VISUAL CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND POWER
Political Science Capstone Seminar/ PSC 489 Section 002
Dr. Mary Bellhouse
Office: 317 Howley Hall
Spring Semester, 2010
Office Hours: Thursday 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and by appointment (email me and we’ll find a time).
E-mail address: bellhous@providence.edu
(Note: no e on the end of my email name, bellhous here)
IMPORTANT: DO NOT E-MAIL ME THROUGH ANGEL. E-MAIL ME
DIRECTLY THROUGH YOUR E-MAIL PROGRAM.
Class Meeting Time: Monday, 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Class Meeting Room: Smith Center, Room 229.
Important Note: This syllabus is subject to change as the course progresses. Any changes will be announced in class. You should make sure your current email is linked to the Angel system and check your email and Angel regularly for updates. I am open to hearing your suggestions for changes; let me know your ideas either via email, during office hours, or after class.
“Aesthetics…is a delimitation of spaces and times, of the visible and the invisible, of speech and noise, that simultaneously determines the place and the stakes of politics as a form of experience. Politics revolves around what is seen and what can be said about it, around who has the ability to see and the talent to speak, around the properties of spaces and possibilities of time.” -- Jacques Rancière,
The Politics of
Aesthetics
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This seminar explores the themes of visual culture, identity, power, and politics. During the early weeks of this course, we will focus on three philosophical texts that will help us think about the relationship between power and visual culture. Our main theoretical readings are by two French philosophers:
Jacques Rancière and Michel Foucault.
We will study a range of visual images, including 18 th
-century French paintings and prints, 20 th
-century American lynching photographs, and the infamous 21 st -century photographs of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison.
SIX BOOKS FOR PURCHASE:
Jacques Rancière,
Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy (University of Minnesota
Press) ISBN-10: 0816628459 or ISBN-13: 978-0816628452.
Jacques Rancière,
The Politics of Aesthetics , Continuum paperback edition (July
2006)
ISBN-10: 0826489540 or ISBN-13: 978-0826489548.
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Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison , (Vintage Press),
ISBN-10: 0679752552 or ISBN-13: 978-0679752554.
Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others (Picador Press) ISBN-10: 0312422199 or ISBN-13: 978-0312422196.
Dora Apel and Shawn Michelle Smith, Lynching Photographs (University of
California Press, 2008) ISBN-10: 0520253329 or ISBN-13: 978-0520253322.
Stephen Eisenman, The Abu Ghraib Effect (Reaktion Books, 2007) ISBN-10:
1861893094 or ISBN-13: 978-1861893093.
Introduction:
Various kinds of visual experiences have inspired me to choose the topic of our capstone seminar, both everyday experiences and exceptional ones. In the latter category, I would include seeing the photos of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that have circulated widely on the internet; seeing—and not seeing--photos of flagdraped coffins of American soldiers killed in Iraq, photos that the U.S. government attempted to keep out of public circulation during the years George W. Bush was president; seeing on live television the unspeakable sight of people jumping from the
World Trade Center Twin Towers on 9/11/01; and seeing photographs of lynching in the United States, many originally sent as post cards through the U.S. postal system, first reproduced in large numbers in the controversial book titled Without Sanctuary--
“an album of peacetime atrocities.”
This semester, you will each be required to write a research paper, making use of the theories of Rancière &/or Foucault. In most cases, your paper will focus on some aspect of the relationship between visual culture, power, and identity. For example: a paper might focus on some aspect of Rancière, “Queer Theory” and the visual [for example, something about Gay pride parades, or AIDS and visuality, or the Stonewall riots of the late 1960s in New York City]; or a paper might be about the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti (e.g., what was visible/invisible and said/not said on CNN, on different sites on the internet, etc.) Topics that have to do with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are appropriate. You could choose something more local that focuses, for example, on some aspect of class, race, gender and/or sexual orientation (and their intersection).
Our seminar will address the following topics and their interrelationship:
1.
VISUAL CULTURE . At the heart of our study will be an effort to gain awareness of a new interdisciplinary field of study called v isual culture .
2.
Identity/Difference and MODES OF SUBJECTIVITY: CLASS, GENDER,
RACE, SEXUALITY.
We will be concerned with what visual culture has to do with the construction of categories of identity and modes of subjectivity . By modes of subjectivity, I mean one’s sense of self or one’s identity. We will discuss the following modes of subjectivity: class, “race”, gender, nationality, ethnicity, and
