(Not for students who have taken UGEC3612.) The course is developed and evolved around two major themes, namely mass media and gender. Using key concepts and theories in mass communication and cultural studies, it discusses the influences and power of mass media with an emphasis on gender-related issues. The latter are in turn related to other social and cultural phenomena that will bring in knowledge an perspectives from other disciplines (e.g. sociology and psychology). The course will examine several recurrig controversies related to gender in mass media. These controversies range from representation of sex and gender in media, to the media portrayals of homosexuals and the treatment of taboos. The course will identify and discuss the many competing viewpoints, and the ensuing actions, held by different stakeholders, including media producers, social activists, government regulators, educators and the general audiences. Their implications to legislation and education will also be identified. Students will be able to describe the key characteristics of modern media, in particular their roles in the construction of gender identities and discourses about various gender issues.