Media Studies 110: Spring 2012
Media and Sexuality


Time/Location: T/R, 1:15pm - 2:30pm, SC230
Screening: T, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, SC230; films and videos are also on reserve at Pitzer A/V Services




Instructors
:
Alex Juhasz & Ming-Yuen S. Ma

Phone & Email:
Alex Juhasz
- x74431
- alexandra_juhasz@pitzer.edu

Ming-Yuen S. Ma
-x74319
- ming-yuen_ma@pitzer.edu


Office + Hours:

Alex Juhasz
• Fletcher 228
• Tuesday 11:00am-12:00pm
• Thursday 3:00pm-4:00pm

Ming-Yuen S. Ma

• Scott 213
• Wednesday/Thursday 11:00am-12:00pm
• Monday by appt.



 

Course Description
This course is an intermediate/advanced-level course examining the intersections between media theory and the study of sexuality. In exploring issues including transgenderism, pornography, censorship, feminism, queer cinema, and representations of race and sexuality, this course focuses on compelling theoretical formulations and their interrelations with films and videos that provide students with specific understanding of the prevailing debates and defining theories of sexuality within media studies. Prerequisite: Intro to Media Studies or Language of Film. Students must be over 18 and must sign a consent form to enroll in this course.


 

 

Statement of Student Learning Outcome
By the end of this course, students ideally are expected:

  • To develop a historicized understanding of specific topics (queer feminism, pornography, queers of color, technology and the body) concerning sexuality and gender in media production, exhibition, and criticism;
  • To acquire a sense of the historical, critical and political contexts from which these theories and media works have emerged;
  • To develop a working knowledge of the major theories on sexuality and gender in the media;
  • To acquire skills in analyzing the representation and articulation of sexuality and gender in a wide variety of media, including narrative film, experimental/avant-garde film and video, performance, digital media, and other formats;
  • To be able to discuss and convey the above-mentioned knowledge and skills in both critical written arguments and in oral presentations/discussion;
  • To be able to work and learn in both individual and group contexts.




Course Organization
Class activities include discussion of reading assignments, screenings, presentations, as well as individual and group assignments. Both works by students and examples of independent media works will be presented in class. Depending on funding and availability, guest speakers (film and video makers, media artists, programmers, scholars, etc.) will be invited to class, or to the Media Studies cinematheque series - be prepared to attend out-of-class screenings and lectures.

Please turn off all cell phones and PDAs during class. These and other diversions are not acceptable during class time, and will lower your grade. 

Course Requirements
1. Attend all classes
2. Participation in class discussions and presentations
3. Completion of three assignments

 

 

Attendance
Attendance and participation of all classes is required. Do not miss class or arrive late! If you miss class 3 times without a proper excuse, (e.g. a doctor's note if you are sick) you fail the class. Absences must be cleared by one of us before or after (in case of emergencies only) the class you missed in order for it to not affect your final grade. Attendance is determined by when we take roll.


 

Class Participation
Your active, well-prepared participation in class discussions is essential to creating a dynamic (i.e. not boring!) learning environment. Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on my observations.

Media and Sexuality is a feminist, queer, anti-racist space of inquiry and practice pursuing the connections between the theories, politics, and experiences of sex and desire to visual representation. We study sexually explicit, political, and otherwise challenging material in this course. These are not included for shock value, but are legitimate investigations of controversial subject matters in media. You are certainly encouraged to explore difficult and complex subject matters in your work, and you should be prepared to consider these issues intellectually and emotionally. Our class is a safe space in which students can express their beliefs and opinions. You always have a voice, but please be respectful of others as well. Abusive language and behavior are not be tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

 

 

Class Assignments & Written Responses
There are three assignments for the course, one per topic, with one topic off. Assignments are due one week after each section ends:

