SPCOM_201

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University of Waterloo *

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201

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Communications

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Apr 3, 2024

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SPCOM 201: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality in Communication Fall 2023 Teacher Kevin Christopher Carey, PhD Office ML 240 Meets MW 2:30-3:50 Email kcarey@uwaterloo.ca Office Hours: By appointment Territorial Acknowledgement We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Course Description Sex, gender, and sexual orientation are both public and private affairs. While each of us finds ourselves somewhere along the continuums of these three categories, others (family, friends, society) identify us according to their own understandings of these terms, which may or may not conform with our experiences. Indeed, even our own sense of what words like female, male, man, woman, gay, straight and many others mean is not something we figured out on our own but was informed by the ideas at play in our worlds. What is more, these worlds are in flux. What it means to be a woman or man, for example, means different things at different times and in different places. While this may seem commonsense for a notion like gender, sexual orientation is also affected by social norms. Regardless to what extent our sexual attractions are influenced by biology or culture, the effects are real (we desire who we desire, and not others), and what being LGBTQ means to ourselves and others is largely learned from our society. Even the category of biological sex, which would seem to be just a plain and simple fact, is not the end of the story. Contrary to the popular saying, the facts do not speak for themselves. While this person may have one set of chromosome and that person may have another, those facts in themselves tell us nothing about how we should treat those people or what to expect of them. Facts have to be interpreted. Thus, as Shannon Dea, the author of one of the texts we’ll be reading puts it: “One of the lessons of this volume is that, for human beings, there is no biology without society.” This course will offer you the opportunity to learn and unlearn a number of ways to think and communicate about sex, gender, and sexual orientation. To do so, we will examine three primary sources: media, institutions, and ourselves. By media, I mean all the messages we get from the world around us; by institutions, I mean both official policies and laws as well as informal rules and norms that govern our behavior; by ourselves, I mean that we will take time to reflect upon and share our own experiences. Along the way you will acquire a lexicon of terms and concepts to help you explore, question, and understand important issues surrounding sex, gender, sexual orientation and the ways they are communicated in our culture. Goals  To familiarize you with some key terms and concepts in gender and communication studies.  To provide you with space, time, resources, and exercises to practice and develop your ability to listen to, reflect upon, and respond to issues surrounding sex, gender, and sexual orientation.  To build your confidence and competence in analyzing texts and institutions for how they communicate ideas surrounding gender, sex, and sexual orientation. Materials Required text : Beyond the Binary: Thinking about Sex and Gender , Shannon Dea, Broadview Press 2016.

All readings will be made available to you via LEARN. Labor Presence A good deal of the learning for this course will take place through sharing our own experiences as well as our thoughts and responses to course texts. This means that regular attendance is meaningful for more than just yourself – the class as a whole is enriched by your presence and what you bring. Presence is not limited to talking. Even if you have nothing to say on a particular topic or day, your active listening to others gives them the space and time to explore their thoughts and feelings. Being there matters. 2 Quotes and a Question (2Q&Q) Every reading/listening/viewing assignment will entail a response in the form of 2 Quotes and a Question . First, you will select two quotes from the text, write them out, and discuss them. Focus on anything that piqued your interest or provoked a response. Your response may be emotional, spiritual, and/or intellectual. Remember that confusion, too, is an important response - it alerts us to the presence of something potentially important that we don't yet understand, but want to. For each quote, discuss why you chose it: what it makes you think or how it makes you feel, what it relates to or reminds you of from our class or your own life. Pose one open-ended question that you have in response to the text. By open-ended, I mean a question that doesn't have one definitive answer, but that gets you thinking. Discuss your thinking on it. You should devote a full paragraph to discussing each quote and question. These responses will encourage you to make personal connections with texts and authors; sharpen your close reading skills; and build your competence and confidence in interpreting, questioning, and drawing connections between texts and experiences. Journals To study how ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality are communicated in our culture, we need to be alive to our experiences of self and world. This means being attentive to our thoughts and feelings, the things we hear, see, and read, and how our society operates so that we take notice when ideas regarding these topics arise. A powerful practice for honing this attention is keeping a journal. Whereas your reading responses are a place to work out your thoughts and feelings about our assigned texts, your journals are a place to record and explore your everyday experiences and impressions regarding topics related to our discussions and your own interests. Keep your journal with you throughout the day so you can record thoughts and experiences as they happen, or as soon as you can. In this way, by the end of term you will have a body of work that attests to your own independent study of our topics. We will discuss in class what this journal might look like, reasonable length requirements, and other particulars. Formal Assignments You can expect three assignments over the term that will take more time and effort to prepare than your weekly responses and journaling. These will comprise a collage, a midterm, and potentially a zine or collaborative reading. These assignments will fall roughly in the 4 th , 8 th , and 12 th weeks of class. You will be given at least two weeks notice of their due date along with a detailed prompt for the assignment. Further details to be discussed in class. Assessment

Learning is an act of labor and public accountability. In this course, grades will be based on labor. What does this mean? First, it means that reading and communicating your thoughts and feelings publicly through speaking, writing, or some other medium are essential to your learning. That being the case, if you attend 80% of class meetings; complete 80% of the readings (which includes doing the reading responses); regularly make substantive entries in your journal; and complete all three formal assignments, you will earn an 80 for the course. To be clear, just turning in work is not enough. Assignments are expected to be thoughtful and thorough. Work that is shoddy or incomplete will be treated accordingly. At the same time, you don’t need to get everything right or be excellent at everything. You do need to try and to be willing to make mistakes; your classmates and I will be there to support you. Second, to earn more than 80 in the course, in addition to meeting the labor requirements outlined above, you must find ways to contribute meaningfully to the class. We all work, learn, and make decisions better when we are supported by and collaborate with others. Toward that end I invite you all to find ways to enhance the experience of the class as a whole. This could range from contributions to class discussion, to sharing links, articles, references to sources outside course readings that enrich our understanding of our subject, touching base with other students in the course throughout the term, or providing feedback on their work. Maybe you form a discussion group. Whatever it is you do in this fashion will count towards your final grade. Late Assignments If you have a legitimate reason for turning in an assignment late, I am willing to discuss it with you. Otherwise, I expect assignments to be turned in on time. University Policies Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline, http://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-71 Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/student-grievances-faculty-guidelines/policy- 70 Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student Appeals, http://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies- procedures-guidelines/policy-72 Academic Integrity website (Arts): http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html

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Academic Integrity Office (University): http://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/ Resources Accommodation for Students with Disabilities: The AccessAbility Services (AS) Office, located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS Office at the beginning of each academic term. To learn more, please see the Accomodations for Students with Disabilities link under “Announcements” on our LEARN homepage or click on the link here: https://uwaterloo.ca/accessability- services/ . MENTAL HEALTH All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage you to seek out mental health supports if you need them. For a list of resources both on and off campus, please see the Campus Wellness Resources for Students link under “Announcements” on our LEARN homepage or click on the link here: https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/sites/ca.arts/files/uploads/files/cw_overview_-_students.pdf .

SPCOM_201

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