MEDS 231 - Minorities in the Media

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as FILM 231) This course examines the dynamics of race, class, gender and sexuality as they are represented in American society. Throughout the semester, we analyze media (i.e., films, television programs, YouTube videos, advertisements), and mediated discourse, to assess the way categories of “minority” and “majority” identity have been constructed in mainstream society and popular culture. In addition to examining images of those persons collective known as “minorities,” (BIPOC, LGBTQIA), we consider the representation of those defined as “majority” Americans. This course utilizes Black British Cultural Studies, African American Studies, Critical Race Theory and Sociology. The course also engages scholarship from the field of whiteness studies. Issues and topics may include the concept of “model minorities” (i.e., Henry Louis Gates, Jennifer Lopez, Rahm Emmanuel, Ellen DeGeneres, the Williams Sisters, Barack Obama); global branding; the BLM movement; police brutality (i.e., Rodney King, Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, George Floyd); the Proposition 209 conflict; the WNBA; gay marriage; Islamophobia; and the representation of the Middle East. Readings, weekly screenings, and papers required. Mia Mask.

Prerequisite(s): FILM 175 or FILM 209, and permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods plus outside screenings.

Course Format: CLS