Assignment 1: In groups (of 10-15 students), create an in class event (screening, performance, lecture, panel, etc.) responding to one of three topics covered in class: pornography, race and sexuality, body and technology. Each group is responsible for organizing the event, creating documentation, an event proposal, and an event evaluation for grading.
Assignment 2: Locate and then read a text referred to in one of the required text books on your own. Use it to write a critique of/response to the arguments of one of our featured authors. The text you read on your own must not be a part of the required texts for the class. (5-8 pages)
Assignment 3: Locate a film or video referred to in one of the required texts. Write an analysis of the film or video using that author’s analysis, as well as your own. The film or video you view on your own must not be one of the class screenings. (3-5 pages)

Written Responses - In addition, each student is responsible for 2 written responses per topic (a total of 8 responses for the semester). These will be presented in class during the section when said topic is discussed, up to the due date for that section (one week after section has concluded). These posts should be between a paragraph to one page in length. They can be public (presented to the entire class) or private (submitted to instructor only). They will not be graded, but will count towards the student's class participation grade.

Unless an extension is approved by us in advance of the due date, your grade will be reduced by one letter grade (i.e. B to C) per class day your assignment is late. You are encouraged to meet with us individually during our office hours to discuss your assignments, your grades, and your overall performance in class. We are always open to suggestions and feedback!

 

 

Reading & Viewing Assignments
For each section we will be reading approximately one book - three monographs and one reader, with supplementary articles. There will be weekly screenings outside of class-time that highlight films and videos addressed in that week’s reading assignment.

Required Readings

Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects: Art and The Dialectics of Desire, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2006.
Peter Lehman, ed. Pornography: Film and Culture, Rutgers University Press, NJ, 2006
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1999.
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age, MIT Press, MA, 1998.

Recommended Readings

Drucilla Cornell, ed., Feminism and Pornography, Oxford University Press, USA, 2000.
Donna J. Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, NY, 1991.
Darrell Hamamoto & Sandra Liu, eds., Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism, Temple University Press, 2000.
Celine Parrenas Shimizu, The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene, Duke University Press, 2007.
Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, Verso Books, 2004.
Linda Williams, ed., Porn Studies, Duke University Press, Durham, 2004.


 

Additional References (for further research):
Michele Aaron, New Queer Cinema: A Critical Reader, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, 2004.
Bad Object-Choices, eds, How Do I Look: Queer Film and Video, Bay Press, Seattle, 1991.
Fiona Carson & Claire Pajaczkowska, eds., Feminist Visual Culture, Routledge, New York, 2001.
Gina Dent, ed., Black Popular Culture, Bay Press, Seattle, WA, 1992.
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, Grove Wiedenfeld, NY, 1967.
Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests; Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, Routledge, NY, 1997.
Martha Gever, John Greyson, Pratibha Parmar, eds., Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video, Routledge, NY, 1993.
Judith Halberstam, Female Masculinity, Duke University Press, Durham, 1998.
Ellis Hanson, ed., Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film, Duke University Press, Durham, 1999.
Amelia Jones, ed., The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, Routledge, New York, 2003.
Alexandra Juhasz, ed., Women of Vision: Histories in Feminist Film and Video, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2001.
Laura Kipnis, Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America, Duke University Press, Durham, 1999.
Russell Leong, ed., Asian American Sexualities, Routledge, 1995. Also available as an issue of the Amerasia Journal: Dimensions of Desire, Vol. 20, NO. 1, 1994.
Laura U. Marks, The Skin of The Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses, Duke University Press, Durham, 2000.
---, Touch: Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2002.
Mandy Merck, In Your Face, New York University Press, New York, 2000.
Richard Meyer, Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire), Oxford University Press, 2002.
Cherrie Moraga & Gloria Anzaldua, eds., This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Kitchen Table Press, NY, 1981.
Michael Renov & Erika Suderburg, eds., Resolutions: Contemporary Video Practices, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1995.
Ruby Rich, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of The Feminist Film Movement, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 1998.
Ella Shohat & Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism, Routledge Press, NY, 1994.
Linda Williams, Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and The "Frenzy of The Visible, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1989.

