LGBT Media Studies
University of Illinois, Chicago
COMM 594 Call No. 55604, GWS 594 Call No. 53726
Spring 2004, Fridays, times and locations vary (see the Calendar)
Seminars, 1 – 3:30 p.m., BSB 116
Colloquia, 1 – 4 p.m., and Symposium, 8:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., Institute for the Humanities, Stevenson Hall, Lower level
Kevin G. Barnhurst, Ph.D., Interim Head, Department of Communication
Office, BSB 1148A. Hours, Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. or by appointment
(312) 413-3231 E-mail <kgbcomm(a)uic.edu> Web Site http://www.uic.edu/~kgbcomm and for the Media/Queered project add /mq
description
Since the 1960s, queer people have become increasingly visible in the media. Queer identities in community life and politics may rely in the 21st century on the prevailing media landscape. The paradoxes of visibility are many: spurring tolerance through harmful stereotyping, diminishing isolation at the cost of activism, trading assimilation for equality, converting radicalism into a market niche. This course, along with a series of colloquia and a day-long symposium, explores visibility and its discontents.
Purposes
Gain familiarity with the growing body of research on the media and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and related identities.
Build contacts with the network of scholars involved in related research across several disciplines.
Advance scholarship in queer media studies by studying and conducting new research and writing.
Readings
Each session includes several papers, articles, or chapters you are responsible to read and come to class prepared to discuss. On the days of special events, read the papers to be presented and bring questions to ask (and ask them). The readings will be distributed via e-mail, at the library reserves, or through sharing paper copies. Other readings come from the required textbook:
Gross, Larry, and James D. Woods, eds. The Columbia Reader on Lesbians & Gay Men in Media, Society & Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Colloquia & Symposium
Once each of the first three months, invited scholars from other universities will speak at a colloquium, focusing on queer media studies in history, technology, and popular culture. These culminate in April with a day-long symposium of social, economic, political, and cultural scholars, joined by media personalities and activists, who will explore visibility and its discontents. Seminar members will take part in the colloquia and symposium by reading the papers in advance, joining the audience to ask questions, and assisting in other ways in the running of the events.
Viewing
Several sessions are scheduled for viewing and/or listening to examples you find of media related to the course subject. Be on the lookout for and begin gathering examples right away. Materials can include books, magazines, newspapers, websites, radio pieces, television programs, films, and/or any form of advertising or publicity. You will be assigned a week to assemble examples from the seminar members and organize the day’s viewing.
Paper
The term paper of about 20 pages must be based on original research into an issue or problem in queer media studies. The form and format of the paper should follow whatever is standard in your home discipline (social science report, cultural studies analysis, humanities essay, or the like). This is an open assignment that you can define to pursue your intellectual interests. The paper is due before spring break, and again late in the semester (see the Calendar for deadlines).
Evaluations
One take-home exam is due during the last week of classes. It includes short essay questions on the topics of the seminar readings and colloquia, symposium, and student papers. The exam is not comprehensive but will present issues or problems addressed in the course, leaving open several options to answer based on your areas of interest and strength.
Course grades follow this formula: Participation (your preparation on weekly readings, attendance and contribution to class discussion, presentation of viewing materials, and involvement in the public colloquia and symposium), 40 percent; Paper, 35 percent; and Exam, 25 percent.
Courtesies
Meeting Deadlines. Late assignments will be accepted for one week after the original due date, dropping one full grade. If you have an illness or emergency, please notify me as soon as possible and then meet with me to provide documentation and discuss a suitable adjustment in deadlines or assignments.
Attendance. Missing more than three days of class, or arriving late to or departing early from class more than six times, or the equivalent in any combination of absences and partial absences, will result in a failing grade. Absences for medical or other serious extenuating circumstances may be excused with sufficient documentation (see Deadlines, above).
Exclusivity. Papers must be original work you complete for this course only. Turning in a paper that is the same or substantially the same as work completed for another course is considered academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade on the assignment.
Honesty. You must do your own work. Cite the ideas of others thoroughly and consistently, and provide page numbers for quotations. Students found to have plagiarized the work of others (used their words without giving proper credit), including material from the internet, will receive a failing grade for the course.
