Brenda K. Cooper, Ph.D.
Post Tenure Review—April 2011
Department of Journalism & Communication
Introductory Summary & Self-Assessment
The following summary and self-assessment outlines my major teaching, research and service accomplishments since my previous post-tenure review in 2005. This self-assessment describes activities in each of the three areas in the past six years (on sabbatical January 2007-December 2007).
Teaching (65%)
Developed and taught two new courses, one in media criticism and one for women and gender studies: JCOM 4400/5400 Media Criticism: Representations of Genders & Sexualities; and Women & Gender Studies (WGS) 1010: Introduction to Women & Gender Studies.
Teach one of the four large-lecture pre-major JCOM requirements: JCOM 2010: Media Smarts (100+ students/semester)
Developed and taught online versions of two required JCOM core courses: JCOM 2010 (Media Smarts) and JCOM 1500: Introduction to Mass Communication (beginning Fall 2011).
Advise 60+ JCOM undergraduate majors.
Advised all WGS students, 2005-2011.
Undergraduate teaching fellow mentor, 2000-present.
Research (20%)
Two juried publications in leading scholarly media & communication journals (acceptance rates range from 8-10%).
One invited book chapter.
• ADVANCE associate-to-full faculty research grant (Summer 2007).
Service (15%)
Professional
Editorial board
Critical Studies in Media Communication, National Communication Association primary scholarly journal (8% acceptance rate)
Manuscript Reviewer
Western Journal of Communication (10% acceptance rate)
Feminist Studies in Media Communication (acceptance rate unavailable)
Research paper reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication
Utah State University
Director, Women & Gender Studies, 2005-2010,
Executive Board, Tri-Council for Gender Programs, 2005-2010.
Women & Gender Studies Steering Committee, 1994-2010.
Undergraduate Research Mentor, 2005-2006.
Member, Allies on Campus Program.
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ombudsperson, 2004-07; 2010-present.
CHaSS Undergraduate Curriculum Council, 2009-present.
Presenter, with Edward C. Pease and students Storee Powell and Jessica Larsen, HASS Hour, Spring 2010.
USU Department of Journalism and Communication
Chair, Writing Faculty search committee, 2010-2011.
Internship Coordinator
Member, PR and Broadcast Faculty search committees, 2009-2010.
Chair, one tenure & promotion committee, 2001-2008.
Graduate Committee, 1994-2008 (graduate program in hiatus).
Morris Media & Society Lecture Series Committee, 1994-present.
Master’s committees: Served on several committees, and chaired one committee in JCOM—student graduated 2008 and is now in his third year in the communication doctoral program at Indiana University.
Library Liaison, 2005-present.
Discussion
Teaching
At the time of my initial appointment (1994), the Journalism and Communication Department offered no classes in media literacy or criticism, nor any courses in the area of women and gender studies. Since then, I have played a central role in revising our undergraduate and graduate curriculum in order to integrate a strong critical thinking component into our course offerings and to integrate examination of the role of gender and racial/ethnic diversity in media and society, particularly as diversity affects the everyday lived experiences of our students.
Since my last PTR, I designed and teach or have taught the following new courses:
JCOM 4400/6400: Media Criticism: Representations of Genders & Sexualities in Media
Students examine how media representations of sexual minorities work to perpetuate or disrupt cultural heteronormativity and its boundaries. Since the 1960s, queer people have become increasingly visible in the media. Students investigate how queer identities are defined and negotiated in media narratives and the paradoxes of visibility, including how media depictions of sexual minorities may simultaneously contribute to and challenge harmful stereotypes of the GLBTQ community.
WGS 1010: Introduction to Women & Gender Studies
Students will develop critical skills to think about gender issues, from both a historical and a contemporary perspective. Emphasis is on women’s diverse experiences and contributions, including the cultural beliefs and representations of women and their roles in society over time, but the course will also address other areas of gender study, including men’s studies and gender identities; includes theoretical models, research and readings pertinent to the interdisciplinary study of gender.
During my 2007 sabbatical, I began expanding online resources for all of my courses, developing extensive blogs; I now depend on Blackboard and course-specific blogs for all of my classes. Integrating online resources for my classes has provided me with the tools not only to communicate with my students more effectively, but to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in media for students’ course readings and assignments. Additionally, I began using an interactive DVD textbook for JCOM 2010 (Detecting Bull: How to Identify Bias and Junk Journalism in Print, Broadcast and on the Wild Web). Student feedback for the DVD text and course blogs has been very positive.
Another new course strategy I’ve worked to integrate into my teaching is to incorporate more non-traditional online and creative options for student assignments; the result has been excellent. Some student teams submit blogs, others make movies (DVDs and YouTube) and this semester, even pop-up books. Not only have the students become more excited about and invested in their projects, but because of the extensive research required to analyze the media issues (for example, how various forms of media frame public debate on issues including immigration, same-sex marriage, and gays in the military).
