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Gender and Communication

University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC)

CMMU 4265/5265

Section 001

Spring, 2007

MW 4:00-5:15

Plaza M-104

CONTENTS OF SYLLABUS

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CLAS academic policies: 4

Grading: 3

Important dates: 10

Mission statement: 2

Objectives: 2

Policies: 8

Prerequisites: 2

Professor’s contact information: 1

Professor’s vita: 13

Required activities: 4

Schedule: 11

Structure and rationale: 2

Textbook: 3

Web site of Communication Department: 1

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PROFESSOR

Dr. Sonja K. Foss

Office: 102-D Plaza Building

Office Hours: Unless I have a meeting or other obligation, I usually can be found in my office between 11:00 and 12:45 and 2:30 and 3:45 on Mondays and Wednesdays; I am also available by appointment at other times.

Telephone: 303-556-5526; Home: 303-355-5320

Fax: 303-355-6325

E-mail:

(For more information on the professor, see the final pages of the syllabus or go to my Web site, SonjaFoss.com)

COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT AND MISSION STATEMENT

Department Web site:

This course is designed to contribute to the Communication Department’s mission statement: “To create a learning environment in which students develop the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to use communication to create a more civil and humane world.” By civil and humane, the Department means a way of communicating that is rooted in an acceptance and appreciation of others and that involves communicating in ways that express respect for and acknowledgment of others regardless of their station in life, wealth or lack of it, politics, religion, ethnicity, race, or any other quality. This course will introduce you to various perspectives on gender and encourage an understanding of and respect for all of those perspectives.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to introduce you to the range of perspectives available on the relationship between gender and communication in four areas: (1) the nature of genders; (2) the treatment of genders in language; (3) gender differences in verbal and nonverbal communication; and (4) communication within same-gender cultures.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

There are no prerequisites for this course.

STRUCTURE AND RATIONALE

The structure for this course is different from that of most courses that are taught on the subject of gender and communication. Most of those courses are taught from one perspective—the perspective of the professor, which is usually a feminist perspective. I am a feminist, and my personal perspective on gender is a feminist one. I understand, however, that many students are not feminists, and when I present ideas about gender from that perspective, they often can’t find a place for themselves because they believe different things about gender than I do.

Because the core idea of feminism for me is choice—the idea that individuals should be able to choose how they want to live and be—I do not believe that I should prescribe my perspective as the only one or the best one. I want to give all of us choices about how to view and enact gender. This means, then, that I want us all to explore, take seriously, and respect a wide array of possible perspectives on gender—not just one. Although I will offer a feminist perspective on the various topics we will explore, I do not intend that my perspective be privileged, and I will not ask you to accept it.

This course, then, has been set up to allow us to explore together a wide variety of perspectives on gender and multiple genders. It is designed so that you—the students in the class—discover and outline what some of these various perspectives are from artifacts of popular culture in a process or method called grounded theory.

We will do this in this way: The class will be divided into eight groups. For the first unit (nature of genders), each group will be assigned a film, television program, or media presentation. The group will analyze that artifact to explore gender on the topic of that unit and will present its analysis in class. For the second unit (treatment of genders in language), the group will stay intact but will be assigned a different artifact—one that another group analyzed for the first unit. For the third unit (gender differences in verbal and nonverbal communication) and the fourth unit (communication within same-gender cultures), the same groups will again be assigned different artifacts, but ones that other groups analyzed previously. Each group, then, will have the opportunity to analyze four of the eight artifacts being used as our texts in the class. Although we will be dealing with the same eight artifacts in the class, then, different groups will have the opportunity to analyze them. This will enable all of us to consider and understand the perspectives about gender and the different genders represented in the various artifacts.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

There are no traditional textbooks or reading packets for this course. I have chosen not to assign reading on gender and communication that would present only one perspective on the topic. As you will see shortly, the primary “texts” for the course are eight artifacts that represent different perspectives on gender. I have purchased one copy of each artifact so that each group will start with that one copy. Group members may find it easier to do their analyses if more than one member of the group has a copy of the artifact. Thus, you may want to purchase a copy of the artifact your group is going to be asked to analyze; all of the artifacts can be purchased cheaply through sources such as Amazon.com. You also may check out most of the artifacts at libraries or DVD/video rental sources. Groups might consider passing along the copies of the artifacts they purchased to the next group assigned to analyze the artifact.

