DMC 298 - Communication Theory: Race, Health, and Gender

Is race a social construct? How do you know you are sane? Does anyone have a perfect body? Is one born or made a woman? In this class, we will read short selections from classic works of critical theory concerning how we encounter, understand, and make meaning in the world. These works belong to a tradition of reading and writing, interpretation and agitation from which the discipline of media studies emerged in the late twentieth century. Our job as a class is to use this tradition to interrogate three vectors of power that shape our daily lives: race, health, and gender. To that end, the course is split in half. Each week, we will dedicate one class meeting to reading and discussing a work of theory. Our second meeting will be dedicated to a communal research and production project that centers the intersections of race, health, and gender. The goal is for our media practice to inform and be informed by our encounters with theory.

Credits 4

Notes
From time to time, departments design a new course to be offered either on a one-time basis or an experimental basis before deciding whether to make it a regular part of the curriculum. First offered Spring 2025.

Compass Attributes
Humanities