Module Specifications.
Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025
All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).
As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Date posted: September 2024
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Description This module explores a broad range of issues relating to gender, sex and sexuality as they are mediated through various aspects of digital culture, from internet pornography and social networking sites to online dating and digital gender politics. Using theoretical frameworks taken from gender/sexuality studies as well as media studies, it explores the impact of recent social, economic and technological developments on sexual behaviour and intimacy, gender politics and sexual identity construction. It also critically considers policy responses to a number of issues of social concern, including pornography, the sexualisation of children, pro-anorexia and sexting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Identify the key changes that have occurred in the (mediated) construction of discourses around gender, sex and sexuality in recent decades, in Ireland and elsewhere 2. Develop an understanding of the technological affordances and algorithmic politics of digital media and their role in shaping communicative practices around sex, gender and sexuality. 3. Apply a range of media studies frameworks to a number of key case studies. 4. Analyse the dynamics and impact of hashtag campaigns, memes and other forms of political communication in the shaping of contemporary gender and sexual politics. 5. Design and produce your own digital/social media campaign to influence social attitudes about sex, gender, sexuality, sexual health, etc. and evaluate the strategy behind - and potential impact of - this campaign in relation to the relevant theoretical literature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
What is digital culture?Networked society, digital citizenship, access and digital divides; The algorithmic turn and new theoretical challenges for analysing media and culture - Technological, social and economic determinism - Political economies of digital culture(s)Key shifts in gender politicsFrom feminism to postfeminism, from modernity to postmodernity; From the political to the cultural – debates around identity politics and intersectionality - New and old feminisms, digital feminismCybernetics, artificial intelligence and posthumanismErasure of the body? Circuits of disembodiment and reimbodiment; What implications for intimacy and ethics (cybersex, online dating, sexbots)? - What implications for gender and sexual politics and identityCase Study 1: Online datingMediated intimacy, relationshopping and the commodification of intimacy; Neuroscience, genetics and big data; Mobile dating and hook-up apps: conceptual and methodological frameworksCase Study 2: Online gender politicsGamergate, the Manosphere and MRAs versus SJWs: how did we get here?; Networked affect, affective publics, the politics of emotion, the culture wars - Memes, Campaigns and hashtag politicsCase study 3: Online pornography: from social problem to cultural critique...and back to social problem?Cultural, economic, historical and legal contexts; Pornography in the digital economy: produsers, DIY and the collapse of private-public and real-representational boundaries - Theoretical approaches, methodologies, research ethicsCase study 4: Pro-anorexia image sharingTechnological affordances of social media and online community structures and dynamicsCase study 5: Sexting, image sharing and digital ethicsPolicy responses, safety campaigns and sexual double standardsWorkshop 1Creating your own digital campaignWorkshop 2Creating your own digital campaignClass presentationsPresentation of campaign ideas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Resources None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||