COMM 280: Communication, Culture, and Gender

Fall 2005

Dr. Chiung Hwang Chen

MFB 208

Office hours: MWF 11 am-noon

Email: chenc@byuh.edu

Course Description

In this course we will look closely at the ways gender is communicated within various cultural and institutional settings (how we come to know what it is to be a woman or a man), the multiple ways humans communicate within and across gender lines (how we express ourselves as gendered individuals and why we do it many different ways), and the relationships of the two. We will also look at how feminist theories help us understand gender issues in our cultures.

Objectives/ambitions for the course

· Develop ability to recognize and critique processes of gender construction within various cultures and institutions

· Explore relationship among gender, communication, and culture and ways each shapes and is shaped by one another.

· Explore basic feminist theories and topics for academic research and critical thinking.

· Become aware of and respect our own and others’ communication styles

Main Text

· Ivy, Diana K., &Phil Backlund. (2004). Exploring GenderSpeak: Personal Effectiveness in Gender Communication. 3^rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

· Selected readings: Blackboard

Requirement

· Weekly test/quiz: 25%

· Five small projects/assignments: 45%

· Final Paper: 20%

· Attendance and class preparation/participation: 10% (You will lose this portion of your grade if you miss class six times or more)

Assignments: regular margin, 12-point type

1. Narrative essay, due September 7 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

Write a two-to-three-page, well-edited essay about growing up female or male in your family (nuclear and extended). How was gender identity communicated to you and your siblings? Do you plan to repeat similar gender patterns in the family you raise? Why or why not?

2. Group project I: culture and gender, due September 28 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

Select a culture on our campus (preferably other than your own) and discover all you can about what it means to be a man and a woman in that culture. Look for the many ways gender identity is defined and communicated within the culture. Each group will present its findings to the class in a meaningful 20-minute presentation on the scheduled date. After the presentation, each group will hand in a four-to-five-page well-edited paper on the topic. Both presentation and paper should include personal interviews, scholarly texts, and other useful sources such as media, artistic expression, and/or folklore. Follow an academic citation style (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago) for in-text citations and references.

3. Children’s literature, due October 14 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

Critique a children’s picture book, organizing your observations into a carefully developed grid/template which includes book title, author, general storyline and a discussion on gender portrayals and relationships in the story (e.g. role models, gender stereotypes, moral of the story, other gender-related observations). Pay attention to both written and pictorial depictions. Provide your personal view of the book as a communicator to children and your suggestions on how to rewrite the book. Bring the critique and book to class.

4. Gender and media, due October 30 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

Look through several magazines and/or electronic media aimed at different audiences and collect 8-10 advertisements that feature women, men, and women and men. Make a portfolio of your collection. Select two or three of the ads that you find especially reliant on gender images (at least 1 should feature both genders). Analyze the ads, asking questions such as (but not limited to) those posed by Ivy and Backlund: What is being sold? Who is the advertisement targeting? What makes the ad appealing to that group? Does the ad promote diverse gender roles and realities or does it rely on and perpetuate sexist images? What details cause you to reach your conclusion? What (feminist) theory can be applied in your analysis? For the ad featuring both sexes, assess the images and words for presence or absence of a social/power hierarchy. Write a three-to-four-page analysis about the ads you selected.

5. Group project II: Gender and education November 11 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

While you are working on your gender and media project, review the “Gender Communication and the College Classroom” section of Chapter 10, pp. 410-29. Study over discussion questions #3 and #4, p. 430. Become a gender observer in three classes (at least two non-ICS). Take one week of notes on the communication that takes place. Keep track of variables such as type of class, class size, female and male ratio, cultural mix, gender of professor. Pay attention to who talks, styles of talking, interruptions, and teacher response and involvement. Interview a few students and/or faculty members from classes you observe. Make use of (gender/race/class…) theory(ies). Each group writes a 4-to-5-page well-edited report analyzing your findings.

