Course convenor: Dr Simidele Dosekun
Seminar leader: Dr Rachel O'Neill
Media have been crucial to feminist politics across the globe, from 19th century pamphlets to early television representations to 90s zine culture to the multitude of hashtag feminisms in contemporary social media. This course explores the ways that feminisms in both the Global South and North are enacted through and represented on a variety of media platforms, from print to digital. Topics we will consider include: mainstream and alternative feminist media productions; the meanings and politics of feminist visibility and even popularity; feminist uses of the body as a medium of activism and communication; and mediated reactions to feminisms, including misogynist and sexist ones. The course draws on theories from cultural and media studies, creative industry studies, film studies and gender studies, and throughout we will take an intersectional and transnational approach, thinking of and across multiple forms and sites of ‘difference.’ The course is intended for MSc students interested in acquiring a broad cultural-theoretical understanding of the role that media play in defining feminisms for broad audiences, as well as those who are interested in feminist media productions across history.