 

 

Film/Video Titles: (List #1 Required):
THE ASIAN HEAT IN ME (1995) Dir. Kimberly SaRee Tomes
BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) Dir. Claire Denis
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR (1972) Dir. Mitchell Brothers
BENDOVER BOYFRIEND (1998) Dir. Shar Rednour
BIKE BOY (1967) Dir. Andy Warhol
BILLY BUDD (1962) Dir. Peter Ustinov
CARMELITA TROPICANA (1993) Dir. Ela Troyano
CHINESE CHARACTERS (1986) Dir. Richard Fung
DEEP THROAT (1972) Dir. Gerard Damiano
EROTIC IN NATURE (1985) Dir. Cristen Lee Rothermund
FOREVER BOTTOM! (1999) Directed by Nguyen Tan Hoang
HARDLOVE/HOW TO FUCK IN HIGH HEELS (2000) Dir. Shar Redhour and Debbie Sundahl
HOT AND BOTHERED: FEMINIST PORNOGRAPHY (2003) Dir. Becky Goldberg
I, A MAN (1967) Dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol
I.K.U. (2000) Dir. Shu Lea Cheang
I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (1996) Dir. Mary Harron
INSIDE DEEP THROAT (2005) Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
JOHN WAYNE BOBBITT: UNCUT (1994) Dir. Ron Jeremy
THE KING (1968) Dir. Looney Bear
LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989) Dir. Issac Julien
MANDINGO (1975) Dir. Richard Fleischer
MASTERS OF THE PILLOW (2003) Directed by James Hou, 58 mins.
MY MOTHER'S PLACE (1991) Dir. Richard Fung
THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN (1975) Dir. Radley Metzger (AKA " Henry Paris")
PAM AND TOMMY LEE: HARDCORE AND UNCENSORED (1997) IEG
QUERELLE (1982) Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
SAN FRANCISCO LESBIANS
STAG FILMS (1920s - 1940s) Dir. various
SUBURBAN DYKES (1990) Dir. Debbie Sundahl
TOP SPOT (2004) Dir. Tracey Emin
THE WHITE TO BE ANGRY (YR.?) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis

Film/Video Titles: (List #2 Reference):
ASIAN PERUASION (1997) Dir. Josh Eliot
ASIAN PERUASION 2 (1998) Dir. Josh Eliot
BLOWJOB (1963) Dir. Andy Warhol
BOYS DON'T CRY (1999) Dir. Kimberly Peirce
THE BRANDON TEENA STORY (1998) Dir. Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir
CHOLO JOTO (1993) Dir. Augie Robles
CROSSING THE COLOR LINE (1999) Dir. Gino Colbert
DIAL "S" FOR SEX (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
DESIGNY LIVING (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
DOT (1994) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
FORTUNE COOKIE (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
FISTS OF FURY (1972) Dir. Wei Lo
LET ME TELL YA 'BOUT WHITE CHICKS (1984) Dir. Dark Brothers
LINDA/LES (199?) Dir. Annie Sprinkle
MARGINAL EYES/MUJERIA FANTASY 1 (1996) Dir. Osa Hidalgo
MONA (1970) Dir. Bill Osco
MTV'S REAL WORLD (3rd Season) Episodes 1, 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19
MY FAIR LADY (1964) Dir. George Cukor
NOEMA (1998) Dir. Scott Stark
SAFER SEX SHORTS (1980s-1990s) produced by Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
THE SALT MINES (1990) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
SLANTED VISION (1995) Dir. Ming-Yuen S. Ma
THE TRANSFORMATION (1996) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
VOODOO WILLIAMSON - THE DONA OF DANCE (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972) Dir. Bruce Lee

 

 

Grading
Your final grade will be based on the following
20% Assignment 1
30% Assignment 2
30% Assignment 3
20% Class participation

Class participation: Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on our observations.