6. Final Paper, due Dec. 12 by 5 p.m. MFB 208

Write a thesis-based paper (6-7 pages) on any of gender topic of your choice. You can build on one of your previous assignments if you wish to. Integrate at least four varied and credible academic sources into your discussion. You may develop a traditional academic paper with some presence of your personal voice, or you may take a creative approach in which your paper unfolds as a narrative, shaped and supported by your thesis and sources. Follow an academic citation style. Edit and proofread prodigiously!

Tentative schedule

Date	Class material	Location
8/31	Introduction
9/2	“X: A Fabulous Child’s Story”; video: “Vision Test”	BlackBoard
9/5	Labor Day
9/7	Prologue: Implication of social movements…, p. 3-23	Textbook
9/9	“Feminism”	BlackBoard
9/12	Chapter1: Gender jargon and effective communication, p. 29-53	Textbook
9/14	Chapter 2: Biological and social influences …, p. 65-89	Textbook
9/16	Chapter 2: Biological and social influences …, p. 65-89	Textbook
9/19	Movie: Raise the Red Lantern
9/21	Movie: Raise the Red Lantern
9/23	Culture and gender presentations
9/26	Culture and gender presentations
9/28	Culture and gender presentations
9/30	Chapter 4: Choosing and using gendered language, p. 165-189	Textbook
10/3	Video: Gender and Communication	VTV6539
10/5	“Muted group theory”	BlackBoard
10/7	Guest lecture: Dr. Lynne Hansen
10/10	Chapter 10: A Class act, p. 397-429	Textbook
10/12	Chapter 10: A Class act, p. 397-429	Textbook
10/14	Children’s literature
10/17	Video: “Killing us softly 3”	VTV 5977
10/19	Work on gender and media project
10/21	Jubilee weekend TBA
10/24	Debriefing “Killing us softly 3”; media project sharing
10/26	Chapter 3: Gender and media, p. 97-142	Textbook
10/28	Video: “Tough Guise” Part I	VTV5978
10/31	Video: “Tough Guise” Part II	VTV5978
11/2	Guest lecture: Gender and disability
11/4	Chapter 6: Gender communication, p. 233-255	Textbook
11/7	Chapter 7: Beyond friendship, p. 261-291	Textbook
11/9	Chapter 8: Power abuses in human relationships, p. 299-348	Textbook
11/11	Gender and education project results
11/14	“American Manhood: Dreams and Distortions”; “The Male Myth”	BlackBoard
11/16	“The New Men’s Movement”	BlackBoard
11/18	“The code of the Streets”	BlackBoard
11/21	“A Threatened Manhood”; “How America Unsexes the Asian Male”	BlackBoard
11/23	“The destruction of the Hawaiian male”	BlackBoard
11/25	Thanksgiving
11/28	Becoming Brave: Native American manhood	BlackBoard
11/30	“Johnny Lingo”	VTV2073
12/2	“Evolution of ideals for women in Mormon periodicals”	BlackBoard
12/5	“The Priesthood and Motherhood in the LDS church”	BlackBoard
12/7	“Molly Mormons, Mormon Feminists and Moderates”	BlackBoard
12/9	Conclusion; Gender research
12-16	Finals week

Special Needs

Brigham Young University-Hawai'i is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere, which reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability that may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the students with Special Need Coordinator, Leilani A'una at 293-3518. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures. You should contact the Human Resource Services at 780-8875.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds, including Federal loans and grants. Title IX also covers student-to-student sexual harassment. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please contact the Human Resource Services at 780-8875 (24 hours).

Final Examination

All students should be aware of the BYUH policy that there are no early final exams. An exception to this policy is the case of a school sponsored activity which takes an individual or a team away from the University at the time an examination is scheduled to take place. Faculty and Administration who are responsible for scheduling official University activities attempt in every way to avoid scheduling activities in conflict with the scheduled examinations. Students must plan travel, family visits, etc., in a way that will not interfere with their final exams. Emergency situations should be presented in writing as soon as possible to the Dean of the college or school of the student’s major.

Less expensive fares, more convenient travel arrangements, and any other non-emergency reasons are not considered justification for early or late final exams. Students are responsible for making sure that family or friends who may supply tickets or make travel arrangements for a student are aware of the student’s need to complete courses by taking the final examinations as scheduled.