COMM 4260

Gender and Media

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

This seminar addresses the intersection of communication, culture, and identity through an examination of gender and the U.S. media system. After introducing students to key approaches to studying gender and mediated communication, the course will cover topics in four subunits: (1). Mediated representations of gender, sexuality, and intersectionality; (2). Diversity in media industries and gendered labor markets; (3). Gendered audiences and fan cultures; and (4). Gender, power, and identity in a digital era of communication. We will explore these topics through literature from sociology, communication and media studies, cultural studies, feminist theory, and internet/new media studies.

When Offered Fall, Spring.

Distribution Category (D-AG)

• Students will be able to interpret key theories and methods of studying media, power, and social identities.
• Students will be able to examine the role of media in constructing gender and its intersections with race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality.
• Students will be able to recognize the importance of diversity in media industries.
• Students will be able to address the role of new media technologies in challenging and/or reaffirming traditional constructions of gender.
• Students will be able to develop critical thinking, writing, and analytic skills through the production of an original research paper.
• Students will be able to become more responsible consumers—and future producers—of media texts and imagery.

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