SOC 364 - Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnic Media

3 credits
Prerequisites: SOC 101 or ANT 111 or SOC/ANT 113 or AAS 101; at least Sophomore standing.
An interdisciplinary exploration of how mainstream media in the U.S.-primarily “Hollywood” movies-have helped shape our understanding of who is (and, equally importantly, who is NOT) part of the “American” nation. Drawing upon anthropology, media studies, critical race studies and feminist theory, we will look at how cinematic representations of various ethinic and racial groups - blacks, “Indians”, Asians, Jews, and most recently, Arabs and Muslims - both reflected and helped shape popular views and attitudes towards those groups. We will pay close attention to the intertwining of race, gender, class and sexuality. This is a blended class as on-line discussions will supplement classroom screenings and discussion. Cross-listed as AAS 364, ANT 364, WMS 366