Course Catalogue

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This course takes as its core tenet the notion that racial minorities have long been excluded, marginalised and misrepresented on the big and small screen, and that the diversity of our global society is not reflected in mainstream films and television shows. The course will analyse constructions of race on screen (film and television) in a wide range of cultural contexts, drawing attention to the stereotypically negative constructions of racial minorities in Western/mainstream audio-visual media, as well as the invisibility and normativity of Whiteness on screen. While racial representation is the main focus of the course, race and ethnicity will be regarded as integral to an intersectional approach to film and television's construction of social and cultural identities on screen.  

10 x 2hr Screening 

10 x 1hr Lecture

10 x 1hr Seminar per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in Film and Television Studies and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Film and Television Studies, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

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The standard assessments for this course:

■ Critical Reading report of film/television show (1500 words) - 40%

■ Essay (2500 words) - 60%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the critical reading, but a flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions).

■ There is no alternative to the essay, but a flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions).

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

This course aims to:

■ Expose students to a wide range of screen texts (film and television), in Western (European/North American) as well as non-Western (African/Asian/Latin American) contexts, with a focus on constructions of race on screen

■ Provide students with the critical and analytical skills to describe and interpret representations of race on screen

■ Introduce representations of race as integral to an intersectional view of film and television's construction of social and cultural identities on screen

■ Draw attention to the stereotypically negative representations of non-White (Asian, Arab, Black, African, Latino, Mixed race, Indigenous, etc.) races on screen in mainstream Western film and television, as well as to the invisibility and normativity of Whiteness on screen

■ Introduce students to examples of non-mainstream/Western film and television that challenge stereotypical representations of race on screen

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify and critically analyse the construction and representation of different races in film and television texts from different cultural contexts  

■ Apply appropriate theoretical frameworks (e.g. critical race theory, genre studies, postcolonial theory, Black feminist film theory, etc.) in their analysis of racial representations on screen  

■ Formulate convincing arguments to highlight the stereotypically negative representations of non-White characters in mainstream Western film and television 

■ Identify and analyse examples of film and television texts that challenge stereotypical representations of racial minorities on screen