Fall 2024 – LIT 270/LIT 370: Gender and East Asian TV Dramas

LIT 270-01/LIT 370-01 1 course unit no prerequisites Term: Fall 2024 Time: 3:30-4:50pm TF Room: Bliss Annex 235228

Prof. G. Steinberg Office: Bliss Hall 216 Office Phone: 771-2106 Office Hours: 2-4:50pm on Thursdays or by appointment E-mail: gsteinbe@tcnj.edu

TEXTBOOKS:

As your textbooks in this class, you must subscribe, for the duration of the semester, to the following streaming services:

• • Netflix and
  • Viki.

COURSE DESCRIPTION.  This is a Topics Course with no prerequisites, offered primarily for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.  The topic of this section is “Gender and East Asian TV Dramas.”

K-dramas have become an international sensation, and TV shows from other East Asian countries (including Japan, Thailand, mainland China, and Taiwan) have gained a world-wide audience through streaming services such as Netflix, Viki, AsianCrush, iQIYI, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.  In this course, we look at one East Asian TV genre (modern-day romantic comedy) and the portrayal of gender in that genre.  How do masculinity and femininity seem to be defined?  What are the relations between the genders?  Are the boundaries between genders clearly drawn and strictly enforced?  How does the portrayal of gender in East Asian romantic comedies differ from – or track closely with – pop culture in the U.S.?  How might the portrayal of gender in K-dramas and other East Asian TV shows have contributed to their world-wide popularity?

You may be taking this course because you are a big fan of K-dramas and other East Asian TV.  But in this class, we look at gender in these TV series with a very critical eye.  At times, you may feel that our discussions in class are trying to criticize or ruin your love of the shows.  That is certainly not the course’s intent.  I personally love many of these dramas myself.  Cheese in the Trap, for example, is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, and Crash Landing on You is one of my wife’s favorites.  But even when we love something dearly, being aware of how the thing we love may be reinforcing gender stereotypes and contributing to gender inequities is a good thing.  Not being aware just perpetuates the stereotypes and the inequities.  The ancient philosopher Plato once wrote that an unexamined life is not worth living.  I’d add that an unexamined love isn’t worth loving.

When the College went through a curriculum revision several years ago, the vast majority of undergraduate courses were “transformed” from 3-credit to 4-credit (1-unit) learning experiences.  While most of the classes continued to meet for only 3 academic hours per week, it was understood that the “transformed” courses offered a depth of learning with additional learning tasks unfolding in the equivalent of a fourth hour, including, sometimes, an actual additional hour of class interaction.  As the equivalent of the fourth hour in this course,

F) students are assigned additional learning tasks that make the semester’s learning experience more deeply engaged and rigorous, and no other additional classroom space is needed.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTATIONS.  The principal learning activities in this course are watching TV dramas, writing, and discussion.  The watching of the TV dramas that I have chosen to assign to you is the foundation of your learning.  If you do not watch them, you miss out on that foundation, so keeping up with watching them is absolutely essential.  Upon the foundation of the watching of the TV dramas, you build by writing response papers, which are more about writing-to-learn than writing-as-assessment.  Response papers are a safe, low-stress space for you to try out ideas, increase your understanding of concepts, and improve your retention of what you’re learning.  By writing, you reinforce and expand the learning that you’re gaining from your watching.

