For Your Viewing Pleasure: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture (2013)
“For Your Viewing Pleasure” considers what it means to be an ideologically invested spectator of theatre, film, television, and popular culture in the contemporary U.S. Popular culture both reflects and shapes who we are as citizens. Contrary to common presumptions, the course argues that viewers can consider gender, sexuality, race, and other identities in their entertainment and still enjoy themselves, as analysis and pleasure are not mutually exclusive. The course will sharpen students’ instincts as fans and spectators, and provide tools to deepen the analytic skills they bring to their cultural consumption.