|
Across the U.S., departments of history, liberal studies,
communications, lesbian and gay studies, and other fields offer courses on lesbian
and gay issues. Visit the website of The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)
at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York for an extensive
listing of course descriptions.
To
the best of our knowledge, Annenberg’s Journalism 468M course is unique in
making media coverage of gay and lesbian issues a course’s primary focus.
Some colleges and universities, however, do offer classes and concentrations that
examine media coverage and cultural perceptions as part of their studies. Below
– with excerpts from the CLAGS site – are a few examples (emphasis added).
NOTE:
If you teach or know of a course that addresses gay and lesbian issues and the
media, please send us an email to raarons@aol.com.
Please include an abstract, a URL and a way to contact you.
-
The Annenberg School for
Communication at the University of Pennsylvania offers a course
entitled 'Communication, Culture and Sexual Minorities' (Comm
430). This course examine the role of cultural institutions in shaping the images and
self-images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in
Western society. (View
Syllabus)
-
American University's School
of Communication offers a course entitled 'Media and Sexuality' (Comm
396.002H). This course examines the powerful role that the American
media play in shaping sexual behavior as well as attitudes toward sex,
sexual behavior, and sexual identity. (View
Syllabus)
-
Florida Atlantic University
offers several courses that cover topics concerning lesbians, gays and
the media: Sexualities
and the Media Com 4930, Media,
Social Movements and Sexual Identities CST 7303. as well as a
comprehensive reading list.
-
Smith College’s
Women’s Studies department includes a Queer
Studies concentration whose “possible areas of focus include:
the history of sexuality, social movements, politics, anthropology,
literature, theater, art, film, science and sexology, public policy,
law, ethnic studies, music, demography, geography, media analysis,
philosophy, etc.”
-
The University
of Chicago’s Center for Gender Studies “promotes engagement
with ways that gender and sexuality give us insight into other modes
of social organization and change, including transformations of economic
and political systems; media public spheres; forms of repression and
resistance; modes of production, knowledge and experience, and everyday
life.”
-
The University
of Maryland’s CMLT291 course, International Perspectives
on Lesbian and Gay Studies, explores “the construction and representation
of sexualities in cultures around the globe, with particular emphasis
on literature and media.”
-
The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, offers a Certificate
Program in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies; at
least two courses that qualify for this program address the media
as part of their core studies: English 293, Literature
and Media, and English 380, Media
and Society.
-
An Indiana University course on gay and lesbian politics, Political
Science Y396, includes this in its course description: “...
gays and lesbians have entered the mainstream of American interest
group politics. At the ballot box, in Congress, state legislatures,
schools, and the courts, and via the media, protest rallies, and organizations from Washington
to college campuses, they are seeking recognition, challenging institutions,
and asserting claims to rights and protections under law. Suddenly
gay and lesbian issues – ballot initiatives over non-discrimination
laws, hate crimes, marriage, AIDS funding, others – occupy a
prominent place in mainstream political debate.”
|