Building on your watching and writing, discussion is also very important for your learning in this class.  In general, my approach to class discussion is to begin by posing a question or problem, then to have us brainstorm lots of ideas together in response to the opening question/problem, then to move to evaluating the ideas that we’ve brainstormed, and finally to come to a consensus, as a class, about the best answers/solutions to the opening question/problem.  Your input to the discussion is absolutely critical.  Even though I may have taught some of the materials in this class many, many times before, no two classes have ever had exactly the same discussion about them.  Different classes come up with different ideas, different solutions, different answers.  As the professor, I’m not looking for one idea or one solution or one answer in particular.  I want us to think things through together – to throw out as many ideas as possible, to test and evaluate those ideas against the evidence of the material in front of us, and to draw the best conclusions that we can.  We all learn so much by working together in a free and open discussion to answer a question or solve a problem.  I learn so much from your fresh perspectives, and you learn so much from each other.  But this means that our class discussions always depend on your preparedness (how thoroughly and thoughtfully you’ve done your assigned homework) and on your participation (how willing you are to take risks, brainstorm, and share ideas – even when your ideas are only half-baked).  I can’t make a good discussion happen.  Only you all can do that.  I can work to create a classroom space that feels safe and pose provocative questions for us to discuss, but a good discussion – along with the incredible learning that comes from a good discussion – only happens if you all come to class prepared and willing to join in.

GOALS.  In this course, you will learn

1. 1. to grow ever more responsible for and independent in your own learning,
   2. to analyze how creative texts, artworks, or performances reflect, shape, exalt, or challenge the values of a culture,
   3. to explain the social construction of gender and sexuality, and critically evaluate norms and practices of identity formation at interpersonal or wider levels,
   4. to identify and explain norms, values, and practices across different societies or regions to critically evaluate worldviews,
   5. to be more aware of, question, and enrich your basic assumptions about gender and culture,
   6. to identify, and characterize some of the constructions of gender specifically in East Asian TV dramas,
   7. to have a greater appreciation for the variety of East Asian cultures and languages, and
   8. to demonstrate greater facility with critical practices and writing in the field of English.

In addition, this course addresses the following goals for the School of Humanities & Social Sciences and the CORE curriculum:

#1 Written Communication
#5 Critical Analysis and Reasoning:  Ability to critique the arguments of others in the discipline and the construction of one’s own arguments in the discipline, using data/evidence as a focus of instruction and/or the ability to analyze linguistic and cultural patterns
#7 Interpret Language and Symbol
#12 Students will be able to demonstrate familiarity with a range of critical, generic, and literary traditions (including recent theoretical approaches) that shape – and are shaped by – literary discourses and texts of particular periods or movements
#14 Students will be able to identify historically specific elements relevant to a particular text
#15 Students will be able to read a literary work and characterize its main aesthetic, structural, and rhetorical strategies in an argumentative, thesis-driven essay or in a writing workshop

REQUIREMENTS.  For this course, you must complete the following graded assignments:

1. 1. eight two-page response papers (together worth 20% of your final grade),
   2. a midterm exam (worth 15%),
   3. a cumulative, comprehensive final exam (25%),
   4. one academic essay (25%), and
   5. a group social media campaign (15%).

Your final grade will be based on the following scale:  A = 93%-100%, A- = 90%-92%, B+ = 87%-89%, B = 83%-86%, B- = 80%-82%, C+ = 77%-79%, C = 73%-76%, C- = 70%-72%, D+ = 67%-69%, D = 60%-66%, and F = below 60%.  This scale is absolute.  Because the response papers are in a sense a form of extra credit built into this course from the start, I do not give extra credit at the end of the semester to help students raise their grade even a whisker.  So, even if, at the end of the semester, you are just .0001 points away from an A-, your final grade will be a B+.

RESPONSE PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to submit eight short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the TV episodes assigned for class.  You may choose for which days you want to write a response paper, as long as you have completed eight response papers by the end of the term.  For each response paper, choose one of the following topics and analyze the assigned episodes for the day with respect to the topic you’ve chosen:

