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Department of Gender Studies, Queens University

GNDS 125: GENDER, RACE, & POPULAR CULTURE
Monday 9:30, Thursday 10:30 Biosciences Auditorium
*This is a draft syllabus. Small changes may be made over the first 10 days of term.
Course Outline
Professor Jane Tolmie
Office: D507 Mackintosh-Corry
Email: jane.tolmie@queensu.ca
Ex. 79070
Office hrs.: Wednesday 10-12 and by appointment
GNDS 125 explores popular culture from feminist and anti-racist perspectives, with attention to
sexuality, gender, race, nation, and other aspects of positionality. This is not a course on the
appreciation of popular culture music, films, popular novels, comics, current events, etc.
Students examine and question constructions of race and gender in mass media and current
affairs, and develop active rather than passive practices of consumption and reception.
There will be occasional guest lectures. The course Moodle will be updated throughout the term;
additional links and resources of interest from lecture will be added regularly. It is your
responsibility to check in with the course Moodle on a weekly basis, especially for details about
assignments (e.g. grading rubrics, details of requirements), links or other tools used in lectures,
and of course the lecture-based slides covering what you need to know week by week. Weekly
readings and lectures will be discussed and workshopped in tutorials.
Review the schedule for Reelout, Kingstons Queer Film and Videofest, January 30th-February
7th, now, as attendance at a festival film/video followed by a review/response is a required
element of the blog project, see http://www.reelout.com/films/ *This includes an account of
your personal experience attending the festival.

Course Values, Goals, and Requirements

Values and Respect
The course design for GNDS 125 is guided by the values of equity, inclusion, respect,
community, and integrity. As students are encouraged to engage critically with the course
material, differences in thought are bound to occur. However, it is imperative that students
negotiate difference with respect and courtesy.
The overall purposes of this course are to:

expose students to representations of gender and race in a wide range of forms of

contemporary popular culture,
provide a welcoming, safe space for productive, reflective thinking about feminism, feminist
issues and feminist practices,

invite student inquiry and support student learning regarding mass media, popular culture,
educate students in intersectional analysis,
explore paradigms for resistance and creative emancipatory work.
Learning objectives.
In this course, students will:

assemble a strong set of cultural critical tools and concepts drawn from gender and feminist

studies, anti-racist and decolonization studies, cultural studies and media studies,
enrich this basic tool set with concepts from areas such as disability studies, transgender
studies, ecocriticism, queer theory,
appraise gendered and racialized categories in popular culture, and articulate those appraisals
orally and in writing, with attention to continuous improvement in quality of
expression/delivery,
apply skills of intersectional cultural critique, meaning critique attentive to multiple
intersecting elements (race, class, gender, location, age, etc.),
develop an active critical relationship, rather than a passive-consumptive one, with popular
culture, with the goal of awareness-raising on issues of social justice,
develop their skills as conversational partners on difficult topics, learning to take into
account our differences and multiple perspectives.

Course texts
There is 1 required primary text, available in the Campus: Gendered Worlds 3rd edition (Aulette
and Wittner) from OUP. All other readings are available via the course Moodle either on the
main page via pdfs or links, or in the E-Reserves (top of site). N.B. There are extra materials for
interest only in the E-Reserves; if a given E-Reserve text is not on the syllabus under Reading,
it FYI only and not a course requirement.
Learning activities
Regularly assigned readings provide the basis or tools for lectures, which show the applications
rather than reviewing the readings.
Your presence and active participation at scheduled tutorial sessions is essential to your overall
success in the course.
Class format is divided among: formal and informal lectures, close-reading exercises, in-class
exercises (written and oral), viewings of film clips and other materials. Tutorials also vary in
format from week to week, including group work in permanent small groups.
Graded Assignments

The first short written assignment, which is to be discussed in tutorial, is due via Moodle. The
remaining three assignments are part of a live blog project that you create at wordpress.com and
maintain throughout the term, in a small, permanent working group of 4-5 students. There are
three blog entries, the first being a review of a film screened at Reelout, the Kingston Queer Film
and Videofest, which runs from January 30 to February 7th. See: http://www.reelout.com/films/
for the schedule and details. The remaining two blogs cover topics to be announced throughout
the term, with a choice between two topics per blog.
Grades and comments will be available via Moodle. Grading rubrics and details of assignments
will be available via Moodle.

