HUM 120 : Practicing Intersectionality in Literature and Film
HUM 120 focuses on intersectionality as a way to understand the unique lived experience of those most marginalized in society. We will begin with Kimberlé Crenshaw’s coining of the term “intersectionality” in 1989 as way to discuss justice for those with identities situated at the intersections of overlapping modes of discrimination and move to study a variety of films and texts that demonstrate the interrelated axes of race, class, gender, sexuality, borderlands, migration, and nationality in visually complex ways. Specific attention is given to images and film, and how they characterize and shape our everyday lives. The course instructs how to recognize, read, and analyze visual media within the social, cultural, and political contexts of cinema. Intersectionality is considered as a praxis, as we bring this theory into the real world through applied readings to visual culture, (social) media, literature, and pop culture. Prerequisite(s): ENG 091. Three lecture hours per week.
Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Ethical Dimensions, Human Expression, Multicultural and Social Perspectives, Oral Communication and Written Communication.
Course Outcomes
1. Identify major theoretical concepts that undergird film.
2. Describe key historical themes in film studies.
3. Analyze cinema and visual cultural using critical theory.
4. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and society through verbal and/or written expression.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of a subculture or relationships among subcultures within U.S. society through verbal and/or written expression.
6. Analyze different literary and cinematic representations of American subcultures and minority groups and articulate valid arguments on these issues.