College Seminar (101-7-21)
Topic
Gender, Race, Class, & Reality Television
Instructors
Rebecca Rose Ewert
Dr. Rebecca Ewert is an Instructional Professor in the Sociology department. Her teaching and research interests include gender — especially masculinity — inequality, culture, mental health, environmental disasters, and qualitative methods. She received her BA from the University of California, Davis and her MA and PhD from the University of Chicago.
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 213: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
"Gender, Race, Class, and Reality Television"
How does The Bachelor shed light on modern courtship rituals, and what can Dance Moms teach us about the social functions of the family? What messages can we learn about the gendered and racialized social constructions of health and illness from The Biggest Loser? Reality television shows may seem like silly "guilty pleasures," but they are also illuminating cultural artifacts that reflect contemporary American behaviors, norms, and tastes. In this course—by reading sociological literature, paired with episodes of reality shows—we will learn to analyze these forms of entertainment through a social scientific lens. We will consider the following questions: What messages about race, class and gender do these shows promote? What kinds of citizens are viewers encouraged to become through this genre? How are social differences represented within these programs? What impact do these shows have on our society, if any?
This class is designed to hone your writing skills. You will develop technical writing skills - what counts as evidence, how do you connect relevant evidence to your claims, what is the difference between primary data and scholarly texts, how do you cite those who came before you; as well as intellectual skills - how do you refute counterclaims and how do you prove your claims, how do you evaluate your own argument to be clear about its limitations, how do you know if your claim is politically relevant; and you will also cultivate emotional skills - how do you cope the anxiety of distilling the complexities of reality down to a tidy argument, how do you deal with critical feedback, how do you cope with your self-doubts when you are trying to find evidence and write under time-pressure? This course will teach you to engage with real life issues in your writing and prepare you to orally present your written arguments to an audience.
Learning Objectives
Course-Specific Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Employ a sociological lens to analyze topics such as gender, race, social class, the family, courtship and sexuality, sports, and deviance
2. Examine how inequalities are produced and maintained through the production and consumption of media
3. Create a persuasive argument about how social difference and inequality is produced through reality television
4. Orally present original research
Academic Development Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Effectively communicate with classmates and instructors in a respectful manner conducive of learning and collaboration.
2. Engage in critical, analytical thinking and writing. This means that you will develop the ability to make an argumentative claim, support the claim with reasonable evidence, and provide a strong conclusion while acknowledging the argument's limitations - all in your own authorial voice.
3. Identify components of academic argument.
Class Materials (Required)
All materials for this course will be made available on Canvas - no purchase necessary.
Class Attributes
WCAS College Seminar