COMM385

This course examines how constructions of gender are produced and consumed in the context of
globalization and the transnational flows of communicative practices and media messages. The course will
focus on the intersection of gender with race, class, sexuality, ability, and culture. Students will be introduced
to key concepts that have been used to unpack the social construction of gender in our global mediascapes,
and to understand the powerful discourses that naturalize our understanding of gender. These topics will
include sexuality, gender performativity, heteronormativity, intersectionality, queer theory, gendered violence,
and mediated representations. We will examine how gendered bodies communicate, how gender is
constructed through communication in cultural contexts, and how communication factors into the
construction of sex/gender identities.