• Name of Faculty Advisor: Professor Efrat El-Hanany
• Advisor’s home department: Women’s and Gender Studies and Art History
• Tutorial number: LBST 391 – 07

This term, Professor El-Hanany and I explored the representation of men and masculinities throughout Western art history. This was done primarily through meetings on and off campus (one of our meetings took place at an art exhibit), assigned readings and academic films, two 500-word response papers to various readings, and a final 2000-word synthesis and critical research paper. The direction that this tutorial took was guided both by my academic interests and by Professor El-Hanany’s expertise. The structure of this tutorial and all related assignments required that I initiate, execute, and take responsibility for self-directed interdisciplinary research and thus satisfies PLO 1 – Self-directed learning.

The assigned readings and educational films for this tutorial approached men and masculinities in Western art from the disciplines of: Art History, for example, by exploring the ideal male nude in Western art; Sociology, for example, by examining the construction of masculinity among boys in contemporary society; and, Women’s and Gender Studies. Specifically, my first response paper synthesized “The Body” by Margaret Lazzari and Dona Schlesier, “The Body in Society” by Alexandra Howson, and
“Public Bodies” by Efrat El-Hanany. My second response paper synthesized Kenneth Clark’s “The Naked and the Nude” and Richard Leppert’s “The Male Nude: Identity and Denial”. Both of these response papers required that I produce well-written, University-level, critically searching interdisciplinary work. Therefore, these assignments satisfy PLO 1, PLO 4 – Synthesis, and PLO 6 – Communication.

My final assignment for this tutorial was a critical research paper titled ‘A New Ideal’. This paper explored men and masculinities in contemporary Western art by asking: “How are contemporary artists challenging the ideal male nude in Western art?” The topic of this research paper came about as a culmination of the shorter investigations undertaken with Professor El-Hanany over the course of the tutorial. This paper applied Art History theories and concepts with feminist theory to explore how contemporary artists are breaking away from the muscular, heroic, male archetype in Western art. This assignment required that I apply foundational learning and holistic problem-solving skills. As well, I had to synthesize the knowledge I gained over the course of this tutorial with the research materials that I gathered for this paper (peer-reviewed articles, news media, and academic/Art History blogs). From this research, I produced a well-organized, coherent, critically searching, and interdisciplinary university-level paper. Therefore this assignment satisfies PLOs 1, 3 – Application, 4, and 6.

In the Fall 2019 term, I will be conducting a tutorial with David Kirk. In this tutorial, we will explore traditional and contemporary First Nations gender relations. Staying on trend with my previous tutorials, I also intend to explore traditional and contemporary First Nations masculinities.

For my graduating project, I plan to create an interactive exhibit on the topic of masculinities. For example, I might construct a moving picture collage (short film) to showcase societal pressures surrounding men and masculinities from popular media. The knowledge I gained from this tutorial with Professor El-Hanany has provided me with the foundation necessary to embark on this type of project, for example, by providing me with the knowledge (and language) to formally analyze images from popular culture.