Active Outline
General Information
- Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
- CETHD019.
- Course Title (CB02)
- Masculinities in U.S. Culture and Society
- Course Credit Status
- Credit - Degree Applicable
- Effective Term
- Fall 2024
- Course Description
- This is an interdisciplinary and intersectional study of masculinities within US culture and society from the post-Civil Rights era to the present. Special attention will be given to how masculinity is constructed along axes of race and ethnicity including African American, Asian American Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Native American, as well sexuality, class, and ability.
- Faculty Requirements
- Course Family
- Not Applicable
Course Justification
This course is transferable to CSU and UC and fulfills a GE requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSU GE, and IGETC. It belongs on the A.A. Degree in Liberal Arts at °®¶¹´«Ã½. This course provides students with critical thinking skills essential to understanding the role of masculinity and the development of masculinity within a multicultural society.
Foothill Equivalency
- Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
- No
- Foothill Course ID
Formerly Statement
Course Development Options
- Basic Skill Status (CB08)
- Course is not a basic skills course.
- Grade Options
- Letter Grade
- Pass/No Pass
- Repeat Limit
- 0
Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options
- Transferability
- Transferable to both UC and CSU
| °®¶¹´«Ã½ GE | Area(s) | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2GC2 | °®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area C2 - Humanities | Approved | |
| 2GDX | °®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral Sciences | Approved |
| CSU GE | Area(s) | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| CGDY | CSU GE Area D - Social Sciences | Approved |
| IGETC | Area(s) | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG4X | IGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral Sciences | Approved |
Units and Hours
Summary
- Minimum Credit Units
- 4.0
- Maximum Credit Units
- 4.0
Weekly Student Hours
| Type | In Class | Out of Class |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture Hours | 4.0 | 8.0 |
| Laboratory Hours | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Course Student Hours
- Course Duration (Weeks)
- 12.0
- Hours per unit divisor
- 36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
- Lecture
- 48.0
- Laboratory
- 0.0
- Total
- 48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
- Lecture
- 96.0
- Laboratory
- 0.0
- NA
- 0.0
- Total
- 96.0
Prerequisite(s)
Corequisite(s)
Advisory(ies)
EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.
Limitation(s) on Enrollment
(Not open to students with credit in the cross-listed course(s).)
(Also listed as WMST D029.)
Entrance Skill(s)
General Course Statement(s)
(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)
Methods of Instruction
Lecture and visual aids.
Discussion of assigned reading.
Discussion and problem solving performed in class.
Guided self-reflection in the context of participant-observation, activist engagement, or literary/film analysis.
In-class essays.
In-class exploration of Internet sites.
Quiz and examination review performed in class.
Homework and extended projects.
Participant-observation among men or cultures of masculinity.Â
Guest speakers.
Collaborative learning and small group exercises.
Collaborative projects.
Assignments
- Written
- Weekly summaries of assigned texts demonstrating the ability to analyze and synthesize knowledge and information obtained from assigned readings.
- A final project about contemporary or historical masculinity in the US. The final project may be a work of ethnography, activist engagement, or literary/film analysis, presented in a 5 to 10-page essay.Â
- Reading and films: Required reading selections from the primary texts and other assigned readings for the course.
- Ethnographic material about cultures of masculinity in the US.
- Documentary material about cultures of masculinity in the US.
- Fictional narratives about the lives and experiences of masculine persons in the US.Â
- Service Learning and Civic Engagement: Students will participate in a minimum of 12 hours of integrated service learning, and reflect on it in writing.
- Participate in small and large group discussions. Weekly discussions will require comparative written analysis of topics covered by the reading, class lectures, discussions, and presentations.Â
Methods of Evaluation
- Written work will be assessed for comprehension of the texts and films, analysis through the use of course concepts and lecture material, and self-reflection in the context of the student's own relationship to masculine cultures.Â
- Civic engagement will be evaluated by the effectiveness of community praxis around an issue related to promoting healthy masculinities.
- Participation will be assessed on the student's contribution to class discussions, including their ability to clearly express course concepts, to expand on central concepts in the course, and to reflect on their own position in discussions.
- The final evaluation is a project devised by the student and the instructor. It will usually take the form of analytical prose (e.g., a literary essay, an ethnography, a political critique), but may be adapted to film, music, or another creative format. The final project should engage topics or materials from the course. The bases for assessment are comprehension of relevant course material (which will vary depending on the student's project) and the quality of the student's self-reflection in relation to the student's chosen topic.
Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities
Essential Student Materials:Â
- None.
- None.
