Assignments

Buffy Episode Discussion Curation & Presentation (20%) -- You will be a required to sign up to curate an online discussion twice during the course of the term. You will watch your assigned episode, articulate two or three main points from the week's scholarly text (as assigned), generate one or two critical questions connecting the texts, and facilitate an online discussion for the week.

Short Papers (30%) -- You will complete a number of short, analytical, and academic papers. These papers rehearse a range of genres, rhetorical situations, course goals, and engage the 3060J outcomes. You will write an academic summary, a close reading, a brief annotated bibliography, a research proposal memo, a short short fan fic, a revision of a previous short paper, and a self-assessment cover letter. They will be graded on clarity, focus, coherence, whether they satisfy the assignment, revision, and on your ability to concisely formulate arguments.

Final Paper/Project (20%) -- You will complete a Final Project that integrates what you have read, explored, and written about in your previous papers, that draws on specific terms, concepts, or issues from the class, and that articulates the critical value of Buffy and popular culture. The project asks you to make connections and to create an argument across different kinds of evidence and added research. Your final project can be a traditional research paper, a media production (which includes a substantive analytical component), or a hybrid of the two.

Information Sheets

The following are handouts, informational sheets, and readings that will be assigned or used over the course of the quarter. Each student will recieve a copy of each as a handout in class during the appropriate week. If you miss a sheet, feel free to print out a new copy.

Ed's Top Ten List of "Ways to Survive University"

Ed's Top Ten Rules of Writing

What is Close Reading?

How to Write a Summary

Claims, Claims, Claims

Introductions & Conclusions

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

MLA Citation and Bibliographic Format

Revision Check-List

Readings

Course readings are available via the course Blackboard or online.

Consult the course syllabus for the week's required reading. The following is a full bibliographical list of the class readings:

Adams, Rachel, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin. "Disability." Keywords for Disability Studies. NYU Press. 29 May 2018. https://keywords.nyupress.org/disability-studies/essay/disability/. Andrews, Travis M. "'Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals': Director Joss Whedon's Ex-Wife Accuses Him of Cheating." The Washington Post. 22 Aug. 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/22/hypocrite-preaching-feminist-ideals-director-joss-whedons-ex-wife-accuses-him-of-cheating/. Aultman, B. "Cisgender." Postposttranssexual: Key Concepts for a 21st Century Transgender Studies. Spec. issue of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 1.1-2 (2014) 61-62. Barker, Meg. "Slashing the slayer: A Thematic Analysis of Homo-Erotic Buffy Fan Fiction." Blood, Text and Fears Conference, 19-20 Oct. 2002, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. Baroza, A.L. "What's the Deal with All of the POC on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Nerds of Color. 31 Mar. 2015. https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2015/03/31/whats-the-deal-with-the-poc-characters-on-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d/. Bastien, Angelica Jade. "The Enduring Legacy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 20 Years Later." Vulture. 9 Mar. 2017. http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-twenty-years-greatest-legacy.html. Battis, Jes. "'She's Not All Grown Yet': Willow As Hybrid/Hero in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 12.4 (March 2003). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/battis_slayage_2.4.pdf. Beirne, Rebecca. "Queering the Slayer-Text: Reading Possibilities in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Refractory. 3 Feb. 2004. https://refractory-journal.com/queering-the-slayer-text-reading-possibilities-in-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-rebecca-beirne/. Berlatsky, Noah. "What Joss Whedon Gets Wrong About the Word 'Feminist,'" 8 Nov. 2013. 26 Sep. 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/what-joss-whedon-gets-wrong-about-the-word-feminist/281305/ Camron, Marc. "The Importance of Being the Zeppo: Xander, Gender Identity and Hybridity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 6.3 (Spring 2007). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/camron_slayage_6.3.pdf. Burgett, Bruce. "Sex." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 217-221, Dries, Kate. "Watch Joss Whedon Make a Perfect Speech About the Word Feminist." 7 Nov. 2013. 26 Sep. 2015. http://jezebel.com/watch-joss-whedon-make-the-perfect-speech-about-the-wor-1460080685. Early, Frances H. "Staking Her Claim: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Transgressive Woman Warrior." Journal of Popular Culture. 35.3 (Winter 2001): 11-27. Ferguson, Robert A. "Race." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 191-196. Fixler, Alex. "'The Hardest Thing in This World Is to Live in It': Identity and Mental Health in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 16.2 (Summer/Fall 2018). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/6._fixler_-slayage_16.2.pdf. Fletcher, Lawson. "'Is She Cold?': Telaesthetic Horror and Embodied Textuality in 'The Body.'" Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 9.1 (Spring 2011). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/fletcher_slayage_9.1.pdf. Fuchs, Cynthia. "'Did Anyone Ever Explain to You What 'Secret Identity' Means?' Race and Displacement in Buffy and Dark Angel." Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Eds. Elana Levine and Lisa Parks. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. 96-115. Georgiou, Myria. "Identity." Keywords for Media Studies. Eds. Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray. NYU Press, 2017. 94-98. Gray, Herman. "Race." Keywords for Media Studies . Eds. Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray. NYU Press, 2017. 61-164. Halberstam, Judith. "Gender." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 116-120. Head, Anthony Stewart. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a Feminist Parable for Everyone." The Guardian. 10 Mar. 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/10/20-buffy-vampire-slayer-feminist. Jowett, Lorna. "Introduction." Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. 1-17. ---. "Tough Guys" & "New Men." Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. 95-143. Kociemba, "From Beneath You, It Foreshadows: Why Buffy's First Season Matters." Reading Joss Whedon. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox, Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2014. 22-39. Large, Victoria. "Selfless: Buffy's Anya and the Problem of Identity." Undergraduate Review. 3. Bridgewater State University, 2007. 94-99. Lipsitz, George. "The Case for Studying Popular Culture." Major Problems in American Popular Culture. Eds. Kathleen Franz and Susan Smulyan. Boston: Wadsworth, Cenage Learning, 2012. 3-9. Masson, Cynthea and Marni Stanley. "Queer Eye of that Vampire Guy: Spike and the Aesthetics of Camp." Slayage 6.2 (Winter 2006). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/masson_stanley_slayage_6.2.pdf. Web. McAvan, Em. "'I Think I'm Kinda Gay': Willow Rosenberg and the Absent/Present Bisexual in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Slayage 6.4 (Summer 2007). http://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/mcavan_slayage_6.4.pdf. Web. McCracken, Allison. "At Stake: Angel's Body, Fantasy Masculinity, and Queer Desire in Teen Television." Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Eds. Elana Levine and Lisa Parks. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. 116-144. McFarland, Melanie. "Once More, with Feeling: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Turns 20, but Her Ability to Resonate is Timeless." Salon. 9 Mar. 2017. http://www.salon.com/2017/03/10/once-more-with-feeling-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-turns-20-but-her-ability-to-resonate-is-timeless/. Mendlesohn, Farah. "Surpassing the Love of Vampires; or, Why (and How) a Queer Reading of the Buffy/Willow Relationship Is Denied." Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox and David Lavery. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. 45-60. Middents, Jeffrey. "A Sweet Vamp: Critiquing the Treatment of Race in Buffy and the American Musical Once More (with Feeling)." Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 5.1 (June 2005). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/middents_slayage_5.1.pdf. Ono, Kent A. "To Be a Vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Race and ("Other") Socially Marginalizing Positions on Horror TV." Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. Ed. Elyce Rae Helford. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. 163-186. Overbey, Karen Eileen and Lahney Preston-Matto. "Staking in Tongues: Speech Act as Weapon in Buffy." Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox and David Lavery. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. 73-84. Pannekoek, Jeffrey and Karin Anderson. "Gender, Race, and Animality in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Superheroes and Critical Animal Studies: The Heroic Beasts of Total Liberation. Eds. J. L. Schatz and Sean Parson. Lexington Books, 2018. 115-133. Pender, Patricia. "'I'm Buffy, and You're...History': The Postmodern Politics of Buffy." Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox and David Lavery. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. 35-44. Schultz, Lauren. "'Hot Chicks with Superpowers: The Contested Feminism of Joss Whedon." Reading Joss Whedon. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox, Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2014. 356-370. Somerville, Siobhan B. "Queer." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 187-191. Vint, Sherryl and Gerry Canavan. "Whedon Studies after Whedon: A Conversation with Sherryl Vint." Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 16.2 (Summer/Fall 2018). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/10._vint_canavan_-_interview_-_slayage_16.2.pdf. Whedon, Joss. "On Strong Women Characters." Genius. 2006. 26 Sep. 2015. http://genius.com/Joss-whedon-on-strong-women-characters-annotated. Wilcox, Rhonda V. "'Can I spend the Night / Alone?': Segments and Connections in 'Conversations with Dead People.'" Reading Joss Whedon. Eds. Rhonda V. Wilcox, Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2014. 70-83. Williams, Cristan. "Transgender." Postposttranssexual: Key Concepts for a 21st Century Transgender Studies. Spec. issue of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 1.1-2 (2014) 232-234. Print. Williams, Mary Elizabeth. "I Love Joss Whedon, and I'm Done with Joss Whedon." Salon. 18 Jul. 2018. https://www.salon.com/2018/07/18/i-love-joss-whedon-im-done-with-joss-whedon/. Wirth, Sarah. "Horror and Fairy Tale Elements in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode “Hush.'" Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. 15.1 (Winter/Spring 2017). https://www.whedonstudies.tv/uploads/2/6/2/8/26288593/wirth_slayage_15.1.pdf.