Accommodation. If you must miss class due to religious holidays or observances, please notify me well ahead of time to make arrangements that will not disadvantage you in the course. Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access or participation in this course must register with the Office of Disability Services at (312) 413-2103 or -0123 (TTY).
calendar
The following calendar indicates the activities planned for and assignments due at each meeting of the course. All dates are tentative and may be adjusted at any time.
Jan. 16. Seminar Introduction
Readings
Gross & Woods, pp. 3–22.
Henderson, Lisa. “Queer Communication Studies.” Communication Yearbook 24, pp. 465–84. Ed. William B. Gudykunst. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2000.
Andersson, Yvonne. “Queer Media? Or; What Has Queer Theory to Do with Media Studies?” Stockholm Media Studies 1 (2003): 27–41.
Jan. 23. Seminar 1. LGBT Media Studies & History
Readings
Gross & Woods, pp. 25–74.
D’Emilio, John. Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940–1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. See especially Chapter 8, “Gay Life in the Public Eye,” pp. 128–48.
Fejes, F., and K. Petrich. “Invisibility, Homophobia, and Heterosexism: Lesbians, Gays, and the Media.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 10.4 (1993): 396–422.
Alwood, Edward. Straight News: Gays, Lesbians, and the News Media. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. See especially “Preface,” pp. xii–xvi, “Introduction,” pp. 1–15, and “Epilogue,” pp. 315–28.
Jan. 30. Colloquium 1. Monsters No More
Readings
Papers (e-mail) by Edward Alwood, Quinnipiac University, and Fred Fejes, Florida Atlantic University. Response, John D’Emilio, UIC. Questions from seminar members.
Feb. 6. Viewing 1. TBA.
Feb. 13. Seminar 2. LGBT Communities & New Media
Readings
Gross & Woods, pp. 527–541.
Shaw, David F. “Gay Men and Computer Communication: A Discourse of Sex and Identity in Cyberspace.” In Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety, pp. 133–45. Ed. Steven G. Jones. London: Sage, 1997.
Attig, R. Brian. “The Gay Voice in Popular Music: A Social Value Model Analysis of ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’.” In Gay People, Sex, and the Media, pp. 185–202. Ed. Michelle A. Wolk & Alfred P. Kielwasser. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1991.
Feb. 20. Colloquium 2. Queers in Dataspace
Readings
Papers (e-mail) by Alan Ellis, Phoenix, Arizona; Jillana Enteen, Northwestern University, and David J. Phillips, University of Texas at Austin. Response, Steve Jones, UIC. Questions from seminar members.
Feb. 27. Viewing 2. TBA.
March 5. Seminar 3. Popular Media & Queer Identity
Readings
Gross & Woods, pp. 475–526, 644–52.
Pearce, F. “How to be Immoral and Ill, Pathetic and Dangerous, All at the Same Time: Mass Media and the Homosexual.” In The Manufacture of News: Social Problems, Deviance, and the Mass Media. Ed. Stanley Cohen and Jock Young. London: Constable, 1973.
Glenn, John D. “Gay Fantasies in Gay Publications.” In Gay Speak: Gay Male/Lesbian Communication, pp. 104–113. Ed. James Chesebro. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1981.
Kitzinger, Jenny, and Celia Kitzinger. “ ‘Doing it’: Representations of Lesbian Sex.” In Outwrite: Lesbianism and Popular Culture, pp. 9–25. Ed. Gabriele Griffin. London: Pluto Press, 1993.
Nardi, Peter M. “Changing Gay & Lesbian Images in the Media.” In Overcoming Heterosexism & Homophobia: Strategies that Work, pp. 427–42. Ed. J. T. Sears & W. L. Williams. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
March 12, Colloquium 3. Pop Out World
Readings
Papers (e-mail) by John Nguyet Erni, City University of Hong Kong; Amit Kama, Tel Aviv University, (both via video teleconferencing) and Vincent Doyle, Montreal, Canada, and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Response, Deirdre McCloskey, UIC. Questions from seminar members.
March 19. Viewing 3. TBA. Paper deadline 1.
March 26. No class, spring break.