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sexual orientation. I will take the position that all of these modes of subjectivity are complex and historically based, none of them are “simple” or “natural.” Regulatory power not only acts upon a preexisting subject but also shapes and forms that subject; a subject is brought into being through being regulated. Our definition of gender will be largely drawn from theoretical writings by Judith Butler, particularly her landmark book Gender Trouble (1991) and its sequel Bodies That Matter (1993). Our understanding of the concept of “race” will be drawn from a variety of post-colonial writings, and influenced by several key thinkers on this topic, especially Frantz Fanon and Homi Bhabha.
3. POWER . We will ask what particular visual representations of identity and various modes of “seeing” have to do with power . Our conceptualization of power will be drawn in part from Michel Foucault (1926-1984), a twentieth-century French philosopher. Several terms from Foucault will be relevant to our analyses, including discourse, power-truth, power-knowledge, panopticism, the gaze, the genealogical method, and normalization. Foucault will help us to focus on the history of bodies and the importance of surveillance.
4. HISTORY. In order to understand the relationship among visuality, subjectivity, and power, it is necessary to study the history of the topic at hand. This is a particularly time-consuming and challenging aspect of the interdisciplinary work of studying visual culture.
5.
JACQUES RANCIERE’S UNDERSTANDING OF POLITICS AND
AESTHETICS, including how Rancière defines a number of key terms such as democracy, police, and partition of the sensible.
6.
WAR IMAGES.
We will read a short book on the history of war photography,
Susan Sontag’s
Regarding the Pain of Others . I want you to focus on picking out important questions and examples raised by Sontag. Notice, for example, the attention she gives to Goya’s famous
Disasters of War print series.
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Requirements: You are required to do the reading for each class faithfully, attentively, critically, and with enthusiasm.
You will be graded on reading, writing, and participation. You are required to be in class unless you are ill—more than one absence will adversely affect your grade.
1. CLASS ATTENDANCE AND COURTESY (politeness, civility) is required.
I do not expect you to miss ANY class meetings except in rare cases of medical emergency. We are a small group and are scheduled to meet only 13 times this semester. Arrive on time, stay for the entire class, make sure your cell phone doesn’t ring during class. Avoid being late for class and avoid departing early.
Late arrivals and early departures are extremely disruptive for everyone.
You are welcome, indeed encouraged, to disagree with others about points of interpretation,
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but you must act respectfully toward all members of the class, both in the content and tone of your remarks, even when you disagree strongly with a point of view expressed by someone else in the seminar.
2.
ACTIVE CLASS PARTICIPATION. Worth 35% of your course grade.
Each of you will be responsible for keeping the discussion lively, focused, and productive. To accomplish this goal, you’ll have to do all of the reading assignments carefully and think critically about your response to the reading before arriving in class. To foster a supportive and engaged atmosphere in class, you are required to learn the name of everyone else in the seminar by the third or fourth week of classes.
You are welcome to suggest changes and variations in how we use in-class time as the semester progresses. And you are welcome to suggest ways in which students, individually or in small groups, can make some short presentations in class prior to the paper presentations in April.
Class Participation Guidelines :
In deciding how often to volunteer, consider the total number of students in our class and the need to hear from all students. In framing your remarks, work to pull in other members of the class . I tend to weigh more heavily comments and observations that are addressed to fellow classmates, not simply directed at me. The quality of your comments is given more weight than the quantity of your comments. Demonstrate that you have done all of the day's reading assignments carefully and that you have listened to the other members of the class. As the semester progresses, work to draw connections and comparisons among current and earlier readings. Grading of the class participation will be conducted according to the guidelines below:
Frequent evidence of not having done reading assignments or prepared other assignments in a timely fashion.
D range
Several examples of not having done reading assignments or prepared other assignments in a timely fashion. Frequently arrives late to class, lets cell phone ring, etc. May dominate the discussions without letting others participate, disrupt flow of discussion, or discourage other students from participating.
C range
Rarely absent, shows constant evidence of having prepared assignments; can generally answer accurately questions about the content of readings; well prepared for class, etc. Is a "good citizen" in class discussion and engages directly with other students in discussion.
In addition to the items in the B range, the quality of participation is excellent, with useful references to course materials, including synthesis from earlier readings, for example. Can see the "big picture" in class discussions. Generally outstanding contributions during discussions. Very effective at addressing fellow classmates in ways that encourage other students to participate. Helps to stimulate lively and thoughtful discussion that is grounded in attention to the course reading assignments.
