Always Already Intersectional: Introducing Intersectionality in Large Lecture Courses

Abstract

Identity is a central concern of media studies. Ensuring that students are equipped to critically engage with texts, audiences, and industries is a key outcome of our courses. When identity is covered in introductory courses, intersectionality is often not used as the framework. Thisdoes not foster a deep understanding of identity as always already being intersectional and therefore does not reflect how identities operate in peoples’ (including our students’) lived experience. This unit proposes taking a different approach to identity in an introductory media studies course and is designed to be taught over 4 lecture periods of 1.5 hours each.