| Effective Term: | 2025/05 |
| Institute / School : | Institute of Education, Arts & Community |
| Unit Title: | Gender and Sexuality in Literature, Screen and Digital Media |
| Unit ID: | BAENG2001 |
| Credit Points: | 15.00 |
| Prerequisite(s): | BADIG1001 or BATCC1001 or BATCC1002 or BAWRT1001 |
| Co-requisite(s): | Nil |
| Exclusion(s): | BAENG3001 |
| ASCED: | 091599 |
| Other Change: | |
| Brief description of the Unit |
This unit examines the representation of gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital media. Gender and sexuality are crucial to our sense of identity, impacting how we define ourselves and our relationships with others. Literature, screen, and digital media texts can play an important role in influencing how we perceive and think about gender and sexuality. Specific texts may encourage readers and viewers to accept dominant stereotypes by portraying certain roles and desires as natural and inevitable. Alternatively, they may subvert hegemonic assumptions by depicting alternatives beyond the gender binary and heteronormativity. This unit examines how gender and sexuality are represented in literature, screen, and digital media, engaging with issues including power, desire, spectatorship, intersectionality, post-feminism, and gender performativity. Drawing on feminist, masculinities, queer, and intersectionality theories, the unit critically examines the representation of gender and sexuality in a variety of literature, screen, and digital media texts. |
| Grade Scheme: | Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF) |
| Work Experience Indicator: |
| No work experience |
| Placement Component: No |
| Supplementary Assessment:Yes |
| Where supplementary assessment is available a student must have failed overall in the Unit but gained a final mark of 45 per cent or above, has completed all major assessment tasks (including all sub-components where a task has multiple parts) as specified in the Unit Description and is not eligible for any other form of supplementary assessment |
| Course Level: |
| Level of Unit in Course | AQF Level(s) of Course | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Introductory | | | | | | | | Intermediate | | |  | | | | | Advanced | | | | | | |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
| Knowledge: |
| K1. | Use appropriate terminology to discuss dominant ideologies of gender and sexuality and non-binary and non-heteronormative identities. |
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| K2. | Explore how literature, screen and digital media texts reinforce dominant ideologies of gender and sexuality or depict non-binary and non-heteronormative identities. |
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| K3. | Discuss representations of gender and sexuality through the lens of gender performativity and post-feminism. |
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| K4. | Appraise how feminist theory, masculinities studies, queer theory and theories of intersectionality may be used to critically analyse gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital texts. |
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| Skills: |
| S1. | Demonstrate close critical reading of representations of gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital texts. |
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| S2. | Undertake research to identify relevant peer-reviewed scholarship. |
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| S3. | Analyse representations of gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital texts in relation to their cultural, political and/or historical contexts. |
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| Application of knowledge and skills: |
| A1. | Apply relevant terminology and scholarly material to analyse representations of gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital texts. |
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| A2. | Communicate a coherent, informed argument in verbal, written and/or visual form, making appropriate use of evidence from primary texts and relevant scholarship. |
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| A3. | Reflect critically on knowledge and skills developed in this unit. |
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| Unit Content: |
Topics may include:
1. Dominant ideologies, epistemologies, and representations of gender and sexuality
2. Non-binary, anti-heteronormative, and trans- identities
3. Power and resistance
4. Spectatorship and the gaze
5. Feminist, masculinities, queer, and intersectional theories
6. Intersections of representations of gender and sexuality with race, ethnicity, and culture
7. The representation of gender and sexuality in specific genres and mediums
8. Post-feminism and gender performativity
9. Gender and sexuality in literature
10. Gender and sexuality in film and television
11. Gender and sexuality in digital media (e.g. social media, online fan fiction, animation, video games) |
| Graduate Attributes: |
| Federation University recognises that students require key transferable employability skills to prepare them for their future workplace and society. FEDTASKS (Transferable Attributes Skills and Knowledge) provide a targeted focus on five key transferable Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge that are be embedded within curriculum, developed gradually towards successful measures and interlinked with cross-discipline and Co-operative Learning opportunities. One or more FEDTASK, transferable Attributes, Skills or Knowledge must be evident in the specified learning outcomes and assessment for each FedUni Unit, and all must be directly assessed in each Course.
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| FED TASK and descriptor | Development and acquisition of FEDTASKS in the Unit | | Level | FEDTASK 1
Interpersonal | Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate, inter-act and work with others both individually and in groups. Students will be required to display skills in-person and/or online in: • Using effective verbal and non-verbal communication • Listening for meaning and influencing via active listening • Showing empathy for others • Negotiating and demonstrating conflict resolution skills • Working respectfully in cross-cultural and diverse teams. | Level 2 - Student demonstrates some independence within provided guidelines | FEDTASK 2
Leadership | Students will demonstrate the ability to apply professional skills and behaviours in leading others. Students will be required to display skills in: • Creating a collegial environment • Showing self -awareness and the ability to self-reflect • Inspiring and convincing others • Making informed decisions • Displaying initiative | Level 2 - Student demonstrates some independence within provided guidelines | FEDTASK 3
Critical Thinking and Creativity | Students will demonstrate an ability to work in complexity and ambiguity using the imagination to create new ideas. Students will be required to display skills in: • Reflecting critically • Evaluating ideas, concepts and information • Considering alternative perspectives to refine ideas • Challenging conventional thinking to clarify concepts • Forming creative solutions in problem solving. | Level 2 - Student demonstrates some independence within provided guidelines | FEDTASK 4
Digital Literacy | Students will demonstrate the ability to work fluently across a range of tools, platforms and applications to achieve a range of tasks. Students will be required to display skills in: • Finding, evaluating, managing, curating, organising and sharing digital information • Collating, managing, accessing and using digital data securely • Receiving and responding to messages in a range of digital media • Contributing actively to digital teams and working groups • Participating in and benefiting from digital learning opportunities. | Level 1 - Students require directions and boundaries from mentor | FEDTASK 5
Sustainable and Ethical Mindset | Students will demonstrate the ability to consider and assess the consequences and impact of ideas and actions in enacting ethical and sustainable decisions. Students will be required to display skills in: • Making informed judgments that consider the impact of devising solutions in global economic environmental and societal contexts • Committing to social responsibility as a professional and a citizen • Evaluating ethical, socially responsible and/or sustainable challenges and generating and articulating responses • Embracing lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning to be open to diverse others • Implementing required actions to foster sustainability in their professional and personal life. | Level 2 - Student demonstrates some independence within provided guidelines |
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| | Learning Outcomes Assessed | Assessment Tasks | Assessment Type | Weighting | | 1. | K1, K2, K3, K4, S1, A1, A2, A3 | Reflect on how the unit content, secondary readings and primary texts have deepened your understanding of the representation of gender and sexuality in literature, screen, and digital texts and its relevance to your own life. | Journal | 20-40% | | 2. | K1, K2, S1, S2, A1, A2 | Critical analysis of the representation of gender and sexuality in a literature, screen, or digital media text. | Critical analysis | 20-40% | | 3. | K1, K2, K3, K4, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2, A3 | Present a coherent argument in response to an essay question informed by close textual reading and engagement with unit content and peer-reviewed scholarly texts. Reflect on how tutor feedback on earlier assessment tasks has been applied to this task. | Essay and reflection | 30-50% |
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