124262 KO Critical Media Analysis (2022W)

In this course, we will take a broadly chronological look at the development of feminism in Ireland, starting with the centrality of women in the Easter Rising, which has often been erased in recent commemorations and Irish women's involvement with the Suffragette movement to recent watershed moments in feminist activism (e.g. #RepealThe8th, #WakingTheFeminists). While Ireland is in some ways unique in terms of its political system, we will also examine the global connections of these movements, considering them as part of what Rosemary Clark-Parsons terms "networked feminism" in the digital age.

Throughout the course, we will discuss and revise central concepts and methods of cultural studies, including visual semiotics, (feminist) film theory and film analysis, the concept of "participatory culture" (Henry Jenkins), activism through performance and the "choreography of assembly" (Emer O'Toole). The course will include a roundtable/workshop with Miriam Haughton, Sarah Hoover, and Ciara M. Murphy - expert colleagues from Irish universities who have been working on this topic for several years - on January 19th (during our regular time slot), the attendance of which is mandatory.