Generally, outstanding ('A') students in this class have good attendance and completed all their assignments on time. They are consistently well prepared for class, and actively participate in and advance our discussions with pertinent information, questions, and observations. Their work demonstrate their awareness of the issues at hand, the historical context for the film and videos they are discussing, as well as their ability to articulate their observations and analyses in a clear and concise manner. Only letter grades are given out in this class.

Academic honesty - all work done for this course must be the original work of the student submitting it, and should have been undertaken exclusively for this course. No work done prior to this class maybe used to fulfill the class assignments. Plagiarism will result in the student receiving an F for the class grade.

Extra credit - Students are encouraged to attend screenings, conferences, lectures, exhibitions and web events related to this course. Write a two-page (typed and double-spaced) report of the event or activity. Incorporate the event's relevance to the class as well as your personal responses to it. Proof of attendance is required (keep your ticket stubs, programs, etc.) Students are allowed two extra credit papers. Announcements for events of interest to this class are done in the first 5 mins. of each class.

* We try our best to make our grading criteria as clear as possible, and you are welcome to come and discuss your grades and your class performance with us. However, we only consider legitimate concerns, and be aware that your grade is as likely to go down as it is to go up after we reassess your assignment. We do not tolerate haggling, bribing, threats, and any other pointless arguments. We consider all aspects of your performance before we assign a grade, please respect our assessment as we respect your efforts.

 

 

 


Course Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction, Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Tuesday 1/17 Introduction, go over syllabus, etc.
Thursday 1/19 Sex Objects, pp. xi-xxxi, 1-44
Man in Polyester Suit (1980) by Robert Mapplethorpe
Suggested Reading,
Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Penguin Classics, 2002
Required Film/Video (Screening )
THE ASIAN HEAT IN ME (1995) Dir. Kimberly SaRee Tomes - in class
QUERELLE (1982) Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
BILLY BUDD (1962) Dir. Peter Ustinov
BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) Dir. Claire Denis
Suggested Viewing


 

Week 2: Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, Verso Books, 2004 (click here for entire manifesto)
Tuesday 1/24 Sex Objects pp. 45-70
Thursday 1/26 Sex Objects pp. 71-96, SCUM Manifesto, pp. 35-38, 69-80
Self Portrait as Drella by Andy Warhol
Suggested Reading

SCUM Manifesto, pp. 39-68
Avital Ronell, Deviant Payback: The Aims of Valerie Solanas, in SCUM Manifesto, pp. 1-31
Required Film/Video (Screening )
I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (1996) Dir. Mary Harron
I, A MAN (1967) Dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol
BIKE BOY (1967) Dir. Andy Warhol
Suggested Viewing


 

Week 3: Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Tuesday 1/31 pp. 97-120
Thursday 2/2 pp. 121-140
Required Film/Video (Screening)
No screening to attend this Tuesday, please watch either of these films on your own:
THIRTEEN (2003) Dir. Catherine Hardwicke,PRECIOUS, BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE (2009) Dir. Lee Daniels, or PARIAH (2011) Dir. Dee Rees
VD as VB images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Performance
Suggested Viewing
TOP SPOT (2004) Dir. Tracey Emin(in class)
Documentary on Tracey Emin (view on-line)
BBC Radio interview with Emin (listen on-line)

 

 

Week 4: The Porn Classroom / Porn as Genre
Required Reading
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 2/7 Pornography pp. 1-21, Porn Studies pp. 1-23
Thursday 2/9 pp. Pornography pp. 60-98, Due Date #1
Suggested Reading
Pornography pp.25-59, 168-188
Required Film/Video
THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN (1975) Dir. Radley Metzger (AKA " Henry Paris") - screening
HOT AND BOTHERED: FEMINIST PORNOGRAPHY (2003) Dir. Becky Goldberg
Suggested Viewing
MY FAIR LADY (1964) Dir. George Cukor


 

