Masters of Sex: Feminisms, Sexuality, and the Archive

Week 1: Introduction

• Introductions
• The course content, objectives and outcomes will be discussed
• There will be a collective reading of a short text to provide you with an insight into the type of literature which will be covered in the course

Week 2: Mapping Queer and Feminist Studies

• A history of different types of feminism(s) will be outlined and analysed through a critical lens
• The purpose and power of feminism will be explored using bell hooks’ text, looking at the consciousness raising element of feminism as a radical praxis
• A history of queer studies will then be outlined with a focus on queer of colour perspectives
• The intersection between queer of colour theory and women of colour feminisms will be reflected upon with reference to the El Tayeb reading on queering ethnicity in Europe
• To illustrate the importance of an intersectional view of queer and feminist histories, there will be a short screening of Gay Black Group (United Kingdom, 1983, 24min)

Week 3: Media Studies and Sexuality

• Sexuality within the media will be discussed through looking at different media case study examples
• The construction of sexuality in the media will be explored through a feminist lens
• Drawing on critical media studies, students will engage in an interactive discussion on power, agency and audiences

Week 4: The Use of Archives

• A look at the role of archives and the types of knowledge(s) that are conserved in archival spaces
• Through looking at Esteban’s work, the concept of archive will be queered, illustrating how archives may be located in unexpected places and home different types of knowledge, emergent knowledge
• There will be a screening of Marlon Rigg’s work to illustrate how an avant-garde piece of work by Black queer filmmaker Marlon Riggs speaks to the power of the archive

Week 5: On Queerness and Diaspora

• The relationship between queerness and diaspora will be built upon to illustrate the power of “queer diaspora” in capturing the nuanced histories of those whose identities have marginally positioned
• Racialised subjectivities within queer spaces will be explored using Gloria Anzaldúa’s work on women of colour feminisms and sexualities
• The diasporic element will be further consolidated through reflecting on transnational queer and feminists relationships that forged solidarity and intimacy

Week 6: Black and brown Audio Visual Culture: British Perspectives

• Tracing the history of Black and brown audio-visual culture in Britain from the 1980s onwards
• A brief look at the infrastructure and institutional support that enabled Black and brown creatives to craft experimental work
• An analysis of the textual, political and social potency of the work in the context of anti-racist movements and an expansion on the concepts of diaspora, identity, Blackness and queer.
• A look at how this work correlates with a politics and praxis of resistance

Week 7: Feelings, Intimacy and Affect

• The affective cartography of different sexualities will be explored here, with a deep analysis on tactility, trauma and affect theory
• The ways in which trauma and colonial histories effect intimacy and affect will be analysed
• Sarah Ahmed’s work on happiness will be used to interrogate how certain feelings may be socially conditioned and bend according to the will of patriarchal and racist structures

Week 8: Navigating Desire and Race

• The racialisation of desire will be explored. Desire will be interrogated through the prism of colonial histories, looking at how this impacts on the ways in which certain racialised subjectivities may be represented and perceived

Week 9: Pleasure Politics

• The power of pleasure in its nuanced and capacious conceptualisation shall be built upon using the work of Audre Lorde and contemporary feminists
• Pleasure as resistance will be explored in the context of histories of racialised oppression and sexism

Week 10: Class Presentations

• You will share a 5 minute presentation on a selected case study based on the themes from the course

At the end of the course you will have:

• An understanding of the key themes of feminist and queer of colour studies
• Developed the skills to analyse media examples
• Reflected on various constructions of femininity, masculinity and sexuality
• Discussed, shared and collaborated with other participants
• Demonstrated critical thinking and analysed various approaches to race, gender and media

Our Department of Media and Communications is committed to asking the hard questions about the media that will change the world in the 21st century. We are ranked 8th in the world for communication and media studies, and 1st in the UK for the quality of research. The Department works closely with the Centre for Feminist Research and the Centre for Investigative Journalism, as well as housing important research centres in media democracy and political economy.

As well as offering a range of undergraduate programmes, the department plays host to a range of dynamic and innovative postgraduate pathways. The Screen School houses a number of highly renowned filmmaking and scriptwriting programmes, and regularly hosts events in their state of the art lecture theatres and studios in the Professor Stuart Hall Building. The Department is devoted to integrating criticism and creation, through a mixture and theory and practice at all levels of study. Industry speakers, networking events, careers fairs and the option to undertake work placements alongside international exchange programmes connect us to the wide world of media work