Sex and the Screen

Subject SCRN20012 (2011)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2011.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 2 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On campus.

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 4
Total Time Commitment: 102
Prerequisites:

None

Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: 106-243 Sex and the Screen
Core Participation Requirements: For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Dr Fran Martin, Prof Barbara Creed

Contact

Barbara Creed bacreed@unimelb.edu.au

Fran Martin f.martin@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

How do representations of sex in screen media such as film, television and the Internet impact on our experience of our own gendered and sexual identities? How are ideas about love, romance, sex and gender, and social categories like masculinity and femininity; heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality represented in screen media? How have such representations transformed over time, and how have they been shaped by historical movements and contexts like film censorship, queer political activism, cultural globalization? By focusing on the ways in which screen representations both reflect and construct modern understandings of sex and gender, this subject approaches gender and sexuality as historically and culturally contingent rather than as ‘natural’ expressions of a private self. Drawing on theoretical formations in both cinema and cultural studies from Freud to Foucault and from feminist film theory to queer theory, this subject engages with a diverse range of screen media that may include examples from Hollywood cinema, the American underground and trash cinema, the New Queer Cinema, and contemporary television and Internet cultures. On completion of this subject students should be able to understand and explain the complex connections between gender and sexuality in contemporary culture and to analyse the representation of gendered and sexual identities and desires in selected screen texts.

Objectives:

Students who successfully complete this subject should.

  • understand some of the ways in which contemporary gendered and sexual identities have been represented in Western (and some selected non-Western) screen media as an aspect of cultural modernity;
  • be able to understand and explain the complex connections between gender and sexuality in contemporary culture;
  • be able to analyse the representation of gendered and sexual identities and desires in selected screen texts;
  • have an understanding of how gender and sexuality, especially as represented in screen media, relate to other facets of social identity such as race, generation, and nationality;
  • be familiar with some of the key approaches to gender and sexuality in contemporary film and cultural theory (including post-structuralist feminism, psychoanalytic approaches, Foucauldian approaches, and queer theory).
Assessment: LMS-based blogging assessment exercise (500 words 10%) completed across the semester; one essay (1500 words 40%) due mid-semester and one essay (2000 words 50%) due at the end of semester. This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 75%, regular participation in tutorials are required. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.
Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.

Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

Students who successfully complete this subject should:

  • acquire social, ethical, and cultural understanding of self and others through detailed analysis of contemporary culture in its various local, national and transnational contexts; the reception of new ideas and the contextualization of judgments; the adaptation of knowledge to new situations;
  • acquire critical analysis and synthesis through the study of competing theories of contemporary culture and their application to diverse examples; the engagement with and processing of different critical perspectives across the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies; the development of independent thought and arguments;
  • acquire effective written and oral communication through tutorial discussions and debates; the preparation and execution of written assessment exercises; exposure to and emulation of competing genres and protocols of critical writing;
  • acquire information management and information literacy through the practice of library and archival research; engagement with electronic databases;
  • acquire teamwork, flexibility, and tolerance through group discussions in tutorials; reception of new ideas and opinions; engaging and cooperating with other people from diverse backgrounds;
  • acquire time management and planning through managing and organizing workloads for recommended reading and assessment requirements.
Notes:

This subject is available to pre-2008 Bachelor of Arts students for credit to 2nd or 3rd year of the major in Cinema or Cultural Studies. Students who have completed 107-079 Sex and the Cinema: The Gendered Screen are not permitted to enrol in this subject.

Related Course(s): Bachelor of Arts(Media and Communications)
Bachelor of Creative Arts
Diploma in Creative Arts
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Cinema Studies Major
Cultural Studies Major
Gender Studies
Gender Studies
Gender Studies Major
Screen and Cultural Studies
Screen and Cultural Studies
Screen and Cultural Studies
Social Theory Major
Related Breadth Track(s): Cinema

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