Week 5: Porn as Culture / History of Pornography - From Film to Video
Required Reading
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 2/14 Pornography, pp. 99-129
Thursday 2/16 Porn Studies pp. 127-141, 370-400, Pornography, pp. 154-167
Suggested Reading
Porn Studies pp. 27-123, 335-369
Pornography pp. 133-153
Required Film/Video
JOHN WAYNE BOBBITT: UNCUT (1994) Dir. Ron Jeremy - screening
PAM AND TOMMY LEE: HARDCORE AND UNCENSORED (1997) IEG - in class
STAG FILMS (1920s - 1940s) Dir. various (GETTING HIS GOAT, SMART ALECK, BURIED TREASURE) - in class
Porn History Powerpoint
Suggested Viewing

 

 

Week 6: The Gender / Sexual Politics of Porn
Required Reading
Drucilla Cornell, Feminism and Pornography
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 2/21 Feminism and Pornography, pp. 19-38, 94-120, Pornography, pp. 244-257,
Thursday 2/23 Porn Studies pp. 167-220
Suggested Reading
Feminism and Pornography, pp. 39-93, 121-165
Pornography, pp. 133-153, 189-205
Porn Studies pp. 142-166, 401-460
Richard Dyer, "Male Gay Porn: Coming to Terms," in Jump Cut 30, pp. 27-29
Required Film/Video
DEEP THROAT (1972) Dir. Gerard Damiano - screening
BENDOVER BOYFRIEND (1998) Dir. Shar Rednour - screening
INSIDE DEEP THROAT (2005) Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato - in class
HARDLOVE/HOW TO FUCK IN HIGH HEELS (2000) Dir. Shar Redhour and Debbie Sundahl - in class
SAN FRANCISCO LESBIANS - in class

SUBURBAN DYKES (1990) Dir. Debbie Sundahl - in class
THE KING (1968) Dir. Looney Bear - in class
Suggested Viewing


 

Week 7: Racialized Pornographies
Required Reading
Celine Parrenas Shimizu, The Hypersexuality of Race
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 2/28 Pornography, pp. 220-243, Porn Studies, pp. 271-308
Thursday 3/1 The Hypersexuality of Race, pp. 140-184
Richard Fung, "Looking For My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn", in Asian American Sexualities, pp. 181-198, or in How Do I Look?, pp. 145-168.
Suggested Reading
Celine Parrenas-Shimizu, "Master-Slave Sex Acts: Mandingo and the Race/Sex Paradox," in Wide Angle, Vol 21, No 4, pp. 42-61
Celine Parrenas-Shimizu, "Assembling Asian American Men in Pornography," in Journal of Asian American Studies, June, 2010, pp. 163-189
Celine Parrenas-Shimizu, "Screening Sexual Slavery? Southest Asian Gonzo Porn and US Anti-Trafficking Law," in Sexualities, Vol 13(2), 2010, pp. 161-170
Kobena Mercer, "Skin Head Sex Thing: Racial Difference and The Homoerotic Imaginary," in How Do I Look? pp. 169-222
Pornography, pp. 206-219
Porn Studies, pp. 223-270
Countervisions: pp. 59-89
The Hypersexuality of Race, Ch. 4, 6, 7
Required Film/Video
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR (1972) Dir. Mitchell Brothers - in class
MANDINGO (1975) Dir. Richard Fleischer - in class
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST GANG BANG (1999) Dir. Greg Alves - screening
SEX: THE ANNABEL CHONG STORY (1999) Dir. Gough Lewis- screening
FOREVER BOTTOM! (1999) Directed by Nguyen Tan Hoang, 4 min. - in class
Suggested Viewing
A IS FOR ASIA (1996) Dir. Asia Carrera and Bud Carrer
APASSIONATA (1998) Dir. Asia Carrera
ASIAN PERUASION (1997) Dir. Josh Eliot
ASIAN PERUASION 2 (1998) Dir. Josh Eliot
MASTERS OF THE PILLOW (2003) Directed by James Hou, 58 mins.
FORTUNE COOKIE (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
DIAL "S" FOR SEX (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue

 