April 2. Symposium. Visibility and its Discontents
Readings
Papers (e-mail) by Van Cagle, Glaad Center for the Study of Media & Society;
Joshua P. Gamson, University of San Francisco; Larry Gross, University of
Southern California; Lisa Henderson, University of Massachusetts at Amherst;
Gavin Jack, Leicester University, UK; Marguerite Moritz, University of Colorado;
Glenda Russell, Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies; Katherine
Sender, University of Pennsylvania; Ken Sherrill, CUNY Hunter College; Suzanna
Walters, Georgetown University. Questions from seminar members.
Speakers. Joan Garry, Glaad Executive Director; Todd Mundt, NPR Michigan
Radio Host; Studs Terkel, Chicago, and Bob Witeck, Witeck Communications New
York.
April 9. Seminar 4. Viewing 4. TBA.
April 16. Convention. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Caucus, Midwest Political Science Association
Attend Caucus sessions at the convention, April 15–18, Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe St. Details and schedule forthcoming.
Final Paper deadline.
April 23. Seminar 5. Queer Political Communication
Readings
Gross & Woods, pp. 545–83, 588–94.
Barnhurst, Kevin G. “Queer Political News: Election-year Coverage of the LGBT Communities on National Public Radio, 1992 – 2000.” Journalism Theory, Practice & Criticism 4.1 (February 2003): 5–28. Available, http://tigger.uic.edu/~kgbcomm/longnews/8BarLGBT.pdf
Blasius, Mark. Gay and Lesbian Politics: Sexuality and the Emergence of a New Ethic. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. See especially Chapter 3, “Sexuality, Subjectivity, and Political Identity,” pp. 95–129.
Tadlock, Barry L., and Ann Gordon. “Political Evaluations of Lesbian and Gay Candidates: The Impact of Stereotypic Biases in Press Coverage.” Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, August 2003. Available, http://archive.allacademic.com/publication/getfile.php?file=docs/apsa_proceeding/2003-08-04/2608/apsa_proceeding_2608.PDF&PHPSESSID=639186b9955f24a9bd9fc35c53b8a2cd
April 30. Take-home exam due.
further reference
Identity & Invisibility
Gross & Woods, pp. 75–116m 235–87.
Gross, Larry. Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. See especially Chapter 1, “The Mediated Society,” pp. 1–20, and Chapter 15, “Facing the Future,” pp. 252–66.
Walters, Suzanna Danuta. All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. See especially Chapter 1, “The Love that Dares to Speak its Name: The Explosion of Gay Visibility,” pp. 3–29.
Marriage
Gross & Woods, pp. 625–42.
Jensen, Robert. “The Politics and Ethics of Lesbian and Gay ‘Wedding’ Announcements in Newspapers.” Howard Journal of Communications 7.1 (January–March 1996): 13–28.
Price, Vincent, Lilach Nir, and Joseph N. Capella. “Framing Public Discussion of Gay Civil Unions.” Paper delivered to the International Communication Association, San Diego, May 2003. Abstract available, http://convention.allacademic.com/ica2003/view_paper_info.html?pub_id=1166&part_id1=15805
Wiggins, Ernest L. “Frames of Conviction: The Intersection of Social Frameworks and Standards of Appraisal in Letters to the Editor Regarding a Lesbian Commitment Ceremony.” In Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World, pp. 207–14. Ed. Stephen D. Reese, Oscar H. Gandy, Jr., & August E. Grant. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum, 2001.
Journalism
Gross & Woods, pp. 349–86.
Dashiell, Eddith. “For Mainstream Audiences Only: Investigative Reporting on Minorities, Gays and Lesbians, and Women.” In The Big Chill: Investigative Reporting in the Current Media Environment, pp. 177–96. Ed. Marilyn Greenwald & Joseph Bernt. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 2000.
Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund. “Lesbian & Gay Issues in the News: How NPR Coverage Compares with USA Today and The New York Times.” Report of the Lambda Public Education Department, 2000.
Nelson, Jeffrey. “Media Reactions to the 1979 Gay March on Washington.” In Gay Speak: Gay Male/Lesbian Communication, pp. 189–96. Ed. James Chesebro. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1981.