Examples of Primary Texts and References
| Author | Title | Publisher | Date/Edition | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matheson, Richard | The Shrinking Man | New York: Rosetta Books | 2019 | |
| Connel, Raewynn | Masculinities | Berkeley: University of California Press | 2005 | |
| Jones, Stephen Graham | Mapping the Interior | New York: Tor.com | 2017 | |
| Kindlon, Dan and Michael Thompson | Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys | New York: Ballantine Books | 2009 | |
| Baas, Michiel | Muscular India: Masculinity, Mobility, and the New Middle Class | New Delhi: Context | 2020 |
Examples of Supporting Texts and References
None.
Learning Outcomes and Objectives
Course Objectives
- Understand perspectives from Gender and Women’s Studies as they apply to the study of masculinity.
- Examine the impact of industrialization, de-industrialzation, globalization, and urban renewal on gender in US culture and society, and their impact on definitions of masculinity within and among particular racial and ethnic groups.
- Examine and evaluate theories of masculinity and power, including political responses from marginalized ethnic and racial groups.
- Understand masculinity as a matter of performance, independent from, but intertwined with maleness and heterosexual desire.
- Identify and describe different family structures and roles within and across racial and sexual minorities with US culture and society.
- Analyze "boyhood" and "manhood" as social constructs; understand how these categories are employed by different social institutions from schools to prisons, popular media, and the family.
- Analyze approaches to challenging and transforming masculinity through personal and cultural transformation.
- Analyze the reaction against feminism in terms of masculine social movements.
CSLOs
- Develop an understanding of the differences between biological sex, gender expression, and gender identity, along with how these social categories function within larger economic and political landscapes informed by race, class, ethnicity, citizenship, physical abilities, and sexuality.
- Analyze how key social, political, and economic events inform public discourse around definitions of masculinity and the framing of masculinity as being in crisis.
- Critically analyze key cultural works aimed at resisting dominant or hegemonic forms of masculinity within and across different racial and ethnic groups, including Asian American Pacific Islander, African American, Latino, and Native American men.
- Research local organizations which support the goals of men of color, specifically Asian American Pacific Islander, African American, Latino, and Native American men, and engage in community activities.
Outline
- Understand perspectives from Gender and Women’s Studies as they apply to the study of masculinity.
- Examine Gender and Women's Studies as an interdisciplinary field of study that includes perspectives from the social sciences, humanities, arts, and more.
- Identify relative strengths and disparities among disciplinary approaches to studying masculinity, using course texts such as Connel's Masculinities.
- Examine the impact of industrialization, de-industrialization, globalization, and urban renewal on gender in US culture and society, and their impact on definitions of masculinity within and among particular racial and ethnic groups.
- Apply multidisciplinary perspectives in order to read literary depictions of masculinity like Matheson's The Shrinking Man and Graham Jones's Mapping the Interior in proper historical and cultural context.
- Apply multidisciplinary perspectives to assessing the impact of transnational economic shifts for masculinity in post-colonial contexts, using texts like Baas's Muscular India.
- Examine and evaluate theories of masculinity and power, including political responses from marginalized ethnic and racial groups.
- Examine perspectives on masculinity that emerge from advocacy on behalf of marginalized racial and ethnic groups.
- Apply multidisciplinary perspectives in order to read political movements in proper historical and cultural contexts.
- Understand masculinity as a matter of performance, independent from, but intertwined with maleness and heterosexual desire.
- Examine multidisciplinary perspectives on gender as performance, affect, and political stance.
- Apply multidisciplinary perspectives on masculine performance and affect to films and documentaries.Â
- Identify and describe different family structures and roles within and across racial and sexual minorities with US culture and society.
- Discuss kinship and non-biological family networks of support.
- Analyze the history and construction of the nuclear family and its basis within Cold War politics, using literary texts like Matheson's The Shrinking Man.
- Analyze "boyhood" and "manhood" as social constructs; understand how these categories are employed by different social institutions from schools to prisons, popular media, and the family.
- Understand the history and emergence of institutions like schools and prisons, along with advertising and marketing categories based on age, and how these institutions have impacted forms of masculinity in the US.Â
- Understand the history of urbanization and the history of juvenile delinquency as a label and social construct.
- Contextualize the development and emotional life of boys as the outcomes of social phenomena using multidisciplinary texts like Kindlon and Thompson's Raising Cain.
- Analyze approaches to challenging and transforming masculinity through personal and cultural transformation.
- Reflect on students' identity formation and possible exclusions, regulations, and foreclosures that reinforce racial heteronormativity.
- Analyze social media campaigns and political efforts aimed at promoting or challenging hypermasculinity.
- Analyze the reaction against feminism in terms of masculine social movements.
- Analyze online harassment and efforts to silence female critics and journalists.
- Analyze the emergence of the anti-hero, the nerd, and other tropes or styles of effect that are invested in normative forms of masculinity.
