Programme Description 

This three-week interdisciplinary course addresses the intersection of gender and media through developing a critical understanding of how ‘gender’ helps shape media texts and institutions and how media (understood to include all forms and genres of communication) structure our understandings of gender. The term ‘gender’ refers to constructed ideologies of femininity and masculinity in the public sphere as well as to the intersection of gender with other social identities – including cultural categories such as religion, race, class, and sexuality. Focusing on studies and examples from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, we will examine the ways in which gender is represented, reproduced, targeted and normalized in a variety of media outlets, and address how textual, visual and aural images mediate, challenge and also reproduce gender ideologies and gender identities that intersect with other social identities, class and race. At the same time, we will address how the social construction of gender is continuously challenged in different media genres and forms and by whom, thus acknowledging individual and collective agency and lived experiences in different socio-historical contexts. 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, a student should be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• Understand key theories and methods of studying media, power, and social identities
• Examine the role of media in constructing gender and its intersections with race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality
• Address and recognize the persistence of gendered media industries
• Address the role of new media technologies in challenging and/or reaffirming traditional constructs of gender

Credit

This course is worth 15 credits in the UK system. 15 credits is equivalent to 4 credits in the US system and 7.5 ECTS in the European system. If you intend to transfer credit to your home institution, please check the requirements with them before you apply. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can, however please be aware that the decision to transfer credit rests with your home institution.

Current SOAS students selecting this course as an open option module will not be charged the tuition-fee. For further information and assistance, please contact summerschool@soas.ac.uk. 

Enquiries 

For more information, please fill out our enquiries form.

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: 20 July – 7 August 2020

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Week 1: Gender and media

• Introduction to Gender and Media
• Media, gender and sexual violence
• Media, gender and conflict
• New media, gendered representation and power
• Media economies and gendered representations

Week 2: Critical Methods

• Intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to media
• Feminist media critique and practices
• Queering approaches to media
• Crip methods and media

Week 3: Gendered Experiences of Media

• Media reproducing homonationalism and heteronormativity
• Media across borders: transnational and transregional feminist approaches
• Media, diasporas and mobilities
• Case study

In addition to classroom-based lectures and tutorials, students will participate in and attend a range of activities and field trips that support and contribute towards the core learning outcomes and objectives.

Examples include:

- Student-run blog

- Zine-making Activity

- Image Archive Activity with Dr Nydia Swaby, Learning Curator at the ICA

- Feminist Academic Publishing Roundtable (Research Event, open to the public)

- Student Presentations

Sample Reading list: 

• Feminist Principles of the Internet (2016). Available at: https://feministinternet.org/en/download
• Hall, Stuart (1997). The Work of Representation. In Stuart Hall, ed.,. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage.
• Haraway, Donna (1988). Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599
  hooks, bell (1992). The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators. In Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press. pp. 115-131
• Mulvey, Laura (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), pp. 6–18
• Rush, Peter and Elander, Maria (2018). Working through the cinematography of international criminal justice: procedures of law and images of atrocity. London Review of International Law, 6(1), 17–43.
• Tan, Jia (2017). Digital Masquerading: Feminist Media Activism in China. Crime, Media, Culture, 13(2), 171–186.

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

Course Convenor(s)

Dr Gina Heathcote, Dr Dina Matar, Dr Kyoung Kim

Contact hours: 

50 hours (lectures, tutorials, activities). The course will be delivered Monday - Friday over the 3 weeks.  

Core hours:

Monday - Friday 10am-3pm. In addition to regular lectures and tutorials, each course is composed of a range of activities relating to their academic content (e.g. museum visit, company visit etc).

Assessment

Assessment will be in the form of an assignment to be handed in 2 weeks after the end of the course.

If you have opted to study for credit, you will be required to complete all course assessments. Should you complete the assessments with success, you will receive a transcript confirming your marks and credits. If you have not chosen to study for credit, you will be exempt from any course assignments and not receive a mark.

Tuition Fees

Credit assessed: £1,750
Non-assessed: £1,600

Application fee

A one-off, non-refundable application fee of £40 will be charged to cover administration costs. Please visit the SOAS online store to make your application fee payment.

Discounts

10% discount if you apply by 31st March

10% discount if you apply for two courses over 6 weeks

15% discount for SOAS alumni (including Academic Summer School alumni)

20% discount for our partner institutions

Other discounts are available for groups. Please contact us for more information.

Accommodation

For more information, please see our accommodation page.

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

How to Apply

Application Form

Entry Requirements

In order to join the Academic Summer School, students should meet the following entry requirements:

• A university student or a graduate at the time of attending. Professional experience can be acknowledged as equivalent to a university qualification.
• Participants must be 18 or over at the time of attendance.
• Fluency in English language is recommended for non-credit courses, but essential for SOAS Accredited courses. Proficiency can be demonstrated through:
• IELTS, 6.5 overall or higher, with at least 6 in all sub scores.
• TOEFL Paper based test we require a minimum of 583 with minimum 53 in all skills and for TOEFL Internet Based Test we require a minimum of 93 with minimum 20 in all skills. 
• Pearson Test of English a score of 59-64
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) Grade B
• If you have studied in an English speaking institution, or have courses taught at your university in English (excluding English language courses) you may meet our requirements without having to supply a certificate. Evidence of this will either need to be included on a transcript or letter from your university. 
• If you are unsure whether you meet the above entry requirements, please contact us to discuss your application.

Enrolment of applicants who do not meet the entry requirements is at the discretion of SOAS – please get in touch to speak to us about your application and we will be happy to help. 

Application Procedure

Once you have paid the £40 application fee and submitted the online application form, you will be informed as to whether you have a place on the summer school within 5 working days. Please do not pay your tuition fee prior to having received your offer letter.

Application Deadline

Applications now accepted on a rolling basis for all courses

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