1. 1. How is masculinity constructed in the assigned episodes?  What seem to be the assumptions about what is properly masculine?  What seem to be the assumptions about the strengths and weaknesses of masculinity?  Which characters seem to be rewarded for behaving in a properly masculine way?  What kind of behavior is rewarded?  Which characters seem to be punished for behaving in an unmasculine or improperly masculine way?  What kind of behavior is punished?  Are any behaviors viewed as properly or naturally masculine but nonetheless punished or viewed negatively?  How does the construction of masculinity in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class?
   2. How is femininity constructed in the assigned episodes?  What seem to be the assumptions about what is properly feminine?  What seem to be the assumptions about the strengths and weaknesses of femininity?  Which characters seem to be rewarded for behaving in a properly feminine way?  What kind of behavior is rewarded?  Which characters seem to be punished for behaving in an unfeminine or improperly feminine way?  What kind of behavior is punished?  Are any behaviors viewed as properly or naturally feminine but nonetheless punished or viewed negatively?  How does the construction of femininity in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class?
   3. How might the assigned episodes be engaging – intentionally or unintentionally – in the queering of gender roles and expectations?  In what ways do the assigned episodes – intentionally or unintentionally – defy heterosexual norms or draw attention to the impossibility of strict gender boundaries?  Which characters might be viewed as queer – as nonconforming, nonbinary, or motivated by homosocial/homosexual desire?  How do the assigned episodes – consciously or unconsciously – subvert or dismantle the structures of gender power and privilege?  How does the queering of gender in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class?
   4. How might the assigned episodes be engaging – intentionally or unintentionally – in gender politics?  How do the assigned episodes portray power relations between men and women?  In what ways are those power relations portrayed as proper or improper?  What do the assigned episodes imply (or maybe even state explicitly) about what proper power relations ought to be between men and women?  How might the assigned episodes’ portrayal and perspective concerning gender power relations be translated into a position on gender politics generally?  What do the assigned episodes seem to be saying about how power should be organized in the world when it comes to gender?  How does the gender politics in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class?
   5. How might the assigned episodes be reflecting or challenging the influence of colonialism on gender?  In what ways does American military, political, and cultural influence, for example, permeate or constrict concepts of gender in the episodes?  Where do you see that influence?  Where do you see resistance to it?  In what ways, do the assigned episodes attempt to define gender in uniquely Korean, Taiwanese, or Chinese terms in contrast to American expectations?  In what ways do they hybridize their own cultural standards and American influences, creating a new, conflicted, or challenging perspective?  South Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China have very different relationships with the U.S. and its culture.  How does the response to colonialism and its influence on gender in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class, especially TV shows from a different country?
   6. In what ways are characters in the assigned episodes nodes of intersectionality?  What advantages and disadvantages – i.e., privileges and discrimination – flow from a character’s interlocking identities (including gender, class, sexuality, appearance, disability, etc.)?  Are some characters portrayed as reaping advantages because of one aspect of their identity at the same time as they suffer disadvantages because of another aspect?  How is gender constructed in interaction with other aspects of a character’s identity?  How does class influence the construction of masculinity or femininity, for example?  Do some characters suffer greater disadvantages because of discrimination based on the combination of multiple aspects of their identity (such as being a female part-timer)?  How does the intersectionality in the assigned episodes compare to that in earlier TV shows assigned in class?

Please note that, when you do a response paper, you are writing about the episodes assigned for the day on which you’re submitting the paper. So, you’re writing about the episodes before we discuss them in class and submitting the paper before the class meeting for which those episodes are assigned. You can’t submit a response paper about a past day’s assignment.  You should submit each response paper by “sharing” it with me as a Google Doc before class on the assigned day.  Be sure to grant me “editing” or “suggesting” status when you share the Google Doc with me (so that I can comment directly on the paper).

The purpose of the response papers is

1. 1. to help you in your preparation for class discussion,
   2. to allow you to try out new and different ideas in a safe, low-stress space,
   3. to help me see where you’re struggling with the concepts in class,
   4. to help you reinforce and expand on what you’re learning in class, and
   5. to help you develop your intellectual independence and confidence.