GRADING

Your grade in the course will depend on the number of activities you choose to complete:

To receive a grade of A, you must satisfactorily complete:

  • Four class presentations based on group analyses of media artifacts (to be completed with your group)
  • Compilation of resources (may be completed individually, with some members of your group, or with your entire group)
  • Reflection exercise on gender (to be completed individually)
  • Graduate students also must complete the gender-schema essay and manage two class sessions (with other graduate students)

To receive a grade of B, you must satisfactorily complete:

  • Four class presentations based on group analyses of media artifacts (to be completed with your group)
  • Compilation of resources (may be completed individually, with some members of your group, or with your entire group)
  • Graduate students also must complete the gender-schema essay and manage two class sessions (with other graduate students)

To receive a grade of C, you must satisfactorily complete:

  • Four class presentations based on group analyses of media artifacts (to be completed with your group)
  • Graduate students also must complete the gender-schema essay

To receive a grade of D, you must satisfactorily complete:

  • Three class presentations based on group analyses of media artifacts (to be completed with your group)
  • Graduate students also must manage two class sessions (with other graduate students)

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIRED ACTIVITIES

Group Analyses of Media Artifacts

Group analyses of media artifacts are analyses of a film, television program, or media presentation to discover and describe its construction of and perspective on gender. The artifacts have been chosen to ensure a wide range of perspectives on gender:

  • Sex and the City (first season, 2000)
  • The Real World (New York, first season, 1992)
  • Beef (a compilation of hip-hop performances, 2003)
  • Dodgeball (2004)
  • Die Another Day(James Bond, 2002)
  • Transamerica(2005)
  • Pocahontas (Walt Disney, 1995)
  • Presentations by Dennis Rainey, Ed Silvoso, and James Ryle at Promise Keepers’ conventions (2005 and 2006)

The analyses will be used as the basis for the group presentations. Groups will have three days in class to complete an analysis and prepare the presentation based on it. One member of the group should bring a laptop to class so that you can watch and analyze your artifact (if you choose to do this in our classroom). Guidelines will be provided for how to analyze the artifact on each of the four topics to be covered—(1) the nature of genders; (2) the treatment of genders in language; (3) gender differences in verbal and nonverbal communication; and (4) communication within same-gender cultures.

Group Presentations

Group presentations summarize the group analyses of media artifacts. Your task is to provide the best representation of the perspective on gender encoded in the artifact that you can—not to critique it or denigrate it. In other words, regardless of your own perspective on gender and your own preferred gender, you are asked to take seriously the perspective in the artifact and totry to understand how it makes sense to those who hold it. We will have about 5 minutes following each presentation for discussion.

To “count” as one of your group’s presentations, the presentation must meet the following criteria:

  • It includes an introduction to the presentation that provides an overview helpful to the audience
  • It includes a brief overview of the artifact for those who are unfamiliar with it (the need to do this will lessen as the semester progresses)
  • It covers all of the major results of the analysis (do not focus on just one aspect of the analysis), following the “Guidelines for Gender Analyses/Presentations”
  • It includes a conclusion that briefly summarizes the presentation
  • If you choose to show a clip from the artifact as part of your presentation, it should be used to support a clear claim, it should not preclude complete coverage of the analysis, and it should be set up prior to the presentation and work properly.
  • The presentation should be no longer than 10 minutes (you will be stopped when you reach 10 minutes)
  • Presenters should demonstrate competence in oral communication that shows evidence of preparation and practice. I am more interested, though, in a presentation that provides an in-depth analysis of the genders in the artifact than a showy, snazzy presentation.
  • Not everyone must participate in each oral presentation, although everyone in the group should participate in at least one of the group’s presentations.
  • A handout should accompany the presentation that:
  • Includes names of all group members, the title of the artifact being analyzed, and the name of the topic on gender that is the focus of the analysis
  • Provides answers to the most relevant questions from the guidelines for that topic
  • Has few spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
  • Is well organized and visually appealing
  • Is distributed to all members of the class (this is your responsibility—please do not ask me to make these copies for your group)

If the above criteria are not met in the presentation, your group will be asked to revise and resubmit the handout. The last day to submit a revised handout is Wednesday, May 2.

The presentations will be due on: Presentation #1: February 19 and 21; Presentation #2: March 12 and 14; Presentation #3: April 9 and 11; and Presentation #4: April 30 and May 2.

Compilation of Resources

Select two of the genders that your group or another group has identified and described in the analyses of media artifacts. Please select non-conventional genders and not simply a standard gender perspective (such as masculine or feminine). Please do not select as one of your perspectives or genders a feminist one.

For each gender, locate 5 resources that explore, analyze, or enact it (10 resources total). These resources may be of the following types:

  • Journal articles, book chapters, or books analyzing that particular gender or gender construction. For these kinds of sources, please provide a full-text copy of the article or book chapter and a full bibliographic citation for it. For a book, please provide a copy of the title page, the copyright page, and the table of contents of the book.
  • Newspaper columns, blogs, Web sites, or articles in popular magazines that analyze, comment on, or enact that particular gender or gender construction. For these kinds of sources, please provide a full-text copy of the resource and a full bibliographic citation for it.
  • Titles of artifacts of popular culture in which that gender is well developed in a character, such as films, songs, short stories, novels, or television programs. If possible, please provide a copy of the artifact. Please provide full bibliographic information for the artifact as well as a paragraph that explains the connection you see between the artifact and the particular representation of gender. For example, which character in the film enacts that gender, and what evidence is there in the artifact for this enactment?