Media

Here are all of the episodes of Buffy we will be watching over the course of the semester (listed in order by season and episode number):

"Welcome to the Hellmouth." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 1. FOX, 1997. "The Harvest." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 2. FOX, 1997. "Teacher's Pet." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 4. FOX, 1997. "The Pack." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 6. FOX, 1997. "Angel." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 7. FOX, 1997. "Prophecy Girl." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 1, Episode 12. FOX, 1997. "Lie to Me." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 7. FOX, 1997. "Innocence." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 14. FOX, 1998. "Passion." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 17. FOX, 1998. "Passion." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 17. FOX, 1998. "Becoming (Part I)." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 21. FOX, 1998. "Becoming (Part II)." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2, Episode 22. FOX, 1998. "Band Candy." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 6. FOX, 1998. "The Wish." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 9. FOX, 1998. "Gingerbread." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 11. FOX, 1999. "The Zeppo." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 13. FOX, 1999. "Bad Girls." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 14. FOX, 1999. "Dopplegangland." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 16. FOX, 1999. "Earshot." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 3, Episode 18. FOX, 1999. "Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 4, Episode 10. FOX, 1999. "Superstar." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 4, Episode 17. FOX, 2000. "Primeval." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 4, Episode 21. FOX, 2000. "Restless." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 4, Episode 22. FOX, 2000. "Fool for Love." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 5, Episode 7. FOX, 2000. "The Body." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 5, Episode 16. FOX, 2001. "Once More With Feeling." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 6, Episode 7. FOX, 2001. "Grave." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 6, Episode 22. FOX, 2002. "Selfless." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 7, Episode 5. FOX, 2002. "Conversations with Dead People." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 7, Episode 7. FOX, 2002. "Chosen." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 7, Episode 22. FOX, 2003.

Here is a list of the other media we will be using:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day. Time Science Blood Club, 2008.

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