Below is what you can expect with our  transition to remote learning.

How will we Meet?

We won’t always meet on Zoom. Most of the assignments will be ones that you complete on your own. There will be times when I will schedule a Zoom meeting and I will let you know ahead of time.  You will get an invitation link. And I will take attendance for those meetings.

Please check your Zoom connection to see if it is working all right. Be sure your camera works. If you don’t have access to a laptop, you can use your phone to Zoom.  Most of the time, you can expect that you will complete assignments online.

Will we Meet Every Week?

No. We won’t  need to meet on Zoom every week as I am not sure how good of voice quality we can get.  Some of us are worried, Zoom may crash.   For this coming  week, you won’t need to show up on Zoom. You can do the assignments online.

What about Participation?
Online discussions will be your attendance and participation grade when we don’t meet on Zoom. In those discussions, I will ask you to respond to some questions and to respond to your peers. This will be a way for us to interact together virtually.

How can I reach Professor Zahra?

I am available via email. I am also available to meet with you via Zoom. I will send you a link to my office hours. I will also be scheduling one-on-one Zoom meetings with you to discuss your work and final projects.

What can I expect to Change?

1- Lectures will be recorded ahead of time and you can listen to them on your own.   I may also create handouts that serve as lectures.

2- Online discussions: As mentioned earlier, you can expect there to be more online discussions that you participate in. This will be part of your attendance and participation grade.  In the online discussions, I will ask you to respond to each other’s answers and comments as well as post your own.

3- Group Presentations: I will ask you to post your presentation in the discussion page and everyone will be required to ask a question and/or make a reflection about your own thoughts.  I will provide you with instructions for each assignment.

4- Quizzes: Those will remain the same as they are already online.

5- Short and long essays will also remain the same. You submit them online (I plan to cut back on those to give you some breathing room and may use your responses to discussion questions instead). There will be, however, at least a Final.

6-Film Rentals: What will change is that we cannot watch them together and you will need to rent the film on your own. I am trying to find films that are available for free. For the final research project, I will ask you to register for FMTV. By doing so, you will receive a membership for Gaia TV as well. You will have a 7 day free trial period when you sign up. This is cheaper than renting movies individually. The 7 day period should suffice and you can share a membership with your colleagues.

7- One-on-One Meetings: As we get close to our final project, I will schedule one-on-one meetings with you via Zoom. There will be a Google Doc sign up sheet for you.  Just as I had met with you individually to revise your paper, I will meet with you to help you with your project.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

 

On Tuesday, sections meet at the library 2016A (2nd floor toward the left past the help desk at the end of the hall).
Tuesday, Dec 3: Turn in hard copy of your 1 page summary of Man Enough-Why Men don’t talk.  Link  to assignment prompt.

Thursday, Dec 5: Assignment on Masculinity is due today. Note, it is necessary to attend the library session in order to effectively complete the final assignment on masculinity.

Masculinity Articles:

Over the past couple of weeks, we have explored the meaning of masculinity and the problems with traditional masculinity for young boys and men. Your task now is to find articles that address a particular theme about masculinity. You need to identify at least two reliable online articles that provide  information about a particular aspect of masculinity you choose to focus on. For example, you can research some of the following themes:

1- Masculinity and media.
2- Violence causes (mental illness, media and violence, social pressure, poverty).
3- Impact of pornography on men (such as intimacy, self-image).
4-  Suicide, depression, and the pressures on men
5- Sports, body image, and masculinity
6- Fraternities
7- Emotions and masculinity (e.g. vulnerability, empathy, compassion)
8- Gay men, pressures to conform, stereotypes, homophobia

Once you have identified a theme you want to focus on. Narrow your focus (you will learn ways to do that in the library). For example, you could focus on the impact of media on violent behavior among young men, or the impact of a particular sports on body image among college men.

Once you’ve chosen your articles, you want to provide a summary of the article’s key argument, cite any relevant examples or research findings, identify how it compares to the other article, and indicate what makes it a reliable article using the criteria you learned at the library.

Watch the first episode of Man Enough, Why Men Don’t Talk, Part I where Justin Baldoni sits down with Prince Ea, Derek Hough, Javier Munoz, Bassem Youssef, and Matt McGorry to have an open discussion about traditional masculinity and why men don’t typically talk.  Answer the following questions about the talk (typed, using MLA 8).

1.What are some of the traditional forms of masculinity that each of the men expose?