Click here to view some examples of creative analysis projects posted online (other projects on DVDs are available).
I have worked to retool my teaching not only in terms of integrating more online materials, assignments and interactivity for students, but to meet the changing needs of JCOM. Previously, I taught two of the required graduate courses for master’s students each year. With the loss of faculty who taught graduate courses, the master’s program was placed in hiatus. While JCOM 6000 is no longer offered, I teach one of the previously required courses—JCOM 6400: Media Criticism—focused specifically on media representations of genders and sexualities, the only course currently offered at USU in which the course content is dedicated solely to issues related to sexual minorities. When JCOM begin offering an online minor (now a professional certificate program) and needed to cover these courses, I retooled to teach online versions of required classes as part of load (JCOM 1500: Introduction to Mass Communication and JCOM 2010: Media Smarts). I’m teaching the online section of JCOM 2010 this spring semester and will begin teaching JCOM 1500 this fall. Much of my summer will be devoted to prepping for JCOM 1500.
When I returned after sabbatical I integrated a new section into JCOM 2010 that examines media coverage of sexual minorities, such as same-sex marriage, gays in the military, and homophobia and hate crimes. Although some students have been very eager and receptive to studying how media represent sexual minorities, many others resist and resent the information presented. I make no apologies for including a section that examines media depictions of sexual minorities—it's essential for future media professionals to have an understanding of all diversity issues as they relate to media.
Research
I have developed a national reputation as a media scholar through continuing publication of my research on gender and diversity issues in leading journals in my discipline. This activity and exposure have resulted in invitations to serve on the editorial boards of three prominent juried scholarly journals, additional evidence of my reputation as a scholar. My research focuses primarily on issues of media representation of diversity, including examination of the conflicting responses of spectators to these representations.
My work and teaching alike have as a goal the development of a more critical public and individual perspective on mass media content and performance, particularly in representations of racial and ethnic diversity, and gender and sexuality. My research is guided by a strong feminist perspective as well as a commitment to promoting diversity and giving voice to groups typically marginalized or omitted in mainstream media narratives.
Since my 2005 PRT, I have published (with co-author Edward C. Pease) two new pieces of peer-reviewed research, including one in Critical Studies in Mass Communication, a journal recognized as one of the most prestigious in the discipline; with an acceptance rate of 8%, it is the most competitive in the field. With these recent publications, I now have been published by CSMC four times since 1999, a significant accomplishment in my field. The second manuscript is published in the Western Journal of Communication (10% acceptance rate), one of the top regional journals.
Cooper, B., & Pease, E. C. (2009). The Mormons versus the “Armies of Satan”: Competing Frames of Morality in the Brokeback Mountain Controversy in Utah Newspapers. Western Journal of Communication, 73 (2), 134-156.
Abstract:
This study of 113 reviews of the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain finds that although U.S. critics applauded it, the discourse underlying their reviews created three complementary but conflicting frames that direct attention away the movie’s core theme of “destructive rural homophobia.” Our interrogation of press reviews revealed that reviewers framed the film as a “universal” love story while simultaneously encouraging audiences to read it as “peculiar”—a “gay cowboy movie.” The tension between these competing frames—perhaps an artifact of reviewers’ lack of language to articulate the queer issues privileged in the film’s narratives beyond a heterosexual-homosexual dichotomy—results in disagreement about the “proper” interpretation of the film. The result, whether we see the film as “universal” or ”peculiar,” is a paradoxical invisibility for queer identity, and yields a third frame in which homophobia is represented as a relic of the past. The tension among these contradictory frames illustrates how efforts in the mainstream press to privilege queerness struggle to exist within heteronormative space. Comparing the film’s queer protagonists to culturally familiar heterosexual symbols such as Romeo and Juliet or Western icons John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, ironically elevates queer visibility while simultaneously relegating queers and queer experiences to the margins. Rather than celebrating Brokeback Mountain for its challenges to heteroideology, press reviews ultimately worked to appropriate Annie Proulx’s voice, diluting her story’s intended condemnation of brutal and destructive homophobia.
Cooper, B., & Pease, E. C. (2008). Framing Brokeback Mountain: How the Popular Press Corralled the “Gay Cowboy Movie.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, 25, 248-273.
Abstract:
An analysis of Utah op-ed columns and letters to the editor about the 2006 cancellation of Brokeback Mountain because of its themes of gay love and homophobia illustrates the press’s role in framing public debate. Our study interrogates journalists’ and citizen letter-writers’ discourse on either side of the issue as it played out in the press. The discourse breaks down into two diametrically opposed frames—Defending Zion versus Disrupting Zion—but each argues for the same thing: to protect different perspectives of morality. The values underlying each framing strategy reveal tensions in an LDS Church-dominated culture with a growing “Gentile” population.
