TaRC Master Class 2019 - Gender, Media, Leadership: Women in Chinese and Russian Media

NB! The course programme is subject to change. This page will be updated as more information becomes available. Latest update: 23 October 2019.

NB2! The public events of the Master Class week have been announced. You can view the timetable here.

Course: Gender, Media, Leadership: Women in Chinese and Russian Media (5 ECTS)

2nd international Master Class in Tampere

Are you interested in the representation of gender in Chinese and Russian media, or the status of women in these cultural industries? Do you want to know more about media activism related to gender issues in Russia and China? Would you like to learn from the experiences and expertise of acclaimed media professionals and scholars of gender and Russian and Chinese media?

To explore these themes, the Tampere Research Centre for Russian and Chinese Media (TaRC) will host an international university course titled Gender, Media and Leadership: Women in Chinese and Russian Media in September–December 2019. The coursework consists of online pre-assignments (23 September–25 October 2019), an intensive five-day Master Class in Tampere (28 October–1 November 2019), and a media-related independent final assignment dealing with the themes addressed in the Master Class (4 November–31 December 2019). Attendance and active participation on all five days of the Master Class are required. The working language of the course is English.

PARTICIPANTS

The course is free of charge for up to 40 students of Tampere University, TaRC’s partner universities, and other higher education institutes (HEIs).

Up to ten media professionals are invited to take part in the course as part of their career training. They or their employers can buy the course as an academic module. The course fee for media professionals is 400 € (VAT 0%).

The course will be beneficial for participants with a background in Russian studies, China studies, politics, communication, media, journalism, intercultural communication, gender studies, and film studies. However, participants with backgrounds in other disciplines are also welcome. The course is mainly targeted at students completing their Master’s studies. Doctoral students can also apply for the course, as can students who are at an advanced stage in their Bachelor’s studies and have sufficient competence.

At Tampere University, the course is offered under Media Studies with the code MTMS04c Gender, Media, Leadership: Women in Chinese and Russian Media. However, it can be used for a number of units in different disciplines, including Russian Studies, Russian Language, and Journalism. Please consult your teachers to find a place for this course in your curriculum. Students of TaRC’s partner universities and other HEIs are also advised to negotiate with their teachers about the position of this course in their curriculum.

ENROLMENT

Enrolment in the course took place in two separate phases. The first phase took place from 2 May to 31 May 2019, and the second phase occurred from 26 August to 22 September 2019.

If you are still interested in the course, you can email TaRC coordinator Jari Väliverronen (jari.valiverronen@tuni.fi) to ask if there are free places.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Gender is important in the media industries of China and Russia. Men tend to dominate in leading corporate positions, media production, as sources of news, and on the screen. How are women portrayed, and what roles and options for agency and resistance are there for them? How have women’s representations and position in the industry changed? The course offers information and expertise on three topics, and each participant will work on one of them:

1. Visual Representations (with separate work groups focusing on China and Russia respectively)
2. Media Industries and Women’s Leadership
3. Activism and Modes of Resistance (with separate work groups focusing on China and Russia respectively)

TEACHERS

Contact teaching on the course takes place in an international one-week Master Class event, Gender, Media and Leadership: Women in Chinese and Russian Media (28 October–1 November 2019) . Teachers in the Master Class are distinguished experts, such as:

• Bu Wei (Professor, Institute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
• Gina Marchetti (Professor of Film Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, University of Hong Kong)
• Galina Miazhevich (Senior Lecturer, School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University)
• Lubov Mulmenko (Screenwriter, film director, playwright based in Moscow)

You can find the list of confirmed teachers here.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing the course, the participants will have acquired a deeper understanding of gender dynamics in the media industry in China and Russia. The participants will be able to show greater proficiency in the use of some of the key tools in feminist cultural analysis and demonstrate a familiarity with the depiction of women in Russian and Chinese cultural texts such as cinema and television. The participants will conduct their own media-related projects during the course and develop expertise in questions of substance and working methods that relate to gender in the media industry.

TEACHING

Tuition on the course is divided into three different phases:

• Online pre-assignments: 23 September–25 October 2019 (40 hours)
• Master Class week: 28 October–1 November 2019 (8 hours of lectures + 32 hours of collaborative work in small groups)
• Independent project work: 4 November–31 December 2019 (55 hours)

In the pre-assignment phase (23 September–25 October 2019), the participants are required to familiarise themselves with the course material, which includes readings, visual materials and video lectures on current research related to the course themes. The material will be made available via an online learning environment.

In the Master Class week (28 October–1 November 2019), participants reflect on their pre-assignments, attend lectures and panels prepared by the experts, work intensively in small work groups and conduct a small presentation related to the topics of the course in their group. The week also includes a voluntary evening programme and networking.

After the Master Class (4 November–31 December 2019), the participants are expected to deliver a piece of independent written work related to their own field to complete the course. The form of the final assignment will be decided with the teachers. The final assignment should be returned via the online learning environment by 31 December 2019. The final assignment also includes compulsory feedback of the course to the organizers.

EVALUATION

Pass/fail.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Participation in all the Master Class contact teaching days and active participation in one of the workgroups. Completion and submission of the pre-assignment and the final assignment by the given deadlines.

STUDY MATERIAL

The participants will be granted access to the study materials via an online learning environment in September 2019.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The main goal of the course is to develop individual and collective reflection on gender issues in the media industry. The course will be taught with a major focus on discussion, critical thinking, and individual and collaborative work. The course will be taught in English; no knowledge of any other language is required.

CONTACT

TaRC coordinator Jari Väliverronen (jari.valiverronen@tuni.fi, +358 40 769 5558).

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