WGSS 313
Gender, Race, Beauty, and Power in the Age of Transnational Media Spring 2014 (also offered Fall 2013)
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed LATS 313 / AMST 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?
The Class: Format: discussion
Limit: 12
Expected: 12
Class#: 3459
Grading: OPG
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation to be based on student participation, 1 student-led discussion period, and 2 written essays of 5-7 pages each
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis
Prerequisites: LATS 105, AFR 200, AMST 201, WGSS 101 or permission of the instructor; first year students are not permitted to take this course
Enrollment Preferences: Latina/o Studies concentrators, American Studies majors, Africana Studies concentrators, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies majors by seniority
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
LATS 313 Division II AMST 313 Division II WGSS 313 Division II
Attributes: AMST Comp Studies in Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora
ASAM Related Courses
WGSS Racial Sexual + Cultural Diversity Courses
WGSS Theory Courses

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