Response papers are graded Pass/Fail, so they need not be a perfect, polished product.  Rather, response papers should be just what their name says – a response.  Think about one of the topics  that I have asked you to consider; then write a response.  Don’t worry about typos or comma splices or organization.  Don’t worry about answering every question I ask under a particular topic.  In fact, focus on the one question that seems most interesting to you, and be as specific as you can, getting down as much as you can, as quickly as you can.  Treat response papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper.  I don’t want a five-paragraph theme.  Rather, I want an exploration – as detailed and specific as possible – of the assigned episodes for the day.  But don’t focus too narrowly on just one scene from the assigned episodes.  Try to generalize about the episodes and then look at specific examples from multiple scenes to support your generalization.

Normally, as long as you submit a response paper of suitable length, detail, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you submit it before class on the assigned day), you will receive all the points that the response paper is worth.  You may submit more than eight response papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any response papers that do not pass), but no matter how many extra response papers you turn in, you will not receive credit for more than eight total.  You may not submit more than one response paper on a single day’s assigned episodes, nor may you submit a response paper for a day that you are absent from class.  But you may submit more than one response paper on the same TV series if there are multiple assignments from that series spread over multiple days in the course schedule below.  The response papers should then be on the different assigned episodes for each of the days.  (NOTE: Even if you do not submit a response paper on a particular day, you should still come to class prepared to discuss the response paper topics in relation to the assigned episodes, since we will focus on these topics in our in-class discussions all semester; in other words, the response paper topics above are a great guide for your class prep every day.)

EXAMS.  The exams in this course are an assessment of how well you are learning, understanding, and retaining the material in class.  The exams assess your retention of important character names, settings, critical terms, and concepts by asking you to identify and describe them.  The exams also offer you the opportunity to draw together the different strands of what you’ve been learning in class in an essay that asks you to look broadly at overarching themes and ideas.

ACADEMIC ESSAY.  Choose one TV series from the list below:

• • Fight for My Way (2017) – Park Seo-joon, Kim Ji-won,
  • Familiar Wife (2018) – Ji Sung, Han Ji-min,
  • It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) – Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji,
  • Forecasting Love and Weather (2022) – Song Kang, Park Min-young, or
  • Twenty Five Twenty One (2022) – Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Tae-ri

In a paper of 4-6 pages, argue a clear, specific, interesting thesis about the way in which the series treats gender.  As you think about your thesis, consider how the series fits or doesn’t fit with other series from the same year or similar years or how your chosen series copies or contrasts with the patterns and formulas of much earlier series.  Do not write vaguely about a broad topic.  Be sure to distill your thoughts into a clear, specific thesis, focused very narrowly on one concrete claim that you are arguing in your paper.  I recommend that you consider focusing on just one of the response paper topics in your thesis.  You may compare and contrast your chosen series with the shows that we’ve discussed in class, but to avoid becoming too vague and general, I recommend that you limit yourself primarily to one show from class.

You need not use any outside sources for this paper other than the TV series that you’re discussing.  In fact, I would encourage you not to use other sources (because I’d rather hear what you think than what some published scholar or reviewer thinks).  But if you do use any other sources (whether scholarly or online), be sure to cite and document those sources appropriately.  You do not need a “Works Cited” page just for the TV series that you’re discussing, if that’s the only source(s) that you’re using.

Your paper will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. 1. 1. Does the paper have a clear, specific thesis?  Does the thesis offer an interesting perspective or “hook” that is provocative without being gimmicky or offensive?
      2. Does the paper’s analysis progress logically?  Does the paper have a clear and consistent overall organization that relates all the ideas of the paper together in support of the thesis with appropriate transitions to aid the reader (rather than simply a list of random ideas without relation to one another or to the thesis)?  Does the paper have appropriate transitions to aid the reader in following the paper’s logic (rather than weak transitions, such as “The first…,” “Another…,” and “…also…”)?
      3. Are the paper’s paragraphs properly developed – neither too long and wandering nor too short and deficient?  Are the topics of the individual paragraphs suitably narrow and focused rather than vague and broad?  Once a paragraph gets specific about anything, does it stay focused on that topic to the end?
      4. Does the paper provide relevant, concrete evidence (including brief quotations from the TV shows) and logically persuasive reasons for every assertion?
      5. Does the paper analyze gender appropriately – with insight and sophistication, based in what we have learned and discussed in class?
      6. Does the paper show sensitivity to the cultural specificity and difference of the TV series under consideration?
      7. Does the paper exhibit confidence and insight when analyzing a series not discussed in class?
      8. Does the introduction to the paper offer an interesting, helpful preview of the content, logic, and organization of the paper?
      9. Is factual information in the paper accurate?
      10. Is the writing in the paper clear, effective, and appropriate to an academic setting?