2. Why do the men want to challenge the term masculinity? What is the problem with it?

3. How does culture play a role in defining masculinity?   What about school environments?

4. Michael Kimmel is a well-known researcher who addresses masculinity. What type of research and data does he provide to strengthen the men’s discussion? Does Kimmel Believe it is true that men don’t talk? Provide an outline of Kimmel’s key point.

5. Write 2 paragraphs in which you respond to one or more of Kimmel’s arguments. How has the discussion informed your understanding of masculinity? What problems about masculinity has the talk revealed? Do you think there is a better way to talk about or redefine masculinity?  When writing the paragraph remember to include a topic sentence.

 

Music Video Assignment Checklist:

When you turn in your final music video essay, you must turn it in a folder that includes copies of all the required parts of the assignments listed below.  Note, use the music video that you did for your PowerPoint presentation (you may use another video if you want to)

These include the following:

• Due Thursday Nov, 7: Draft 1: Dreamworld Introduction (you may adapt the introduction to make it compatible with your paper and the ideas you wish to present)
• Thesis (does your music video challenge or reinforce the male gaze and specify why it does that)
• Three scenes that you want to analyze.

• Due Tuesday Nov, 12: Draft 2: Your analysis of the paper + Peer-review. Drop this draft into the Google Doc folder (Music essay assignments)
• Due Thursday, Nov 14: Draft 3: This draft should be polished and should have all your ideas ready. We will do peer-review for editing and grammar
• Due Tues, Nov 19: Final music video essay + folder of all activities that led up to it.
• Important! Include  worksheets provided in class (This may include worksheets provided each class. If you are absent it is your responsibility to do those activities). Note, it is your responsibility to keep up with any worksheets and handouts provided in class.

All assignments must be turned in on time in order for you to receive credit.

Write 1-2 typed paragraphs in which you illustrate how the male gaze applies to a clip from a film or music video.  Here are some key points to remember from Laura Mulvey’s theory:

Below is a summary of Mulvey:

Laura Mulvey (1975):

•  The concept of the male gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. The male gaze includes:
  • How men look at women,
  • How women look at themselves
  • How women look at other women.
• She defines it in terms of Voyeurism (i.e. Erotic pleasures gained from looking at women as sexual objects)
• She argues that the presence of women is solely for the purpose of display (rather than narrative function)
• Female on display is passive and objectified for a male gaze regardless of viewers gender
• Voyeuristic treatment of female body in ‘male’ videos – use of dancers as adornments to the male ego.
• The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man’s reaction to these events.
• The inclusion of women for display is a staple element in music video’s – across all genres
• The lens relegates women to the status of objects. The female view must experience the narrative by identifying first and foremost with the male. That is, women’s sense of who they are, their bodies and sexuality is primarily experienced through men and how they view them.

 

 

With your revised advertisement paper, you need to turn in the following:

1- The final draft version with my comments included on it.
2- A typed list of all the comments and suggestions included in the document. Once you have completed that list, you will summarize it a Word Cloud.
3- Generate a word Cloud list of the key takeaways from the revisions you need to make. Go here to generate a Word Cloud:
https://www.wordclouds.com/
4- Cover letter, indicating what revisions you made. Be as specific as possible in terms of the choices you made about your revisions.

Please note, in order to get a grade change you need to make serious changes to your paper. If you make minor changes, it will not affect your
current grade.

Advertisement Analysis worksheet

This questionnaire is intended to help you start writing your advertisement analysis essay.  First, choose 1-2 advertisements and then answer the questions about your chosen advertisements.

  1.What product, service, or point of view is being advertised?

2. Who is the audience of this advertisement?  What does the advertisement say to the viewer? What lifestyles, values, opinions, and points of view are represented?

3. What is the appearance of the advertisement? What colors are being used?   Does it reflect a time period?

4. What kind of image  is the advertisement? Who is in the image? A real person? An iconic figure we know? Is it an abstract drawing?

5. How would you describe the image> Write a description of everything that you notice about it. Don’t worry about analyzing it yet. Just describe it.

6. What words are in the image? What messages do they send?

7.  What emotions does the image convey?

8.  What is the most catching element in the ad, the focal point?? Is there a particular logo? A section of writing? A person? A product?

9. What are the messages the advertisement sends about gender, the body, femininity/masculinity?

10. Is there anything bias in this advertisement? How is this bias demonstrated? For example, if it is representing women African American women or women of color, how is it representing them?

11. Which of Jean Killbourne’s arguments and ideas in the articles we read and/or the film Killing us Softly 4 do you see here? In other words, imagine that Killbourne is analyzing this advertisement. What would be her analysis about it? List her key ideas and identify particular quotes that apply to your advertisement.

 

 

 

 

 

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.