Overview

This module focuses on the role gender, race, class, and sexuality play in our experiences of media, culture and film. Students will learn about theories related to gender, race, class, sexuality, as well as contemporary academic and popular debates about them. This is a reading-intensive seminar and we will examine academic journals on the topic, research contemporary debates, and examine a wide range of film, media, and culture.

Topics that may be looked at include:

• feminist media studies
• critical race theory and intersectionality
• working class / middle class / upper class culture
• masculinities
• queer utopia
• whiteness
• postcolonialism
• women's filmmaking

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Submitted work is adequate and shows an acceptable level of competence as follows:1.Generally accurate but with omissions and errors.2.Assertions are made without clear supporting evidence or reasoning.3.Has structure but is lacking in clarity and therefore relies on the reader to make links and assumptions.4. Draws on a relatively narrow range of material.

-good -GoodSubmitted work is competent throughout and occasionally distinguished by superior style, approach and choice of supporting materials. It demonstrates:1.Good structure and logically developed arguments.2.At least in parts draws on material that has been sourced and assessed as a result of independent study, or in a way unique to the student.3.Assertions are, in the main, backed by evidence and sound reasoning.4.Accuracy and presentation in an appropriate academic style.Very GoodSubmitted work is competent throughout and distinguished by superior style, approach and choice of supporting materials. It demonstrates:1.Very good structure and logically developed arguments.2.Draws on material that has been sourced and assessed as a result of independent study, or in a way unique to the student.3.Assertions are backed by evidence and sound reasoning.4.Accuracy and presentation in an appropriate academic style.

-excellent -Submitted work is of an outstanding quality and excellent in one or more of the following ways:1.Has originality of exposition with the student’s own thinking being readily apparent.2.Provides clear evidence of extensive and relevant independent study.3.Arguments are laid down with clarity and provide the reader with successive stages of consideration to reach conclusions.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply theories of gender, race, class, and sexuality to the critical analysis of audio-visual texts.

• Conduct independent research on race, gender, class, and/or sexuality in the media, television, film, or visual culture.

• Historicise and critically reflect upon theories of gender, race, class and sexuality within the field of media, film, television, and visual culture.

• Identify and apply representations of gender, race, sexuality, and class in contemporary visual culture to critical analysis of broader social concepts of identity.