I encourage you, about a week before the paper is due, to submit a thesis paragraph (a draft of the first paragraph of your paper or just a paragraph that describes what you plan to write about) by “sharing” it with me as a Google Doc (making sure to give me “editing” or “suggesting” status, so that I can comment directly on your paragraph).  If you do so by the date noted in the course schedule below, I will give you feedback on your proposed thesis.

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN. In assigned groups, put together a plan for a social media campaign on gender and East Asian TV dramas.  The campaign should be designed to be used by the English Department on its Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account.

You are responsible, with your group, for

• • identifying a specific audience to target,
  • figuring out a strategy for reaching that audience,
  • deciding on a topic and goal(s) for the campaign,
  • choosing a platform for it (i.e., the English Department’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram),
  • scheduling a calendar of regular postings,
  • generating original content of your own, and
  • providing curated content from other sources.

At different points in the semester (as noted in the course schedule below and in Canvas), you will submit these elements.  You are not responsible for actually executing your campaign plan (although good campaigns may be executed by the English Department) or for tracking performance or assessing the effectiveness of the campaign (if you were in fact to execute it on your own).

For information about how to put together a social media campaign, I recommend the following resources:

• • https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/how-to-plan-a-social-media-marketing-campaign-step-by-step/,
  • https://mailchimp.com/resources/how-to-market-on-social-media/,
  • https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-campaign-strategy/, and
  • https://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing.

Your campaign will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. 1. Does the campaign have a clear, specific, and reasonable audience, topic, goal(s), platform, and calendar?  Do the audience, topic, goal(s), platform, and calendar make sense on their own and in relation to each other?  Are they well thought out and explained in a concise, focused, persuasive manner?
   2. Is the campaign’s content presented in a way that is creative and appealing?  Would the format of the content’s presentation be likely to engender interest in the target audience and to achieve the campaign’s goal(s)?  Is there a creative, interesting “hook” to the campaign’s presentation strategy that is inviting and provocative without being gimmicky or offensive?
   3. Does the campaign both use original, newly-created content and provide curated content from other sources?  Is the campaign’s curated content reliable and valuable?  Is the campaign’s original content interesting and insightful?
   4. Is factual information in the campaign’s content accurate?
   5. Is the writing in the campaign’s content clear, effective, and appropriate to a social media setting?

LANGUAGES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM.  A quarter-unit (one-credit) Languages Across the Curriculum independent study may be added to this course for students who have intermediate level proficiency in Mandarin or Korean and who wish to complement the work in this course by utilizing their language skills. Students should complete this google form (https://forms.gle/ztyranBCUjhxrU4m7) by Thursday, September 5 to be enrolled in the LAC independent study. Please contact LAC Program Director Dr. Holly Didi-Ogren (holly.didi-ogren@tcnj.edu) with any questions.

PROFESSOR’S AVAILABILITY.  My office is Bliss Hall 216.  My in-person office hours this term are 2-4:50pm on Thursdays.  If you have questions about class (or just want to talk about stuff), feel free to stop by during these hours (no appointment necessary).  I can also meet over Zoom if that’s more convenient for you.  If you cannot come during my scheduled office hours, talk to me about meeting at another time, and we can set up an appointment.  You may contact me by email (gsteinbe@tcnj.edu) or by calling my office phone (609-771-2106) and leaving a message (if I do not answer), but email is usually the best way to get in touch with me.  You may also leave a written message for me in my box at the English Department offices in Bliss Hall 124.

