Course Description: This course on Gender, Sexuality and Media is a critical overview of the history, theory, production and aesthetics associated with contemporary gay and lesbian film and television.  The course will begin by addressing issues of representations (stereotypes and the “other”), but then move beyond this approach to address the breadth of this newly formulating media movement. Specific lectures and discussions will address how media has documented and reclaimed gay and lesbian history and how identities of gay and lesbian characters, stars and audiences are formulated. In addition, narrative theory and genre studies will be re-examined and re-purposed to address the infusion of gay and lesbian content. What happens to the romantic comedy when boy meets boy or girl meets girl? And what are narrative strategies arise around the considerations of coming out, gender identification or HIV status?  Also, what happens when horror connects with queer content? The course has been designed to address issues of media specificity as well. For instance, how do films (including DV films) shape gay and lesbian characters differently than television programs and why? And how do these media differ in terms of storytelling and audience expectations? What sources do they draw from for content? For this, we will compare and contrast different national approaches to series television as well as different national approaches to cinematic content. Finally, the course will include an examination of how consumer and media trends have changed not just the media but social perceptions about gays and lesbians.