LATS 313
Gender, Race, Beauty, and Power in the Age of Transnational Media Fall 2012
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed COMP 313 / AMST 313 / WGSS 313
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This lecture and discussion course focuses on the politics of personal style among U.S. women of color in an era of viral video clips, the 24-hour news cycle, and e-commerce sites dedicated to the dermatological concerns of “minority” females. With a comparative, transnational emphasis on the ways in which gender, sexuality, ethno-racial identity, and class inform standards of beauty, we will examine a variety of materials ranging from documentary films, commercial websites, poetry and sociological case studies to feminist theory. Departing from the assumption that personal aesthetics are intimately tied to issues of power and privilege, we will engage the following questions: What are the everyday functions of personal style among women of color? Is it feasible to assert that an easily identifiable “African-American,” “Latina,” or “Asian-American” female aesthetic exists? What role do transnational media play in the development and circulation of popular aesthetic forms? How might the belief in personal style as a tactic of resistance challenge traditional understandings of what it means to be a “feminist” in the first place? Readings include works by Julie Bettie, Rosalinda Fregoso, Tiffany M. Gill, Margaret L. Hunter, Linda Leung, Lisa Nakamura, Catherine Ramírez, Felicity Schaefer-Grabiel, and Sandra K. Soto, among others.
The Class: Format: discussion
Limit: 12
Expected: 12
Class#: 1653
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation to be based on student participation, 1 student-led discussion period, and 2 written essays of 5-7 pages each
Prerequisites: LATS 105, AFR 200, AMST 201, WGSS 101 or permission of the instructor
Enrollment Preferences: Latina/o Studies concentrators, American Studies majors, Africana Studies concentrators, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies majors
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under AMST, LATS or WGSS; meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under COMP
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
COMP 313 Division I AMST 313 Division II LATS 313 Division II WGSS 313 Division II
Attributes: WGSS Racial Sexual + Cultural Diversity Courses

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