Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
2210441 Gender and Cultural Representation
Puckpan Tipayamontri
Office: Boromrajakumari Building room 1106.1
Office Hours: M 1–3 and by appointment
Phone: 0-2218-4703
Announcements
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!
Final Exam Update:
The
final will consist of
short and long essay-type questions
on the topics covered by your three
instructors this latter half of the semester, so roughly on 1) youth, African
American, the virtual and Thailand, USA, world, 2) gender, disability and
cultural representation, and 3) gender,
displacement and trauma. More
details below. ! March 22 Class Feedback: Please e-mail me 1) what struck you most about Friday, March 22 class? and 2) anything you'd like to say to me. Thanks for sharing your ideas in class and about class. And thank you, our Fisherman's Friend angel, for saving me from a terrible coughing fit! |
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Tentative Schedule
Week 10 |
Mar. 16 |
Who Are You? Reading
In-class writing 1: "Who Are You?" (respond; 10 minutes)
Discussion:
How do you identify or represent yourself? What
are some cultural representations of youth? What concerns
and perceptions
do they reflect? How do you respond
to these representations of your age group?
And how do they differ from or reflect your self-description or self-construction?
How and why might gender
representations change? Who are African Americans?
How are they portrayed in culture?
How
is masculinity
or femininity expressed and created
through Afro-American
cultural means? In
what ways is it specific
or non-specific to that
culture? Does the virtual identity
disrupt, reconfigure, or otherwise
change gender
conceptualizations? Does
it reinforce types? How
should or shouldn't one be
gendered? How does digital
space allow us to manage
identity? How does gender
figure in the virtual
world? In what ways does
the virtual affect reality
and vice
versa? |
Week 11 |
Mar. 22 |
Where Are We? Reading
In-class
writing 2: Image Analysis (15 minutes) Watch the
following video clip carefully. Then describe and analyze
its composition, features, content, etc. to show how they
“work,” as Stuart Hall calls it, to produce meaning. What
meanings are created, refuted, contested, problematized,
and how are they related to gender? In-class
writing 3: Practice Exam
(30 minutes) The following two images by Belgian surreal
artist Rene Magritte are well-known critiques of the
process of representation. Using them as a starting
point to discuss examples and topics in these two
classes thus far, examine how the complexities,
problems, and meanings
in cultural representation
that these two images call attention to may also be
evident in material we have encountered regarding
identity (Who Are You?) and place (Where Are
We?).
Discussion:
How are places represented? In what ways are they
implicitly or
overtly gendered? How does gender function in
cultural representations of places such as
Thailand, the US and the world? What are some
characteristics of these conceptualizations of
places in which we live? What factors shape these portrayals and
how we perceive them?
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Week | Final Exam (place
and time TBA) The final (worth 30% of your grade) consists of image analysis and essay-type questions on the topics covered by your instructors this latter half of the semester, so roughly they will ask you to engage with ideas and issues on 1) youth, African American, the virtual and Thailand, USA, world, 2) gender, disability and cultural representation, and 3) gender, displacement and trauma. Here is your opportunity to show not only information recall, but also thinking skills--your ability to reason, create, apply, analyze and synthesize. Each exam prompt may consist of several questions but what the entire prompt does is give you a topic with a scope. You should formulate an argument/thesis in response to that topic within that scope and structure your essay around your argument, citing specific images, scenes, lines, words, examples or information to illustrate and support the points you are making. Keep in mind the following course objectives that you will be evaluated on as you plan your response: by the end of this course students should be able to 1) explain the development of gender studies, 2) explain the fundamental concepts of gender studies by key theorists, and 3) analyze cultural representations that are related to gender. Again, you do not need to answer every single question in the prompt cluster in order and separately. Rather, your writing should be designed as a coherent unified piece, not unconnected answers to different questions strung together or a bulleted list. The multiple questions are there to help you brainstorm on the topic and to spark critical engagement with it. You should draw on your own close reading of the syllabus material, lectures, your discussion in and outside of class, and relevant reading and research you have done. Think critically about the material we have encountered and be prepared to think critically on the topic prompted by the test question as well. When writing, follow academic conventions and try to be as legible, clear, effective, and compelling as you can. Rest well, eat clean good food, arrive at least fifteen minutes before exam time, and make sure your student ID, watch, and writing implements are in order. Good luck!
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Last
updated
May 2, 2013