B range
A range
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3. JOURNAL. Worth about 25% of your course grade.
You will write nine journal entries this semester.
Each journal entry should be about two to three pages long, typed, double-spaced in Times
New Roman font, font size 12. The due dates are indicated on the Course Outline below.
For each entry, you will put the date and the readings assigned at the top of the page in the format listed below. You will want to save each journal entry in a WORD document on your computer and keep the entries together in a loose-leaf binder that you will bring with you to each class meeting. You must write your entry prior to class because the point is to have thought a lot about the readings before the class in which we are scheduled to discuss them.
POST EACH JOURNAL ENTRY AS A WORD DOCUMENT BY 3:30 p.m. on the day the entry is due, in the appropriate drop box on ANGEL.
I will ask you to hand in your journal entries for me to read two times during the semester, on FEB. 22, and on APRIL 26.
I will be grading your entries in terms of how closely you did the reading, the depth of your understanding and analysis, and your ability to connect the readings to each other as the term progresses.
CONTENT of Journal entries: For each entry you will come up with about three questions and provide exploratory answers based on the readings you have been assigned. I will be grading you on the sophistication and intellectual quality of your questions and comments.
At the same time, writing in your journal is not about constructing perfect questions and responses, instead it is about responding to the readings in a focused and thoughtful way, demonstrating that you have completed the reading assignments, and preparing for class discussion. Refer to specific pages in the reading where helpful.
Please use the following format for the header for each journal entry:
FORMAT at top of each journal entry: Your Name , JOURNAL ENTRY # 1, due date: 5
February 2010, page number, and name of the Author , and Title of the article or book and book pages ( &/or film) that you are commenting on.
4.
RESEARCH PAPER. Worth a total of 40% of your course grade.
Your final research paper should be anywhere between 10 and 15 pages in length, plus pictures, endnotes and bibliography. The paper should rely heavily on utilizing course readings, including the theoretical frameworks provided by Rancière and/or Foucault. The paper should articulate an original idea and defend it well; in the process the paper should yield some critical insight into some specific work(s) of art or visual culture. The paper (and the paper grade) is broken down into four components due over the course of the semester: two-page Topic statement with picture(s); then a developed draft version of the paper (the body of this draft should be 5 to 6 pages long, double-spaced, New Times Roman font, font size 12, and include in addition to the body: a title page, working bibliography, and picture(s); the Final Paper with pictures, endnotes and bibliography; and a brief Oral
Presentation of your paper as a work-in-progress in class. You will each choose an individual research topic that analyzes some aspect of visual culture. We will discuss possible topics in class; I encourage you to select your own topic. You do need my approval of your topic before proceeding to the next stage of work on the paper.
You must post all of the required paper assignments on ANGEL and also turn in a hard copy of each assignment in class on the day it is due.
Begin thinking what you will choose as your paper topic right away! It will be a big advantage to choose a research paper topic early in the semester. Do not use images as mere
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illustrations in your paper. Your paper must centrally analyze something visual. You need to draw on course readings and also use several appropriate high-quality scholarly sources beyond what is listed on our course syllabus. Ask a reference librarian for help with this.
Due March 8: Preliminary paper topic statement, two pages long, double-spaced, plus one or more pictures of what you propose to write about. This first assignment is an outline of your research questions and focus. How does your individual topic relate to the themes of our course? You must attach to your paper a photocopy of at least one picture that you will analyze in your term paper.
You must begin to discuss how and why you will analyze the image(s) that you have chosen. The visual examples that you select are not to serve as mere illustrations. On the contrary, your analysis of the visual artifacts that you select will be the centerpiece of the paper that you develop this semester.
Due March 29: Draft version of paper, 5 to 6 pages long, double-spaced, plus pictures, notes and bibliography.
Worth 10% of your course grade.
This draft of the paper will include a more developed discussion of your individual research topic. You should state your central question, and what it has to do with the course themes and reading. What kinds of images and “ways of seeing” are you analyzing? What is at stake? Why is this a significant question or topic to pursue? What kinds of information do you need to gain in order to grasp what you want to know about your topic? What are some relevant sources?