This assignment may be done individually, with some members of your group, or with your entire group. If you choose to compile the resources cooperatively, there must be 10 resources per person, although you may submit the compiled resources together. If you work cooperatively, all of your group’s resources may be on two genders, or you may find resources for as many people are in your group times 2. If there are 3 people working together, for example, you can compile resources relevant to 6 genders.

The compilation of resources is due on Monday, April 16. If your compilation is inadequate, you may revise and resubmit it. The last day to submit the revised compilation is Wednesday, May 2.

Reflection Exercise

Write an essay in which you answer the following questions:

  1. What were the qualities of a real man in the subculture in which you grew up?
  2. What were the qualities of a real woman in the subculture in which you grew up?
  3. If you live in a different subculture now from the one in which you grew up, what are the qualities that make up a real man in your current subculture? If you live in the same subculture in which you grew up, identify the qualities of a real man in some other subculture you’ve observed or experienced.
  4. If you live in a different subculture now from the one in which you grew up, what are the qualities that make up a real woman in your current subculture? If you live in the same subculture in which you grew up, identify the qualities of a real woman in some other subculture you’ve observed or experienced.
  5. Would members of your current subculture consider you a real woman or a real man?
  6. Drawing on your own belief system, your own experiences, and your own preferences and desires, what do you now believe are the qualities of a real man?
  7. Drawing upon your own belief system, your own experiences, and your own preferences and desires, what do you now believe are the qualities of a real woman?
  8. What gendered qualities do you regularly display or perform?
  9. Are there any gendered qualities from some other culture that you would like to perform or own?
  10. If you had to give your gender a label, what would it be? Why?

To count as satisfactory, the essay must meet the following criteria:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of concepts covered in the introductory lectures
  • Be 3-5 pages in length, typed, double spaced
  • Have a minimum of one paragraph devoted to answering each question.
  • Have few spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors

The reflection exercise is due on Monday, April 30. It cannot be revised and resubmitted if it does not meet the criteria for satisfactory completion of the assignment.

Gender-Schema Essay (for graduate students only)

Write an essay in which you propose a gender schema that captures the multiple perspectives on gender or the multiple genders analyzed in class. To count as satisfactory, the essay must meet the following criteria:

  • The essay proposes a schema that includes a minimum of six perspectives on gender or six gendersfrom the class analyses.
  • The perspectives or genders are arranged in a schema according to a factor, element, component, or criterion that is insightful and defensible.
  • The topics covered in class concerning the perspectives are somehow represented in the schema—(1) the nature of genders; (2) the treatment of genders in language; (3) gender differences in verbal and nonverbal communication; and (4) communication within same-gender cultures.
  • Labels are given to the elements of the schema that are parallel, at the same level of abstraction, and capture them adequately and even creatively.
  • The schema evidences sophisticated thinking about genders and perspectives on gender.
  • The schema evidences understanding of and respect for the different perspectives on gender included in the schema.
  • The essay provides support for the elements of the schema from the artifacts analyzed in class.
  • The essay contains few spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Organization and logic are good, and only minor editing is required.
  • The paper is between 4 and 5 pages in length, typed, double spaced.

You may write this essay individually, in pairs, in triads, or in one group.

The essay is due on Wednesday, May 2. It cannot be resubmitted if it does not meet the criteria for satisfactory completion of the assignment.

Management of Class Sessions (graduate students only)

Graduate students will be responsible for managing the class session on two days—Monday, February 19, and Wednesday, March 14. Because these are both days when groups will be presenting analyses of their artifacts, the graduate students will be responsible for videotaping the presentations so I can see them later, timing the presentations so they do not go over 10 minutes, collecting handouts for me from the groups, and managing and facilitating the discussion following presentations.

POLICIES

  1. Incomplete grades: To be eligible for an incomplete grade, you must have completed successfully 75% of the course at whatever level you have chosen to work (A,B, C, or D) and have special circumstances outside of your control that preclude completion of the course. The incomplete grade that will be given if the above conditions are met is an IF, which means that if you do not complete the work for the course within 12 months, your grade reverts to an F.

2. Attendance: Attendance is expected for all sessions except for those when groups are analyzing their artifacts. Groups should feel free to meet elsewhere on those days if other locations are more convenient for watching the film or television program. Failure to attend class sessions on the days that I lecture or when groups present their analyses will make completing the assignments at a satisfactory level very difficult.