Admission requirements
Not applicable
Description
The seminar begins at the end of the sixties, with the second wave of feminism, and continues up to the most radical thought of today. We will read, view and discuss controversial films and novels, like Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Charlotte Roch’s Wetlands (2008). We will evaluate why artistic genius has been accorded mainly to male writers and painters. Do women write differently than men? How do popular culture and the arts represent female and male desires? Emerging from gay and lesbian studies in the context of the AIDS crisis, queer theory will dare us to perceive heteronormativity and the fluidity of sexual desire. Is your sex or gender fixed? We will engage with transgender and intersex activism to learn about how far you can ‘play’ with your identity beyond the binary. We conclude with new questions launched by queer and trans of color critique, and cyberfeminist explorations of life beyond the (sexed) human.
Course objectives
After completion of the course:
the student has the knowledge and understanding of the main current debates about the role that gender and sexuality play in culture, film and literature (from the 1960s to the present);
the student is capable of developing theoretical insights into gender and and sexuality as a discursive, social, technological construction through text and image analysis;
the student can recognize the role of gender and sexuality play in literature, film, and society, and futher, he/she is able to reflect critically on the sexual dimensions of literary and film criticism, historization, and debates on the future of gender and sexuality studies.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the website.
Mode of instruction
Lectures mixed with workgroup class meetings
Course Load
Contemporary Visions – 280 total
Course meetings: 26 hrs
Preparation for meetings: 216 hrs
Assignments and Exams: 38 hrs
Assessment method
Mid-term Take-home Exam (50%)
End-term Take-Home Exam (50%)
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for communication, providing literature and/or other study material, for turnitin, and where applicable for reading and writing assignments, discussion forums, peer feedback, and to ask questions to the teacher and/or fellow students.
Reading list
Longer academic texts are available through the ‘collegeplank’ in the University Library and can be copied on site. Shorter texts are posted on Blackboard.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis for classes, exams and final papers.is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
N.a.
Contact
For questions about the content of the course, you can contact the coordinator Dr. Eliza Steinbock.
Student administration: Van Wijkplaats
Coordinator of studies: ms. drs. E.M.T.Poolman
Remarks
For more information please check the website of the study program Film and Literature Studies.