Wilcox, Sarah A. “Cultural Context and the Conventions of Science Journalism: Drama and Contradiction in Media Coverage of Biological Ideas about Sexuality.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 20.3 (September 2003): 225–47.
Yeoman, Barry. Moral Judgments Before News Judgments: An Historical Survey of the Treatment of Lesbian and Gay Issues by the Straight Print News Media, 1897–1982. Lafayette, La.: Author, 1982.
Advertising & Marketing
Gross & Woods, pp. 583–7.
Shugart, Helene A. “Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 20.1 (March 2003): 67–91.
Kirk, Marshall, and Hunter Madsen. After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the ’90s. New York: Doubleday, 1989. See especially, Chapter 3, “Strategy: Persuasion, not Invasion,” pp. 161–91, and Chapter 4, “Tactics for Eating the Media Alive: A Sound Bite Here, a Sound Bite There,” pp. 193–214.
Sender, Katherine. “Gay Readers, Consumers, and a Dominant Gay Habitus: 25 Years of the Advocate Magazine.” Journal of Communication 51.1 (March 2001): 73–99.
Film
Gross & Woods, pp. 291–315, 341–8.
Creed, Barbara. Media Matrix: Sexing the New Reality. Crow’s Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2003. See especially Chapter 8, “Queering the Media: A Gay Gaze,” pp. 136–158.
Holmlund, Chris, and Cynthia Fuchs. “Introduction.” In Between the Sheets, in the Streets: Queer, Lesbian, Gay Documentary, pp. 1–12. Ed. Chris Holmlund & Cynthia Fuchs. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
Projansky, Sarah and Kent A. Ono. “Making Films Asian American: Shopping for Fangs and the Discursive Auteur.” In Authorship and Film, pp. 263–80. Ed. David A. Gerstner & Janet Staiger. New York: Routledge.
Television
Gross & Woods, pp. 316–340.
Hantzis, Darlene M., and Valeria Lehr. “Whose Desire? Lesbian (Non)Sexuality and Television’s Perpetuation of Hetero/Sexism.” Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality, pp. 107–21. Ed. R. Jeffrey Ringer. New York: New York University Press, 1994.
Moritz, Marguerite. “Old Strategies for New Texts: How American Television Is Creating and Treating Lesbian Characters.” Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality, pp. 122 –56. Ed. R. Jeffrey Ringer. New York: New York University Press, 1994.
Simms, Steven A. “Gay Images on Television.” In Gay Speak: Gay Male/Lesbian Communication, pp. 153–61. Ed. James Chesebro. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1981.
Queer Media
Gross & Woods, pp. 347–474.
Doty, Alexander. Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. (Analyzes “Laverne & Shirley,” Jack Benny, and Pee-wee Herman.)
Kepner, Jim. Rough News, Daring Views: 1950s Pioneer Gay Press Journalism. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1998. See especially, “Introduction,” pp. 1–12, and “Epilogue,” pp. 393–9.
Streitmatter, Rodger. Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in American. New York: Faber & Faber, 1994.
Gross, Kimberly, and Seth Goldman. “Framing Hate: A Comparison of Media Coverage of Anti-Gay Hate Crime in the Washington Post and Washington Blade.” Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, August 2003. Available, http://archive.allacademic.com/publication/getfile.php?file=docs/apsa_proceeding/2003-08-26/1069/apsa_proceeding_1069.PDF&PHPSESSID=639186b9955f24a9bd9fc35c53b8a2cd
AIDS and the Media
Gross & Woods, pp. 387–416.
Netzhammer, Emile C., and Scott A. Shamp. “Guilt by Association: Homosexuality and AIDS on Prime-Time Television.” Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality, pp. 91–106. Ed. R. Jeffrey Ringer. New York: New York University Press, 1994.
Kinsella, James. Covering the Plague: AIDS and the American Media. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1989. See especially the Introduction, “When Does Death Become News?” pp. 1–6, and Conclusion, “Moral Lessons for the Media, and America,” pp. 254–8.
Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987. See especially, “Acknowledgments,” pp. xi–xii; “Prologue,” pp. xxi–xxiii; Chapter 54, “Exposed,” pp. 539–47; and Chapter 57, “Endgame,” pp. 572–82.