Write a short first-person reflection (1.5 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman,
12-point, any citations in MLA style; http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/)
This short piece has three elements:
1. It briefly articulates your current perspectives on race, gender and popular culture.
What do these terms mean to you? Why are you taking this class? What urgency, if
any, is attached to these terms for you?
2. Give examples of 2 topics you would like to see addressed in the class, and explain
why they are of interest to you.
3. Identify the film you will watch at Reelout, and briefly address the reason for your
choice. If you believe you are unable to attend Reelout for any reason, contact your
TA immediately to discuss the possibility of an alternative assignment, prior to the
submission of this assignment.
Graded on style, clarity, thoughtfulness, and engagement with the questions asked.

Be sure your name and the name of your TA appear at the top of the first page.
5%

Discussion and participation in tutorial and in permanent small groups with readings
completed and ready for application/discussion. This includes in-class presentations or
exercises by small groups on materials assigned in-tutorial or in advance by TA.
40%
30% is in-tutorial, 10% is online participation in blog group

Blog project, 3 entries. Public blog, with 4-5 students participating in each blog group.
Create a (free) blog at wordpress.com, and share the access information among your
group. Be safe: do not use your real name in posts, create a blog-name for each person;
be certain to read all of the website safety guidelines. Share your blog name and
nicknames with your TA. I recommend you set your group blog up immediately and start
to familiarize yourselves with the features of the site.
55%
Blog 1, 15%, Blog 2, 20%, Blog 3, 20%
Three substantial entries are required, plus comments on other bloggers
work, including EVERY ENTRY by other students in your group (4-5 lines
would be appropriate, more is fine, ongoing discussions are welcomed). Topic
1 is your choice of film review, 2 and 3 TBA in lecture and via Moodle.

Detailed grading rubrics will be available shortly via Moodle.

Course schedule
Week
1

Monday

05-Jan-15 Introduction

Thursday 08-Jan-15
Reading: On Moodle, open link (not in E-Reserves): Gender Socialization.
Link: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/genderstratification-and-inequality-11/gender-and-socialization-86/gender-socialization-495-3393/
In the class textbook, Gendered Worlds, henceforth GW, read Chapter 1: Introduction.
2

Monday

12-Jan-15 Entertainment

Reading: On Moodle, in E-Reserves (top of site): We are what we watch. Susan Douglas
On Moodle, open link, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack. Peggy McIntosh
https://www.isr.umich.edu/home/diversity/resources/white-privilege.pdf
Thursday 15-Jan-15
Reading: Chapter 2 in GW, Bodies and Genders.
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Monday

19-Jan-15 Gender Socialization

Reading: On Moodle, open link: Gender Spectrum.

http://www.genderspectrum.org/understanding-gender
Thursday 22-Jan-15
Reading: Chapter 3 in GW, Socialization and the Social Construction of Gender.
4

Monday

26-Jan-15 Ads, Images, Visual Culture

Reading: Chapter 4 in GW, Sexualities.

On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Its all in the family. Patricia Collins
Thursday 29-Jan-15
Reading: Chapter 11 in GW, Popular Culture and Media.

First written assignment due via Moodle, by 11:50 pm, Wednesday

January 28. Bring a printed copy to tutorial for discussion.
5

Monday

02-Feb-15 Agency, Consent, Choice

Reading: On Moodle, main page, not in E-Reserves: pdf excerpts from Twilight and 50 Shades
of Grey.
Chapter 4 in GW, Sexualities.
Thursday 05-Feb-15
Reading: On Moodle, open link: Consent is a grey area? A comparison of understandings of
consent in 50 Shades of Grey and on the BDSM blogosphere. Meg Barker.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/36696/2/82738840.pdf
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Monday

09-Feb-15 Alternative Worlds

Reading: On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Same shit different world. Lauren Bans

On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Disability beyond stigma. Fine and Asch
Thursday 12-Feb-15
On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Race, Ethnic and aboriginal relations.

First blog entry due Wednesday February 11th by 11:50 pm on

wordpress.
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Monday 16-Feb-15 Reading week

Thursday 19-Feb-15 Reading week

Monday

23-Feb-15 Scene and Obscene

Reading: On Moodle, on main site, not in E-Reserves: pdf excerpts from One! Hundred!
Demons! Lynda Barry
On Moodle, open link: Eyeball kicks: Lynda Barry Sells Out.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/eyeball-kicks-lynda-barry-sells-out
On Moodle, open link: Lynda Barry will make you believe in yourself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/cartoonist-lynda-barry-will-make-you-believein-yourself.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Thursday 26-Feb-15
Reading: On Moodle, open link: Walt Disneys Maleficent Asks Tough Questions But Fails
to Answer Them. Drew McWeeney
http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/review-walt-disneys-maleficent-asks-tough-questionsbut-fails-to-answer-them