Again, you need to attach photocopies of the images that you are analyzing in your paper.
By this point you will have done some research on, obtained copies of, and looked over and read several high-quality sources related to your topic that are not already assigned on the syllabus. In most cases, this paper will grow out of your initial paper topic statement.
You should now integrate and cite assigned course readings relevant to your topic.
Due April 26, Last day of our class: Final version of your paper, the body of the paper should be anywhere between 10 and 15 pages long, plus endnotes and bibliography. Post it on Angel and turn in a hard copy in class.
This final version of your paper is worth about
30% of your course grade. It should be a carefully refined paper on your research topic.
You should include extensive references to the required course readings, films, and some outside sources that you have located on your topic. Please use the University of Chicago style for your endnotes and bibliography. Use font style New Times Roman, font size 12.
You must also turn in a binder containing your complete Journal today. You must also turn in a “Revised Course Syllabus” in the appropriate drop box on Angel and a hard copy in class on April 26. See instructions near the end of this syllabus on how to construct the
Revised Course Syllabus.
A Note On Plagiarism: If you consult any source, even if you do not specifically quote it in your homework or paper, you must provide a citation! In your papers this should be a full citation of the source at the end of your paper. In your homework, you may give a shortened citation in parentheses in the body of your work. Failure to give such citations is considered plagiarism. “Source” here includes, for example, another student’s work, a professor’s lecture, a scholar’s work, or a web-based source. If you plagiarize another person’s work in this course, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment. If the plagiarism is flagrant,
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you will receive a failing grade for the course and I will refer you to the Dean for further action.
5.
YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION IN CLASS OF A DRAFT VERSION OF YOUR
PAPER. Your grade on this brief presentation will be part of your class participation grade.
You will present a brief condensed version of your term paper in class during the last few meetings of the semester. Your paper will be a “work-in-progress,” and the class will try to offer helpful suggestions. Your oral class presentation of your paper should last between 10 and 15 minutes, no longer! You should practice before presenting it in class to get the timing right. In general, do NOT use Power Point, or make only minimal use of it.
You may use POWER POINT only at most to show a short movie or news clip or put up a few images, as needed. I may interrupt you with questions if I feel it is necessary to do so for clarity, and we will ask a few questions and make suggestions at the end of your presentation.
Our goal will be to help you improve your paper. Do not be absent on the day of your presentation!
6.. REVISED COURSE SYLLABUS.
You will be required to submit a "Revised Course Syllabus" at our last class meeting as a vehicle for me to learn your ideas on how to improve the course in the future. This assignment must be typed, double-spaced and about two to three pages long. (font size 12,
New Times Roman, stapled) It will not affect your course grade unless you turn in nothing at all. Further instructions are provided near the end of this syllabus.
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The readings marked below with an asterisk (*) will either be supplied to you as a pdf file on ANGEL or distributed in class. The philosophic readings are concentrated in the early weeks of the course and they are the most difficult in the entire course, especially the assignments by Rancière. Be patient, focus, divide the readings up into several small doses, not one long sitting the night before class, and ask questions. I don’t expect you to follow all aspects of the Rancière reading, but I do expect you to persist and complete the reading.
Meeting 1. Monday, January 25
Meeting one. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE.
BRING TO CLASS: your copies of both of the Rancière books, The Politics of
Aesthetics and Rancière, Disagreement, and your printed copy of the course syllabus.
Today’s topics: the syllabus; class rapport; student names; decision on whether to take turns bringing food to class for all to share. Dr. Bellhouse will introduce her work on visual culture in 18 th - century France, and make initial comments on the Rancière reading.
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Meeting 2. Monday, Feb. 1, Rancière
Optional preliminary step: go to Wikipedia and read the article there on Rancière to get a brief general overview of Rancière and his ideas.
Required Readings:
 Rancière,
Disagreement , pp. 6-42. [begin half-way down page 6 with “For political philosophy to count…]. Don’t worry about the Greek words. [Of course, if you prefer, you can start reading at p. 1, but this is not required.] He begins by going back to the Greeks—Plato and Aristotle—in order to expose what is generally not understood about politics
, as he defines the term, inequality, and what Rancière calls the partition of the sensible.

