Sexuality and Gender in Media Arts

Subject 673-324 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 1-hour lecture, 2-hour tutorial and a 2-hour film screening per week
Total Time Commitment: 5 contact hours/week , 4 additional hours/week. Total of 9 hours per week.
Prerequisites: For BCA students 12.5 points of second year media arts. For BA students 37.5 points of second/third year gender studies.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Contact

Creative Arts Office Phone: 8344 8389
Subject Overview: This subject involves a study of the different ways in which sexuality and gender have been depicted in cinema (and other related visual practices). It places a strong emphasis on the study of 'masculinity' as an evolving form of cultural representation. Topics to be discussed include the theorisation of the 'gaze' (taking the female form as an object of erotic desire); relevant feminist theories of sexuality and gender; psychoanalytic theories of the 'fetish', sadomasochism, and cross-dressing; heterosexuality and homosexuality in Hollywood cinema and 'Independent film'; questions of gay 'visibility' and the emergence of 'Queer' cinema; debates concerning the legitimacy of pornography; and the recent 'crisis in masculinity' depicted in American mainstream film.
Objectives:
  • apply analytic, cognitive and practical skills to the planning and successful completion of a set task within a given time;
  • demonstrate a familiarity with a broad range of media-related materials and a knowledge of various theoretical approaches to the interpretation and analysis of visual material;
  • demonstrate some critical understanding of the debates that divide the theoretical arena;
  • understand and feel comfortable with the various analytic skills, theoretical vocabularies and conceptual apparatuses studied;
  • demonstrate a sense of your own personal and cultural reflexivity as you observe and interpret the theories, concepts and texts analysed in the subject;
  • write clear, grammatically and syntactically appropriate, independent essays on the various topics provided or chosen for assessment.
Assessment: Written work of 4000 words for 3rd year, and 5000 words for 4th year, comprising two essays of equal length 50% each (one due mid-semester and the second due at end of semester).
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • identify the relevant issues concerning sexuality and gender indicative of contemporary cinema;
  • demonstrate a developed and analytical understanding of issues and theories relating to representation of these elements in contemporary cinema;
  • express a broadened awareness of how these issues impact on contemporary film making.
Notes: Formerly available as 760-321. Students who have completed 760-321 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. BA students may credit this subject to an art history major.
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Creative Arts
Diploma in Creative Arts

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