Week 8: Disidentification / Melancholia of Race
, In-Class Event #1
Required Reading
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics
Tuesday 3/6 pp. 1-56
Thursday 3/8 In-class event #1, Due Date #2
Required Film/Video

LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989) Dir. Issac Julien - screening
CHINESE CHARACTERS (1986) Dir. Richard Fung - screening
Suggested Viewing
FLAMING CREATURES (1963) Dir. Jack Smith
TONGUES UNTIED (1990) Dir. Marlon Riggs
CHOLO JOTO (1993) Dir. Augie Robles
MARGINAL EYES/MUJERIA FANTASY 1 (1996) Dir. Osa Hidalgo
MY MOTHER'S PLACE (1991) Dir. Richard Fung

 


 

Week 9: Spring Break - NO CLASS MEETING/SCREENING


 

Week 10: Autoethnographic Performance
Required Reading
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics
Tuesday 3/20 pp. 57-92
Thursday 3/22 pp. 93-141
Required Film/Video
LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989) Dir. Issac Julien - review
CHINESE CHARACTERS (1986) Dir. Richard Fung - review
Suggested Viewing
FLAMING CREATURES (1963) Dir. Jack Smith
TONGUES UNTIED (1990) Dir. Marlon Riggs
CHOLO JOTO (1993) Dir. Augie Robles
MARGINAL EYES/MUJERIA FANTASY 1 (1996) Dir. Osa Hidalgo
MY MOTHER'S PLACE (1991) Dir. Richard Fung


 

Week 11: The White to be Angry / Critical Cubania
Required Reading
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics
Tuesday 3/27 pp. 143-200
Thursday 3/29 No Reading - Field Trip this week TBA
Required Film/Video
THE WHITE TO BE ANGRY (1999) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis - screening
CARMELITA TROPICANA (1993) Dir. Ela Troyano - screening
Reality TV Disidentification Assignment - in class
Suggested Viewing
FLAMING CREATURES (1963) Dir. Jack Smith
THE SALT MINES (1990) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
THE TRANSFORMATION (1996) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
DOT (1994) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
VOODOO WILLIAMSON - THE DONA OF DANCE (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
DESIGNY LIVING (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
MTV'S REAL WORLD (3rd Season) Episodes 1, 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19


 

Week 12: Cyborg Manifesto, War of Desire and Technology
Required Reading
Donna Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature
Tuesday 4/3 Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, pp. 149-181
Thursday 4/5 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 1-44
Required Film/Video (Screening )
BLADERUNNER (1982) Dir. Ridley Scott


 

Week 13: In-Class Event #2
Required Reading
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age
Tuesday 4/10 In-class event #2, Due Date #3
Thursday 4/12 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 45-81
Required Film/Video (Screening )
I.K.U. (2000) Dir. Shu Lea Cheang


 

Week 14: War of Desire and Technology
Required Reading
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age
Tuesday 4/17 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 82-121
Thursay 4/19 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 123-183
No screening this week - see below

Project presentations on Tuesday and Thursday next week. For your presentation, partner with another student in class, engage in and report on cyborgian representations of sex and sexuality, e.g. on-line dating, social networking, computer/video games, etc. Reports must engage with class readings by Haraway and/or Stone, and class discussions.

Examples of cyborgian representations
(with an emphasis on art and non-corporate, alternative praxis)

Shu Lea Cheang's Brandon Project, more recent projects on porn and the net
Sandy Stone, also her appearances on YouTube
Becoming Dragon by Micha Cardenas
OPEN_Borders Lounge and DESKTOP THEATER, projects by Adriene Jenik
Queer Technologies by Zach Blas



 

Week 15: Body/Post-Body
Tuesday 4/24 Project presentations
Thursay 4/26 Project presentations, wrap-up discussion

No reading or screening this week



 

Week 16: In-Class Event #3, Wrap-Up Discussion
Tuesday 5/1In-class event #3, Due Date #4, class evaluation
No reading or screening this week

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