First complete set of comments due Monday February 23rd by

11:50 pm.
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Monday

02-Mar-15 #blacklivesmatter

Readings: On Moodle, open link: The Death of Michael Brown, Teachers, and Racism: 10
Things Every Badass Teacher Needs To Understand.
http://badassteachers.blogspot.ca/2014/08/the-death-of-michael-brown-teachersand.html?spref=fb
On Moodle: open link, for review as a valuable resource, not required in entirety but do an
overview, Black Girl Dangerous.
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/
On Moodle: open link, for review as a valuable resource, not required in entirety but do an
overview, a crowdsourced syllabus:
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/08/how-to-teach-kids-about-whatshappening-in-ferguson/379049/

Thursday 05-Mar-15 Cultural Appropriation

Reading: On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Aboriginal peoples in Canada: repairing the
relationship.
On Moodle, in E-Reserves: I am not your princess. Chrystos
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Monday

09-Mar-15 Transgendering Citizenship

Reading: On Moodle, open link: Suggested Rules for Non-Transsexuals Writing about
Transsexuals, Transsexuality, Transsexualism, or Trans. Jacob Hale
http://sandystone.com/hale.rules.html
Thursday 12-Mar-15
Reading: On Moodle, in E-Reserves: Transgendering Citizenship. Monro and Warren

Second blog due Wednesday March 11th by 11:50 pm.

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Monday

16-Mar-15 Islamophobia

Reading: On Moodle, link to pdf: Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological
Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others. L. AbuLughod
Thursday 19-Mar-15

Viewing: On Moodle, open link: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.
Documentary. Jeremy Earp, Sut Jhally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lugFgJn9krI

Second complete set of comments due Wednesday March 18th by

11:50 pm.
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Monday

23-Mar-15 Cultures of Harm

Reading: Chapter 10 in GW, Politics, Prison, and the Military.

On Moodle: open link: Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex.
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/davisprison.html
Thursday 26-Mar-15
Reading: On Moodle, open link: Why Does Popular Culture Treat Prison-Rape as a Joke?
http://www.alternet.org/story/141594/why_does_popular_culture_treat_prison_rape_as_a_joke?
page=0%2C0
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Monday

30-Mar-15 Cultures of Resistance

This final unit will be designed collaboratively by the whole class, in order to produce a series of
responses directly connected to matters urgent to the collective, connected to gender, race,
popular culture, social justice and current events.
Thursday 02-Apr-15 Concluding Remarks

Third blog entry due Wednesday April 8th by 11:50 pm.

Third complete set of comments due Wednesday April 15th by 11:50
pm.

Some writing guidelines.

Below, based on Elizabeth Minnich (2003), are some criteria to keep in mind when writing.
Think of these as things to aim for, in your ongoing efforts to use writing as a means of thinking
and communicating.
Inclusiveness shows how the author has anticipated possible other perspectives, taken them
into account, and been enriched by them. It is not a paper that refutes, although it selects among
possible alternative views.
Rhetoric uses expressive language to reach out and speak to the reader
Beauty gives the reader a sense of wholeness, or integrity; sentences (even imperfect
ones) flow, words and phrases used reflect the authors honest engagement in the satisfying
practice of thinking through something that matters to them
Play perhaps a moment or two when the author gets caught up and takes off energetically,
imaginatively not tied down or locked within what the author already knows or what logically
follows
Emotion the author is present as a full person one who cares, gets frustrated, excited
Originality the paper tells a story that only the author can tell the true story of an intellectual
journey in coming to understand something that matters personally
Reflexivity the reader can see the author thinking about thinking as it unfolds. For example, I
became confused so I asked myself what bell hooks might think, or All this leads back to the
accepted definition of oppression, but I am still uncomfortable with it
Revelation the author reveals new insights, saying, now I understand, or, a better question
emerged, or I recognized that
Connections the paper tracks the often odd affiliations among ideas and feelings, other
perspectives, audiences, and purposes
Extensions the author considers the implications of abstract views for real life and political
action, and imagines the impact on individuals, communities and societies
Positionality the author articulates how perspectives are shaped by history, identity and
relationships

