Gender Representation in the Media Course - University of Strathclyde
FutureLearn
Key Information
Campus location
Online United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
Distance Learning
Duration
7 weeks
Pace
Part time
Tuition fees
USD 59 / per course *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Request info
* you can learn it for free or upgrade the course and have extra benefits for $59
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
Explore how women are represented in the media and reflect on what it means for contemporary society and culture.
Develop critical skills for analysing the media through a gendered lens
From Beyoncé performing in front of a lit-up ‘Feminist’ sign to the #MeToo movement, feminist issues have never seemed so popular in the media. However, research still consistently highlights the under-representation of women in the media, especially amongst marginalised groups.
In this course, you’ll be introduced to key gender issues. You’ll explore female representation in areas from news to sports to feature films, and discover why equal representation still looks a long way off.
You’ll also consider what can be done to offer alternative depictions of women to the mainstream media.
Important Notice: On this special extended version of the course the Educators will continue to join the discussions and respond to individual comments but less frequently; this will likely mean that they will not be able to respond to each individual comment or question. Please also note that there will not be any Live Stream sessions during this run, however, links to recordings of previous sessions will be included for your benefit.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
- Available now
Who will you learn with?
Karen Boyle Karen is a Professor of Feminist Media Studies and the author of #MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism (Palgrave, 2019). She is a founder of Gender Equal Media Scotland. | Rachael Alexander Dr Rachael Alexander is a Research Assistant in Journalism and Teaching Assistant in English Studies at the University of Strathclyde. She is the author of Imagined Women (Anthem Press, forthcoming). | Petya Eckler - Educator A senior lecturer at U of Strathclyde. Dr Eckler teaches journalism and health communication. Her research focuses on links b/n social media and body image, and other topics on media and health. |
Who developed the course?
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde is a leading international technological university located in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, committed to useful learning.
Curriculum
What topics will you cover
Studying gender and the media can be complex. First, you’ll develop a critical toolkit for thinking about and analysing the media, including:
- Key concepts and definitions
- Media monitoring in fact and fiction
Once you’ve developed your critical toolkit, we’ll then put it to work. You’ll explore the representation of women in five crucial areas:
- Politics
- Violence
- Sports
- Sexualisation and body image
- Feminist media and digital media
These different topics will allow you to explore the relationship between the media and gender, especially in relation to other structural inequalities including race, age, sexuality and disability. Representations of women in the media can differ across different geographical contexts.
Throughout the course, we’ll ask you to contribute examples of the media where you are in relation to these topics.
Program Outcome
What will you achieve
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to:
- Develop an understanding of key concepts for studying gender in the media, with a particular emphasis on how we understand gender in relation to other structural inequalities including race, age, sexuality and disability.
- Explore how the approaches considered in this course play out in your own regional contexts.
- Develop critical skills for analysing contemporary media texts through a gendered lens.
- Investigate how feminist and women’s organisations have worked to challenge and change mainstream media representations.
Ideal Students
Who is the course for
This course is designed for anyone who wants to be able to engage with media more critically, or anyone who wants to learn more about gender inequality, female media representation, media studies, feminist activism and feminist analysis.