Tuesday, February 06, 2007

davies forum: gender, sexuality and media: representations and realities

the davies forum is a unique opportunity for USF students and faculty. the davies forum consists of an undergraduate class that focuses on values in public life taught by the davies professor and filled with USF students chosen as davies scholars. the forum also includes guest lectures by leaders in a particular field; the guest lectures are open, i believe, to the whole USF community.

the davies forum for spring 2007 is titled "gender, sexuality and media: representations and realities." it is taught by bernadette barker-plummer, a professor in media studies and the director of the gender and sexualities studies minor.

the lineup is impressive and the diversity of the topic is evident in the long list of co-sponsoring departments and units, including gender and sexualities studies, global women's rights forum, latin american studies, mccarthy center, media studies, performance and social justice, politics, psychology, sociology, and visual arts. bernadette is also collaborating with eve shapiro, in sociology, and eve's terrific series titled "we must be the change: a performance and social justice speaker series." i'm especially intrigued by the combination of academics, artists, and activists as forum speakers.

here's the plan:
    Tuesday, February 27, 1:30-3:30 pm, LM 365
    Straight Eye for the Queer Guy: Reality Television, Shopping, and the New Gay Visibility.
    Josh Gamson - Sociology, University of San Francisco

    Tuesday, March 6, 1:30-4:15 pm, LM 365
    New Gay Visibility on Television: Business or Politics?
    Katherine Sender - Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

    Monday, March 19, 6:30-9:00 pm, HRN 232
    Performing Gender
    Sean Dorsey and Shawna Virago, Fresh Meat Productions

    Monday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 pm, Maraschi Room, Fromm Hall
    Animating Revolt/Revolting Animation: Penguin Love, Doll Sex and the Spectacle of the Queer Non-Human
    Judith Halberstam – English, University of Southern California

    Tuesday, April 10, 1:30-4:15 pm, LM 365
    Bitch Magazine: Feminist Response to Pop Culture
    Andi Zeisler (Founder) and Rachel Fudge (Editor) of Bitch Magazine

    Monday, April 16, 6:30-9:00 pm, HRN 232
    (H)Errata, Woman, Art and Revolution
    Lynn Hershman - Feminist film maker/new media artist

    Monday April 23, 6:30-9:00 pm, HRN 232
    SheWrite: A Documentary Screening and Discussion with the Directors
    Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar - Center for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

    Tuesday April 24, 2:00-4:00 p.m., LM 365
    Arts and Activism
    Valentin Aguirre – San Francisco LGBT activist and video maker
very cool. more info at http://artsci.usfca.edu/daviesforum

3 comments:

veanne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
veanne said...

I'm in that class this semester. Although it's the most challenging, it's also the most enjoyable. I love the fact that there are students from other disciplines (like Sociology, Psychology and even Finance!). The discussions are broader and it's great learning from different points of view, not just from a Media Studies perspective.

Hope your semester is going well!

david silver said...

hey veanne!

i'm glad (and a bit jealous) that you're in the class. keep me posted. i'll most likely see you for some of the guest lectures.