In addition, I have one invited book chapter in a new textbook series from Edward Mellen Press and the ALANA (African, Latino, Asian, Native American) project—a series addressing issues of racial diversity in media.
Cooper, B. (In Press). “The White-Black Fault Line”: Relevancy of Race and Racism in Spectators’ Experiences of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. In A. A. Tait & A. S. Hayes (Eds.), Essays on African American Owned Media. Lewiston, New York and Ceredigion, U.K: Edwin Mellen Press.
I have one research project in-progress, for which I received an ADVANCE Associate-to-Full Mini-Research Grant in 2007 ($2,000): From “Hanoi Jane” to “Saddam’s Angels”: Disciplining the Dixie Chicks.
Description of Research Study:
My research concerns the mass media and pop culture. This project would examine media coverage of the controversy generated by the Dixie Chicks in March 2003, a few days before President Bush sent U.S. troops into Iraq, when Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines told a London concert audience that the band was born and raised in Texas and, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” The response was extraordinary: Concerts were canceled; the Dixie Chicks were vilified as traitors; former fans burned Chicks CDs in protests or crushed them under monster trucks. There were death threats. The Dixie Chicks plummeted from No. 1 in country music to being banned from the air in many Southern markets and out of sight on the country music billboards. They were censured by political leaders, and charges of treason were discussed on the floor of Congress. Some male entertainers also criticized the Bush Administration’s decision to invade Iraq, but none attracted the kind of criticism that Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks engendered. Indeed, not since “Hanoi” Jane Fonda’s trip to North Vietnam in 1972 have Americans expressed such outrage against any entertainment figure. Operating from a feminist theoretical framework, the overall goal of my research is to interrogate the ways in which news media framed these women, whose transgressive behavior challenged restrictive patriarchal gender boundaries not only in the pop culture context, but also in the broader context of societal gender norms.
I’ve completed the collection and my critical analysis (with co-author Edward Pease) is ongoing for the 400+ news articles and opinion columns. Articles are being analyzed for framing strategies and the subsequent ideological, social and political implications.
Note: Beginning November 2007, I postponed completing this research to order to have the time to manage the health and care issues for my elderly parents in Ohio.
Service
As director of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Utah State University I had primary responsibility for the overall oversight of curriculum, programs, activities and initiatives affecting the study of women and gender studies as an academic discipline connecting multiple disciplines, departments and intellectual areas. I also advised all Women & Gender Studies students and served as faculty advisor for the student branch of the Feminist Majority. During my most recent years as director (relieved in 2010), I worked to make the program more student-oriented and, in turn, to create a higher profile for women and gender studies and issues on campus for students. Some of the initiatives and events I instituted, designed to shift focus from faculty to engage students in the WGS Program are described below:
I worked with WGS students to start a student club. Members met regularly to plan events, such as street painting for Homecoming and a Retro-Bake Sale (March 2009) that raised almost $400 for the Women’s History Month event that year. The work of the students & WGS Club were instrumental in making the Women’s History Month events such huge success, from organizing fund-raisers to recruiting donations from area businesses to award as prizes. The WGC club also set up a blog to post more information for students. (Much of the information and photos from 2008-2010 have been deleted because this student blog is now being used by the Center for Women & Gender.)
2009—Women’s History Month Celebration—Reinventing Barbie Bash
In celebration of Women's History Month in March 2009, the WGS Program pulled out all the stops to celebrate the 50th birthday of that girlhood icon, Barbie, with a month-long exhibit of repurposed Barbies (as well as Ken’s and GI Joe’s) at the Merrill-Cazier Library. The object of the event, conceived by WGS Director Brenda Cooper and executed by four WGS students, was for students and community members to consider how gender is (mis)portrayed in the persona of Barbie and other iconic dolls. More than 160 dolls, redesigned by students and others to make new statements about gender roles, were entered into the Barbie Bash Contest, which challenged contestants to debunk gender stereotypes and myths by reinventing Barbie and giving her a makeover. It was standing-room-only in the USU Library meeting room, as USU alumnus Gary Arave, a Broadway makeup artist, gave the four WGS student organizers and GLBTA director Barbie makeovers, and turned WGS Director Cooper into Barbie before the audience's eyes, as awards were handed out to students—including contestants from a Logan high school for teenage mothers—for their work in reinventing Barbie in several categories. More than $500 in awards were donated by local businesses in support of the WGS program. The event drew widespread press coverage, not only in local media—the Hard News Café, The Herald-Journal, The Statesman and others—as well as on KSL TV and in The Deseret News in Salt Lake City.