Begin to read the Glossary at the back of Rancière , The Politics of Aesthetics, pp. 80-
93. By coming to understand the relationship among some of the key terms in this glossary, we will gradually begin to grasp Rancière’ argument. We will focus on
Rancière’s understanding of politics, democracy, the police, the people, disagreement, and distribution of the sensible.
 Bring to class both of the Rancière’s books to class today.
First Journal entry due in class on Feb. 1.
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Meeting 3. Monday, Feb. 8, Rancière
Required Readings due today :
 Rancière,
Disagreement , pp. 43-101. Don’t get bogged down by obscure terms, or odd passages, keep reading, and where it seems helpful go back to the glossary at the back of
The Politics of Aesthetics . Try to grasp the big picture and key terms of his argument.
 AND Rancière , The Politics of Aesthetics, pp. 69-93. Try to pick out which terms are most important and how the meanings connect with each other . Use the glossary as you read Disagreement . Here is an important example to begin to think about: what does
Rancière’s definition of “police” have to do with excluding some people from the realm of the visible and the sayable? Who is not seen, what is silenced? Can you think of any applications of Rancière’s argument about the police function that apply to events in the
20 th or 21 st centuries, in the US or elsewhere?

Second Journal entry due in class on Feb 8.
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Note: Monday, February 15 is a holiday.
Meeting 4. Tuesday, Feb. 16, Rancière, and Bellhouse essay on the Fall of the French
Aristocracy

