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2020/2021

Gender Studies: New Sexualities / New Textualities

Code: 44032 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313157 Advanced English Studies OT 0 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Sara Martín Alegre
Email:
Sara.Martin@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)

Other comments on languages

C2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages required

Prerequisites

A C2 level of English, a combined interest in Gender Studies and animated children's films. Participating in class discussion is an essential part of the course.

Objectives and Contextualisation

Aims: The subject “Gender Studies: New Sexualities / New Textualities” studies the literary and cultural representation of gender taking as its starting point the impact of 1960s-70s feminism and, particularly, 1990s Queer Theory and its aftermath. Please, note: for 2020-21 the focus will fall on animated children's cinema.

Competences

  • Analyse and synthesise information at an advanced level.
  • Analyse the relationship between factors, processes or phenomena in the acquisition of English as a second language, its learning and teaching methods, and its literature, history and culture.
  • Apply methodological knowledge of statistical analysis and data generation, treatment and codification of multilingual databases, analysis of literary texts, etc. to research.
  • Communicate the knowledge acquired and the contributions of one’s research correctly, accurately and clearly both orally and in writing.
  • Critically argue, issue judgements and present ideas on the basis of the analysis of information originating from scientific production in these areas.
  • Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  • Distinguish and contrast between the different methodological and theoretical models applied to the academic study of the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.
  • Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  • Use the English language for academic and professional purposes related to research into the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse and interpret at an advanced level post-modern literary texts that represent gender identity in the English Literature of the late 20th century.
  2. Analyse and interpret at an advanced level scientifically produced on the English Postmodernity, extracting relevant citations and making content summaries
  3. Analyse and synthesise information at an advanced level.
  4. Communicate the knowledge acquired and the contributions of one’s research correctly, accurately and clearly both orally and in writing.
  5. Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  6. Distinguish and contrast the different theoretical and methodological models applied to the academic study of gender identity in the late 20th century in relation to post-modern English Literature.
  7. Orally present in English subjects and texts related to advanced research into post-modern English literature associated with Gender Identity.
  8. Read and analyse the post-modern literary and cultural representation in the English language of gender identity in the late 20th century.
  9. Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  10. Write texts defending an idea in relation to a post-modern literary text in the English language, applying secondary sources to the critical argumentation, originating from Gender Studies.

Content

Contents: Considering the theorisation of gender and sexuality in Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, Queer Studies and Masculinity Studies through the analysis of a series of fictions (novels, short stories, film, TV series) within the genre of science fiction. Please, note: for 2020-21 the focus will fall on 21st Century animated children's films in English.

Methodology

Activities

 

Total hours = 150

Contact: 30 (classroom: seminars, debates, text analysis and interpretation, use of secondary sources). These include 8 hours of assessment activities. Contact with teacher: 100%

Supervised 20 (office, virtual campus: tutorials, forum participation). These include 11  hours of assessment activities. Contact with teacher: 20%

Autonomous work 100 (at library, home: reading primary sources, locating and reading secondary sources, preparing seminars, writing for assessment). These include 19 hours of assessment activities. Contact with teacher: 10%

 

Methodology

The subject is run as a seminar and is based on class discussion. Students MUST:

-        Read/see all the texts, primary and secondary

-        Prepare their notes on the texts in advance, following the programme

-        Participate in debates in the classroom

-        Attend individual tutorials, if required

 

PLEASE, NOTE:

* In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.  

 

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Classroom activities: seminars, debates, text analysis and interpretation, use of secondary sources) 37 1.48 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 7, 10
Type: Supervised      
Teacher's office and virtual campus activities: tutorials, forum participation 12 0.48 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 7, 10
Type: Autonomous      
Activities at the library and at home: reading primary sources, locating and reading secondary sources, preparing seminars, writing for assessment 63 2.52 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 10

Assessment

Assessment activities (Total hours 36/150)

Between 3 and 6 datasheets per student on the films the teacher will assign to participate in the e-book project Gender in 21st Century Animated Children’s Cinema (to be published in the Dipòsit Digital de Documentació of UAB, see as an example https://ddd.uab.cat/record/163528). Deadline to submit the essays 15 January 2021. 50% (19 h)

Peer reviewing of your classmates’ oral and written work. 20% (11 h)

Classroom presentations (individual) based on the films assigned. 15% (4 h)

Class participation in the ensuing debates. 15% (4 h)

 

PLEASE NOTE:

*Evidence that students have not read or seen the set texts may result in a Fail for the subject.

* On carrying out each assessment activity, I will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

* Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 50% of the assessment items.

* In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

*In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

 

Review and re-assessment

The assessment model of the course makes it highly unlikely that a student could fail, unless, of course, the work assigned is not completed in time. Students can always ask the teacher to review his/her work in individual office meetings. If the deadline is not met, a second deadline can be arranged only for fully justified reasons and not later than 25 January 2021.

 

Observations

ALL THE TEXTS MUST BE READ OR SEEN IN ADVANCE, AS CLASSES ARE ORGANIZED AS SEMINARS AND REQUIRE FULL STUDENT PARTICIPATION.

Students should buy, rent or borrow the films and see them outside classroom hours. Only clips might be shown in class, not the complete films.

Students are required to employ non-sexist language in their written and oral productions. For guidelines on how to do this, they are advised to check the website of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA): https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/lsa-guidelines-nonsexist-usage. Appropriate use of language will be part of the assessment criteria

 

Programme and syllabus

The syllabus is organised in 20 sessions or 10 weeks (11:30-13:00, Tu-Fri) = 30 hours. The sessions begins on Tuesday 29 September and end on Thursday 3 December.

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Class participation 15% 4 0.16 2, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 7
Classroom presentations 15% 4 0.16 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 7
Fact sheet writing 50% 19 0.76 2, 1, 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 8, 10
Peer reviewing of your classmates' written work 20% 11 0.44 4, 9, 5, 6, 10

Bibliography

- Compulsory reading:

Robinson, Victoria & Diane Richardson. Introducing Gender and Women's Studies (4th Edition). Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2015, https://www.macmillanihe.com/page/detail/Introducing-Gender-and-Womens-Studies/?K=9781137321879

- Recommended reading:

See the list here https://bookauthority.org/books/best-animation-books

and especially the books by this autor: https://bookauthority.org/author/Maureen-Furniss. Also, the list below

 

For an example of the type of volume we will produce, see: Martín Alegre, Sara. Gender in 21st Century SF Cinema. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/206282

For my own work on Gender see http://gent.uab.cat/saramartinalegre