Some very poignant moments during the Reinventing Barbie Bash involved the pregnant teens and new mothers attending North Cache High School. Jacoba Mendelkow was teaching a course at the high school as part of USU’s ArtsBridge program titled “Our Memoirs and Memories,” and contacted me about having her students participate in the WGS event. Jacoba’s students wrote essays about themselves and then reinvented dolls to illustrate visually the text of their essays. These young teen moms and expectant moms wrote about everything from being deserted by their boyfriends who didn’t want to be around to raise a child, to fighting with parents who wanted them to give their babies up for adoption. Very powerful and moving. With four WGS students, I attended a celebration event Jacoba held for her young students, and awarded their prizes (see Herald Journal story in binder).
Media coverage of Reinventing Barbie Bash (2009)
• R.M. Monk, “Home-ec feminists and Barbie bashing,” Hard News Café. “The Women and Gender Studies Club held a retro bake sale at the TSC patio before spring break to promote Tuesday's ‘Reinventing Barbie Bash.’”
• Jennifer S. Christensen, “Barbie at 50: USU students reinvent America’s most famous cultural icon,” The Deseret News, March 26, 2009.
• Alex Cabrero, “USU celebrates Barbie’s birthday in unusual fashion,” KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, March 24, 2009. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5951816
• Amanda Mears, “Reinventing Barbie: A new kind of doll,” Hard News Café, March 26, 2009. “Don’t be surprised if you haven't seen commercials for the twisted versions of these iconic toys flashing across your television screen. Instead, USU students can see these dolls, along with 161 others showcased in the basement of the Merrill-Cazier Library, as part of the Reinventing Barbie Bash sponsored by the women and gender studies department.”
(Also see Statesman & Herald Journal articles in binder)
Women’s History Month Celebration—Women Rock the Runway (2010)
Library 101 was packed with more than 150 people as the fire marshal turned away many who tried to get into the SRO event. Students, faculty and members of the community dressed as their most admired woman—from suffragists to cartoon characters, queens to movie stars and fictional femmes fatales. In addition to dressing the part, contestants provided a brief (50-word) statement introducing their “unapologetic” heroine and how she changed the world. Celebrity emcee Julia Child (Ted Pease) read the statements as the contestants posed. A three-judge panel offered immediate commentary on each contestant (a la “Project Runway”). The $1000+ in prizes donated from area merchants was awarded to participants in several different categories. Contestants included infamous women pirates, Sandra Day O’Connor, Alice in Wonderland and Lady Gaga, and men as Wonder Woman, Cleopatra and Athena, and Amelia Earhart. Again, the event received good media coverage, including a full-page photo spread in the Herald Journal and several stories on The Hard News Café.
• “Famous figures to hit the runway for Women’s History Month,” Hard News Café, Feb. 13, 2010. “LOGAN—Utah State University will host the likes of Cleopatra, Rosa Parks, Lady Gaga, Amelia Earhart and Bette Davis on March 25 as “Women Rock the Runway” in celebration of Women’s History Month.” http://hardnewscafe.usu.edu/?p=1323
• Tayza Williams, “Women Rock the Runway this week,” Hard News Café, March 22, 2010. “Dress up, step out and ROCK THE RUNWAY! Students celebrate Women’s History Month 2010 and their favorite unapologetic woman in history or popular culture.” http://hardnewscafe.usu.edu/?p=1574
• Melanie Klein, “‘Unapologetic women’ make their own history,” Hard News Café, March 27, 2010. “LOGAN—Women took back their history, and took over a piece of USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library, as history-makers including Mother Teresa, Tina Turner, Eva Péron, Mia Hamm, and many more strong, “unapologetic” women hit the runway for Women’s History Month on Thursday.” http://hardnewscafe.usu.edu/?p=1608)
• Melanie Klein, “Let’s hear it for the unapologetic woman,” Hard News Café, April 4, 2010. http://hardnewscafe.usu.edu/?p=1778
(Also see Statesman & Herald Journal articles in binder)
WGS Student Blog photos (Scroll to bottom for photos and story)
Other WGS developments:
• I applied for a BSS designation for WGS 1010, which was approved.
• During Fall 2009, a WGS student designed and developed a new website with the goal to make it more “student friendly.” The new site included artwork from Nina Groth, a well-known California artist. (This website site was replaced by the new Center for Women & Gender site.)
• I worked with English students who selected WGS for their team project in a grant-writing class (Fall 2009). The students worked on proposals for funding to increase the WGS curriculum to offer new courses to students, and to begin a WGS lecture series, bringing prominent gender speakers to USU.
• Perhaps most important to me is that I have managed to create a safe environment in WGS classes for students to explore feminism and gender diversity. As one 2009 graduate wrote:
“You’ve opened a world of feminism to me that I never knew existed. Without your classes, my feminist awakening would be longer in coming & I would have muddled around searching for answers to my ‘problem w/out a name.’ Thanks you for the listening ear you’ve given. I loved your classes.”