Third Journal entry due in class on Feb. 16.
Required Readings from 3 sources today:
 Rancière,
Disagreement , pp. 117-128 and pp. 136-140. (Start at last paragraph on p.
117 “This equivalence and go to top of p. 128 “This is in effect”; start at bottom paragraph of p. 136 (“Pol. Action finds…);
 Rancière
, The Politics of Aesthetics, pp . 12-19, 42-45, and 49-66;
And

*Mary Bellhouse,
Erotic ‘Remedy’ Prints and the Fall of the Aristocracy in
Eighteenth-Century France, in the journal Political Theory , Vol. 25, No. 5 (October
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1997), pp. 680-708. [Skip the endnotes.] This article is available to be download from a pdf file listed under the Lessons tab on our course ANGEL site, or you can find it by going to the PC library page, click on Databases, then ‘J’, then JSTOR, then enter Mary Bellhouse in the search box and you will find the essay. Regrettably, the
9 pictures in this article do not reproduce well (way too dark!) because of the limitations of technology when it was published in 1997. Try to focus on how I am reading visual images to learn about power and changing meanings and constructions of class, gender, and sexuality.

HERE IS A BIG PICTURE QUESTION: I would like us to gradually begin to think about what Rancière means by the “Aesthetic Revolution”—what he calls the shift from ”the representative regime of art” to what he calls “the aesthetic regime of art”—and what, if anything, this shift might have to do with the changes from an “aristocratic” regime of art to a “bourgeois” regime of art that I analyze in my 3 articles on 18 thcentury French visual culture. HERE IS A QUESTION THAT I WOULD LIKE US TO RETURN TO EACH
TIME WE READ each of my 3 essays: am I identifying a shift toward or away from what
Rancière calls “the representative regime of art”? Does Rancière provide a useful theoretical frame to enrich my arguments about 18 thcentury French art, or not? In turn, as you begin to develop your own paper for this course, I would like some of you to ask whether (and if yes, how) Rancière’s ideas are useful for your topic. Note: there are by now some good books and articles published on Rancière’s ideas. For example, recently a journal devoted an entire issue to the connections between “Queer Theory” and Rancière. Thus if any one would like to do more work related to Rancière for his or her paper, that is an option.
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Meeting 5. Monday, Feb. 22, Foucault
Required Reading :

Foucault, Discipline and Punish , pp. 3-103.

Fourth weekly journal entry due in class on Feb. 22.
JOURNALS COLLECTED IN CLASS TODAY with all entries done so far.
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SPRING RECESS: Feb. 27-March 7.
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Meeting 6, March 8. Foucault continued.
Required Reading:

Foucault, Discipline and Punish , pp. 135-228.

Fifth weekly journal entry due in class on March 8.
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Meeting 7. March 15.
Bellhouse article on the Criminalized Other, and continued discussion of Foucault.
Required Reading:
*Mary Bellhouse, “Crimes and Pardons: Bourgeois Justice, Gendered Virtue, and the
Criminalized Other in Eighteenth-Century France” (It will posted as a pdf file on
ANGEL or you can access it through J-STOR. Originally published in the journal
SIGNS , Vol. 24, No. 4, Summer 1999, pp. 959-1010. Read to end of body of the essay,
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skip endnotes. I want you to notice how in constructing this essay, I was inspired and guided by the argument Foucault makes in his book Discipline and Punish about changes in what is a crime and who is a criminal.

Sixth journal entry due in class on March 15.

FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT is due in class and on ANGEL today: Two-page topic proposal plus one or more photocopies of pictures that you will analyze in your term paper. Submit on ANGEL by 3:30 p.m. and bring a hard copy to turn in in class.
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Meeting 8, March 22.
Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others
Required Reading:

Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others , entire book.
Seventh Journal entry due in class on March 22.
In class discussion over the next couple of weeks, if time permits, I will introduce you to some ideas put forth by Giorgio Agamben in his boo k Homer Sacer: Sovereign Power and
Bare Life, and two books that focus on pictures: Malek Alloula, The Colonial Harem
(University of Minnesota Press, 1986) and Linda Gordon and Gary Okihiro, eds.,
Impounded: Dorothea Lange and Censored Images of Japanese American Internment (W.W.
Norton, 2006).
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Meeting 9. March 29. Lynching Photographs AND Bellhouse Candide essay
Required Reading due today:

Apel and Smith, Lynching Photographs (entire book)

Go to You Tube and search: Nina Simone Strange Fruit ; listen to the version of the song posted by lpjfrance. If I am able to obtain a copy, we will watch “Strange Fruit,” a documentary about this famous song and its context, about one hour long.
 *Mary Bellhouse, “Candide Shoots the Monkey Lovers: Representing Black Men in
Eighteenth-Century French Visual Culture, in the journal Political Theory , Dec. 2006, Vol.
34, No. 6, pp. 741-784.

