module specification

Queer Media, Culture, and Politics (QMCP) is a module that connects media pieces, cultural moments and political movements that have empowered lesbians, gays, trans, intersex, asexual, and other gender-fluid actors (henceforth, queer, LGBTQIA+) over time. The module aims to provide students with historical, political, and conceptual accounts to interpret the complexity of queer media in contemporaneity. The term “media” channels many styles of queer authorship within contexts, languages, and practices worldwide. Queer media encompasses different genres and formats, from literature to cinema, from visual arts to digital media.

The module aims to:
1. reassess the importance of past artists, movements, and political actors who have engaged with topics related to sexual and gender diversity, oppression, and liberation.
2. promote a well-informed, critical reading of contemporary forms of queer expression in the media.
3. increase the knowledge and repertoire about relevant queer artists and performers both in the West and in the Global South.
4. pave the understanding of queer culture as a pivotal event to promote societal awareness of LGBTQIA+ rights over the last decades.
5. understand the recent globalization and commodification of queer culture and propose alternatives.

This module discusses the genealogies of queer culture, queer media movements in the 20th century, and contemporary productions. Each part approaches political events that have inspired a panorama of contestation, resistance, and influence of queer media as political acts. These may include:

Definitions of queer media, culture, and politics
Theoretical and epistemological discussion on terms and usages
Early queer presences and absences in literature
Queer media practitioners beyond the West
American and European queer cinema of the late 20th century
The AIDS crisis
Queer movements and postcolonial theory
Queer racial, and intersectional identities
Queer media commodification and globalization
Gender fluidity in the media and activism
Queerness, digital media, and sociality
Past, present, and future of queer media and politics

Each week comprises of a reassessment of artists, movements, and political actors who have dialogued with topics related to sexual diversity, oppression, and liberation, the critical reading of contemporary forms of queer expression in the media, and the knowledge of relevant queer performers both in the West and in the Global South. Students are invited to contribute to sessions by presenting their reviews, research efforts, and projects that will think of new media practices that enable change.

Teaching methods include formal lectures, seminar discussion, screenings, library sessions and tutorials.  Students are expected to attend lectures and seminars: in the seminars they will at times work in small groups and be given practice in listening to each other’s contributions and offering constructive criticism, and in chairing and reporting discussion to the plenary seminar group. The module booklet will be available online, as will lecture outlines and some readings. Weblearn or its equivalent will also be used for communication with students individually and as a cohort. In addition to guided reading, students are expected to read and to use variety of sources (primary and secondary) and use seminars and tutorials to raise issues, questions and seek feedback.

A blended learning strategy will be employed to enhance the learning experience, facilitate communication between students and tutors and develop collaboration among students. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be used as a platform to support online activities including on-line discussions, evaluation of online resources, and access to electronic reading packs. The VLE will also be used to facilitate formative assessment and related feedback, as well as a tool to integrate useful online learning materials provided by research institutions, academic publications, professional organisations and other relevant sources.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
1. understand social and cultural developments that have led to the rejection or acceptance of queer media and its actors over the centuries.
2. appreciate queer media and culture as political elements for the emancipation movements led by LGBTQIA+ individuals.
3. interpret the fluid and intersectional nature of queer culture while capturing its political relevance over Western and non-Western societies.
4. engage with contemporary popular queer acts in both politicized and commodified aspects.
5. identify factors that may hinder or contribute to queer cultures globally and locally

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/9F9BA549-086F-AD80-6023-E985B62EE717.html?lang=en