Gender Studies 300-A: Black Feminist Spectatorship

What does it mean to look, to gaze? This course considers how gender, race, sexuality, class and cultural context inform and shape visual engagement. We will examine the power dynamics of spectatorship. From bell hooks to Tina Campt, the course calls for students to explore the ideological markers of Black feminist spectators. What theoretical approaches of the image move audiences against colonial imaginaries of Black women? From Daughters of the Dust to Atlantics, Janelle Monae to Megan Thee Stallion, what does it mean to commit to centering Black women in visual culture? Leaning on global Black feminist theor(ies), this course aims to help students deepen their analytical skills, reflect upon their own practices of engaging black bodies in the visual realm and most importantly to provide tools to attend to the cracks, slips, silences, worlds and possibilities in and beyond a frame. Satisfies the Gender in Global Context foundation area major requirement. May be taken for credit toward the Film and Media Studies major or minor. May be taken for credit toward the Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity major or minor. Distribution area: Cultural Pluralism.