Eighth Journal entry due in class on March 29.
I would be especially interested in any connections you might be able to draw between the
Rancière readings and the Candide article. Notice how my essay provides some background for understanding the history of slavery, racial prejudice, the early history of human rights claims and abuses, and the beginnings of poverty and tragedy in modern-day Haiti.
[See my remarks below at the end of the April 7 entry: we should make a choice as a group about whether to watch the film “Standard Operating Procedure” outside of class time, and also decide on what day each student will present his or her paper as a work-in-progress in
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class; you may volunteer for a particular day on a first come first serve basis.]
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EASTER RECESS: April 1-April 5.
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Meeting 10. Wednesday, April 7: Abu Ghraib
Required Reading:

Stephen Eisenman, The Abu Ghraib Effect (entire book.)
Movie:
“Standard Operating Procedure”, dir. Errol Morris, 2008. This movie is about two hours long, so we may watch only part of it in class today. It is disturbing to watch and yet also very important.

STUDENTS WILL LEAD THE CLASS DISCUSSION TODAY. I plan to be present in class primarily as a listener today.

Ninth journal entry due in class on April 7. This is the final journal entry.

Paper assignment due today: draft version of your paper: 5 or 6 page draft of paper, plus visual images and bibliography, due in class and on ANGEL today. Worth about
10% of your course grade. Spend the next month developing and revising your paper to complete final version to turn in on April 26.
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OPTIONAL readings (these are not required ) on the Abu Ghraib photographs:
 *Susan Sontag, “Regarding the Torture of Others,”
New York Times , May 23, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/magazine/23PRISONS.html

*Timothy Kaufman-Osborn,” Gender Trouble at Abu Ghraib?” in the journal Gender and
Politics , Vol. I, Issue 04, Dec. 2005, pp. 597-619.
 *Joanna Bourke, “Torture as Pornography,”
Guardian , May 7, 2004.// www.guardian.co.uk./world/may/07/gender.uk

*Judith Butler, Frames of War , (Verso, 2009), pp. 63-100.
IF WE AGREE TO WATCH THE FILM “STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE”
OUTSIDE OF REGULAR CLASS TIME, THEN WE CAN HAVE A STUDENT PAPER
PRESENTATION TODAY. I’LL LET YOU DECIDE THIS QUESTION AS A GROUP.
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Meeting 11, Monday, April 12: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS OF PAPERS
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Meeting 12. Monday, April 19: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS OF PAPERS
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Meeting 13. Monday, April 26. Concluding Discussion. Course Evaluation.

Final Paper Due—worth 30% of course grade.

Revised Course Syllabus due.

Turn in your complete JOURNAL loose-leaf binder today containing copies all of your journal entries. The journal entries should be neatly arranged and clearly labeled.
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTING THE REVISED COURSE SYLLABUS:
The purpose of this “revised course syllabus” is to help me improve this course in the future.
Please take this last assignment seriously and give thoughtful answers. It is important that you be honest. Your responses will not affect your grade in the course so long as you take the assignment seriously. Submit this document in the appropriate drop box on our Course
Angel site AND turn in a hard copy in class. This document should be typed, doubled spaced. Look over the course syllabus and your course notes as you do this assignment.
Suggested length: about 2 to 3 pages. Divide your comments into the following categories.
Label everything clearly on your document.
1. Ease of contacting Dr. Bellhouse.
Adequate?
2. Books for Purchase: Are there any of the books for purchase that should be dropped in the future? Are there any books that should be added? Why?
3. Reading Assignments and films: Review the reading assignments as listed on the syllabus and any films watched, and also recall the changes that we made this semester to the syllabus.
What should be dropped from or added to the required reading an films in the future? Why?
Do you have any other ideas?
4. Overall Basis for Course Grade: Is this about right or should the percentages and/or assignments be changed? If changed, then how, and why?
5. Paper assignments: any changes needed? Please explain.
6. Journal: any changes needed? If yes, what changes? Why?
7. Our use of In-Class Time.
This is very important. What helped you to learn? Was there anything that you would encourage me to keep or eliminate in the future? Why?
8. Please provide any other comments of any kind that might be constructive criticism! Let me know what were the best things in this course, and what were the worst things in the course. Thanks very much for your help!
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