Overview
This advanced research seminar examines male-male romance narratives and related interpretive communities across literature, comics, animation, television, film, digital media, and fan cultures. Topics include genre history, terminology, regional and transnational traditions, representation, gender and sexuality, censorship, circulation, translation, adaptation, publishing industries, platform cultures, and audience interpretation.
Students develop independent research projects through literature reviews, methodological training, ethics preparation, proposal workshops, peer critique, and presentations. The course emphasizes distinctions between scholarly analysis and personal preference, contextualized interpretation, source evaluation, researcher positionality, privacy, consent, intellectual property, and the responsible handling of sexual or sensitive materials.
Learning Outcomes
- Formulate researchable questions concerning male-male romance narratives, media industries, or interpretive communities.
- Evaluate primary and secondary sources for scholarly relevance, reliability, cultural context, and evidentiary value.
- Synthesize research literature into an annotated bibliography and defensible account of the field.
- Select and justify qualitative, quantitative, textual, archival, or digital research methods appropriate to a defined inquiry.
- Apply ethical frameworks addressing privacy, consent, vulnerable participants, online communities, intellectual property, researcher positionality, and sensitive materials.
- Analyze texts, media objects, archival materials, or digital practices with methodological precision and historical awareness.
- Construct a feasible research proposal integrating a research question, literature review, methodology, ethics protocol, and project plan.
- Present preliminary findings clearly and provide constructive, evidence-based feedback on peer research.
- Produce and defend a substantial research paper or equivalent scholarly project.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 1 hour | Weekly | First term |
| Tutorial | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Workshop | 1 hour | Weekly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | Seminar participation and peer discussion | 10.00% |
| Assignment | Annotated bibliography | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Methodological exercises (3 × 5%) | 15.00% |
| Deliverable | Research ethics protocol | 10.00% |
| Assignment | Research proposal | 20.00% |
| Test | Preliminary findings presentation | 10.00% |
| Capstone | Final research project | 20.00% |
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.