MASCULINITIES in the MOVIES

an INTACT class for Winter 2005

SSCI 200I - CRN # 91431 - Credit hours: 1

Printable syllabi:  Fall 2004 Masculinities Course Syllabus

Spring 2005 Masculinities Course Syllabus

Synopsis :   This course invites critical engagement with an emphasis on sexual politics and ideological operations of popular film with regard to representations of "masculinity" in mainstream commercial and independent films. Emphasis will be placed upon shifting definitions of masculinity in American cinema during the last twenty years.   Consideration will be given to the heroic, the psychotic, and the effeminate identities male protagonists often assume in contemporary film.

It is critical for students to understand that this course on masculinities is not targeted towards a specifically male classroom ; this course is meant for everyone .   We have chosen to use the plural form "masculinities" firstly to suggest the ideological layering of "masculinity" as a category, and secondly to begin to conceptualize alternative possibilities for thinking and mobilizing the masculine.   The study of masculinity will ultimately help us rethink, as a critical goal, our inherited understandings of gender and sexuality.

Prerequisites:            Intro. Sociology/Anthropology, any gender course, or consent of instructors.

Instructors :                   Chris Martin                    Cierra Olivia Thomas

                                          (541) 963-6700            (541) 962-6243

                                          martinc@eou.edu        thomasca@eou.edu

                                          WEB: http://www3.eou.edu/womenctr/INTACT.htm

                                          Office hours: by arrangement.

Meetings :                       Wednesdays, Zabel Hall 142, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Requirements:   This course is offered as an S/U option 1 credit only .   Credit will be granted on the basis of attendance (40%), participation in class discussion (40%), and a short essay at the end of the course (20%).   There are two classes per week: on Wednesdays we will screen a movie and on Thursdays we will discuss the movie.   Each student must attend all classes to complete the course.   If students are not able to attend a class period, she or he will be required to write a two-page analysis of that week's movie.   (Essay expectations will be discussed in class.)

All required reading material will be donated by Instructors.   Outside supplemental reading is encouraged and readings will be suggested.  

Course Objectives :   This course will examine theories and representations of masculinity in order to understand how culture, history, race, class, sexuality, politics, and human genetics inflect masculine identity.   We will critically analyze contemporary American film with an emphasis on masculinity as an exploration of how gender and sexuality are socially constructed through the system of popular media.   Through movie screenings and discussions students will learn that gender is not static, but rather it lies on a continuum.   Students will be able to decide if media provides influential "lessons" in masculinity (and, by extension, femininity), and will ultimately gain the tools for critical analysis of their own gendered lives.

MASCULINITIES in the MOVIES - SYLLABUS – Spring 2005

**Movies and discussion topics are subject to change.

Supplemental or suggested reading includes (TBA):

Masculinity in Crisis?

Boyhood and Growing Up

Crossing the Gender Divide

Masculinity and Violence

Race and Ethnicity