended David Mindich, Balance: a slanderous and nasty-minded mulatress, Ida B. Wells, confronts objectivity in the 1890s. Day 6 (April 18) N. Wilson, Civilized vampires versus savage werewolves: race and ethnicity in the twilight series. Latoya Peterson, Oops, whered we go? The disappearing black girls in young adult literature. Burton, Ghost stories: the ubiquitous anti-feminism of young adult romances Optional & Recommended Young adult fictions virginity problem Day 7 (April 23) E.L. James, excerpts from Fifty Shades of Grey Susie Bright, The Birth of the Blue Movie Critic Annabelle Mooney, Boys will be boys: mens magazines and the normalization of pornography 50 Shades of Grey: the guide to being a whore Jennifer Hamady, 50 Shades of Concern Optional & Recommended Sophie Morgan, I like submissive sex but Fifty Shades is not about fun: its about abuse. Day 8 (April 25) Anne Balsamo, Taking Culture Seriously in the Age of Innovation and Gendering the technological imagination Katy Waldman & Genevieve Bell, Despite what youve heard, tech is not a mans world Mike Wayne, Class and Creative Labor Day 9 (April 30) The Bechdel test for women in the movies Susan Douglas, Girls gone anti-feminist Isabel Molian-Guzman, Maid in Hollywood Rebecca Wanzo, I know youre tired of hearing about Girls

Day 10 (May 2) Richard Butsch, Ralph, Fred, Archie, and Homer: Why Television keeps re-creating the white male working-class buffoon Kylo-Patrick R. Hart, Representing gay men on American Television Brian Locke, Here comes the judge: the dancing itos and the television construction of the enemy Asian male and Ling Woo in Historical Context (same file)

Day 11 (May 7) Adams, Smitke, Franklin, Tomboys, dykes, and girly girls: interrogating the subjectivities of adolescent female athletes Jackson Katz, The price women pay for boys being boys Optional and Recommended Thomas Oates, The erotic gaze in the NFL draft C.J. Pascoe, Dude, youre a fag Day 12 (May 9) Paul Gilroy, Jewels brought from bondage black music and the politics of authenticity Sherrie Tucker, Surveillance and Survival in the Jim Crow South Miles White, Race rebels: whiteness and new masculine desire Day 13 (May 14) NO READING GUEST LECTURE: please take this opportunity to put substantial work into your projects. Day 14 (May 16) danah boyd, White flight in networked publics? How race and class shaped American teen engagement with MySpace and Facebook Katie Roiphe, Disappearing mothers The 4 big myths of profile pictures Optional & Recommended Henry Jenkins, Interactive Audiences Day 15 (May 21) NO READING GUEST LECTURE: Please take this opportunity to put substantial work into your projects. Day 16 (May 23) Charles Riley, Guidelines for portraying people with disabilities in the media Gerard Goggin & Christopher Newell, selections from Digital Disability

Day 17 (May 28) T.L. Taylor, Where the women are Lisa Nakamura, Queer female of color: the highest difficulty setting there is? Gaming rhetoric as gender capital Optional & Recommended Tanner Higgin, Blackless fantasy: the disappearance of race in massively multiplayer online role-playing games Mia Consalvo, Confronting toxic gamer culture: a challenge for feminist game studies scholars Day 18 (May 30) Laura Fraser, The inner corset: a brief history of fat in the United States Griffin McElroy, Obesity experts frown on Wii Fits fatty-labeling, Nintendo apologizes http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/17/obesity-experts-frown-on-wii-fits-fatty-labelingnintendo-apol/ Day 19 (June 4) NO READING CLASS PRESENTATIONS Day 20 (June 6) NO READING CLASS PRESENTATIONS