HUM 107 - Gender Perceptions In American Film

Credits: 5
LEC hours per week: 5
This class uses American films from a variety of genres and decades as primary texts to study representations of and ideas about the gender spectrum. Students will be asked to think critically about where their ideas about gender come from and how these ideas are perpetuated and reinforced in media. Students may receive credit for either HUM 107 and GWST 107.
Course Outcomes:

Construct standard, mainstream interpretations of several American films using terms and concepts related to film narrative.
Examine the intersectionality of gender privilege within such contexts as social class, body type, ability, ethnicity, and sexuality.
Analyze how gender stereotypes in mainstream American films shape individual perceptions and behaviors.
Compare interpretations of several American films from a variety of gender perspectives.
Compare and contrast how a film or its characters portray a gender perspective the viewer recognizes or has experienced.
Apply concepts from gender theory to films to construct alternative (non-mainstream) interpretations.

Course Topics:

The social construction of gender
The difference between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexuality
Queer theory
Common narrative tropes related to gender, such as the hero’s journey, the Bechdel test, rugged individualism, and the male gaze
The “Five Axes” of film form: cinematography, editing, literary design, mise-en-scene, and visual design

Course Attribute(s): Diversity, Humanities