Course Policies
Please turn off your cell/smart phone while in class. You are welcome to use your laptop, as
long as you are using it in a way that facilitates learning and does not distract other members of
the class.
Regular class attendance is expected. Lectures do not replicate class readings; instead they are
designed to show the application of tool-sets made available in the readings. Regular attendance
in tutorials is key, as it is there that you will have the chance to apply your own skills to cultural
analysis, working actively with others. TAs will take attendance and will use that in calculating
your participation grade.
Email
Email can be a fast and practical way to manage some types of communication; however, it is
not suitable for all types of inquiries. Please keep the following in mind when you use email:
Do not email the instructor or TAs about room location, reading requirements, and other standard
information that is readily available to you from other sources.
Reserve questions about complex concepts or theories for office hours or tutorial.
Include a salutation in your email message (Hey Prof does not count), spell out words, and be
sure your name (not just a short form) appears in the closing. Emails should not resemble text
messages.
Please make sure GNDS 125 appears in the subject line when emailing the instructor or your
teaching assistant.
Disability Accommodations:
Queen's University is committed to achieving full accessibility for people with disabilities. Part
of this commitment includes arranging academic accommodations for students with disabilities
to ensure they have an equitable opportunity to participate. If you are a student with a disability
and think you need accommodations, you are encouraged to contact the Disability Services
Office (DSO) as early as possible.
I share in the Universitys commitment to accessibility and ask that if there is anything I can do
to make this course accessible to you, please let me know. If you have accommodations
approved through the DSO, I ask that you let me know as soon as possible if there is anything I
need to do to ensure those accommodations are implemented appropriately.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is constituted by the five core fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness,
respect and responsibility (see www.academicintegrity.org). These values are central to the

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building, nurturing and sustaining of an academic community in which all members of the
community will thrive. Adherence to the values expressed through academic integrity forms a
foundation for the "freedom of inquiry and exchange of ideas" essential to the intellectual life of
the University (see the Senate Report on Principles and Priorities
http://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senateandtrustees/principlespriorities.html).
Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the regulations concerning academic
integrity and for ensuring that their assignments conform to the principles of academic integrity.
Information on academic integrity is available in the Arts and Science Calendar (see Academic
Regulation 1 http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/academic-calendars/2011-2012-calendar/academicregulations/regulation-1), on the Arts and Science website (see
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/academics/undergraduate/academic-integrity), and from the
instructor of this course. Departures from academic integrity include plagiarism, use of
unauthorized materials, facilitation, forgery and falsification, and are antithetical to the
development of an academic community at Queen's. Given the seriousness of these matters,
actions which contravene the regulation on academic integrity carry sanctions that can range
from a warning or the loss of grades on an assignment to the failure of a course to a requirement
to withdraw from the university.
Policy re: late assignments:
If, for some good reason, you will be unable to complete an assignment by the due date/time, you
must notify your TA at least 1 week before the due date that you wish to submit a late
assignment. If you do not notify your TA ahead of time and negotiate an alternate due date/time,
the TA need not accept and grade your late assignment. Late assignments lose one half letter
grade per day, unless prior arrangements have been made. After three days, late assignments are
no longer accepted/graded (again, if no alternative arrangements have been made). In cases of
illness, medical documentation is required.
If you and your TA agree upon a revised submission date for your assignment, and you fail to
submit by that date, the TA will not accept and grade the assignment.
It is important to speak to your TA, or to me, about difficulties you may have in meeting course
deadlines.

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Grading Scheme: Letters in, letters out.

All components of this course will receive letter grades which, for purposes of calculating your
course average, will be translated into numerical equivalents using the Faculty of Arts and
Science approved scale:
Arts & Science Letter Grade Input Scheme
Assignment mark

Numerical value for

calculation of final mark

A+

93

87

A-

82

B+

78

75

B-

72

C+

68

65

C-

62

D+

58

55

D-

52

F48 (F+)

48

F24 (F)

24

F0 (0)

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Your course average will then be converted to a final letter grade according to Queens Official
Grade Conversion Scale:
Queens Official Grade Conversion Scale

Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF

Numerical
Course
Average
(Range)
90-100
85-89
80-84
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
57-59
53-56
50-52
49 and below

Academic Support
All students no matter their level of achievement can benefit from the wide range of
academic support services available at Queens. Learning Strategies Development is an academic
support service for graduate and undergraduate students aimed at refining approaches to learning
and studying. Through web resources, individual consults, workshops, and an undergraduate
peer mentor program this service targets:

core academic skills (e.g. effective reading, note making, study methods, exam
writing)
thinking skills (e.g. concentration, memory, quantitative problem solving, critical
thinking)
self-management skills (e.g. organization, time management, stress management,
motivation, procrastination, perfectionism)

Writing is a key component of effective learning. The Writing Centres program of

workshops, credit courses, and one-on-one writing sessions is designed to support
students in thinking and writing effectively in all disciplines at both undergraduate and
graduate levels. Use this service! Writing is a lifelong learning project and every stage of
improvement makes us feel better about ourselves and helps us succeed in and out of
school.