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of this class.  Class discussion constitutes important, useful preparation for your graded work.  If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared – without excuses – to the next class meeting.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY.  Academic dishonesty is any attempt by a student to gain academic advantage through dishonest means, to submit, as your own, work which has not been done by you or to give improper aid to another student in the completion of an assignment. Such dishonesty would include, but is not limited to, submitting as your own a project, paper, report, test, or speech copied, partially copied, or paraphrased from the work of another (whether the source is AI-generated, printed, under copyright, or another student’s work). Credit must always be given for words quoted or paraphrased and even for ideas or information taken from a source. The rules apply to any academic dishonesty, whether the work is graded or ungraded, group or individual, written or oral.

ACCOMMODATIONS.  The College of New Jersey prohibits discrimination against any student on the basis of physical or mental disability or perceived disability. The College will also provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to enable students with disabilities to participate in the life of the campus community. If you require special accommodations, I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities are respected.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION. We are all enriched by greater diversity, and we all bring different perspectives to this class. I want to create a learning environment that supports diversity and honors your identities and perspectives (including your race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, mental and physical health, differing abilities, politics, etc.). If you go by a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official records, please let me know. If you feel that your performance in class is being impacted outside of class by a hostile environment related to your identity, please don’t hesitate to talk to me. If something is said or posted in class (by anyone, including me) that you consider hostile or offensive to your identity, please talk to me about it. I will expect our whole class (including me) to strive always to honor every form of diversity.

SCREENS.  Unless required as an accommodation for a physical or mental disability, you may not use screens (laptops, phones, ipads) in this class.  In the last ten years, there has been a ton of research that shows that screens are bad for learning – that you are less likely to remember what happens in class if you take notes on an electronic device rather than with pen and paper, that you are less likely to comprehend and remember what you read if you read it on a screen rather than in a printed format, that you are more likely to be distracted and miss things in class if you use an electronic device during class time.  I am not a Luddite (someone who despises all technology); I love my screens and use them a lot.  But I have watched a lot of students over the last few years perform much worse in my classes than they could (or should) have performed, because they used screens for taking notes and reading.  And my anecdotal experience with students over the years is nothing in comparison with the towering tsunami of research that shows just how bad screens are for learning in the classroom.

For that reason, you may not use any electronic devices in class.  Note that, when we need to watch scenes from assigned TV episodes in class, I will play what we need on the large screen at the front of the room.  You will not need your own screen for playing scenes.  Keep in mind that, if you want to refer to a particular scene or dialogue in class, you should note down ahead of time at what exact point within the episode that scene/dialogue occurs (so that I can find it quickly and, if necessary, play it for everyone).

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT AND COMMITMENT TO STUDENT SUCCESS, SAFETY, AND WELL-BEING.  The TCNJ community is dedicated to the success, safety, and well-being of each student. TCNJ strictly follows key policies that govern all TCNJ community members’ rights and responsibilities in and out of the classroom. In addition, TCNJ has established several student support offices that can provide the support and resources to help students achieve their personal and professional goals and to promote health and well-being. You can find more information about these policies and resources at the “TCNJ Student Support Resources and Classroom Policies” webpage here:  https://academicaffairs.tcnj.edu/tcnj-syllabus-resources/.

Students who anticipate and/or experience barriers in this course are encouraged to contact the instructor as early in the semester as possible. The Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) is available to facilitate the removal of barriers and to ensure reasonable accommodations. For more information about ARC, please visit:  https://arc.tcnj.edu/.

COURSE SCHEDULE.  The schedule below is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.  Changes in the schedule made after the first day of class will be shown in red.

The episodes listed below are the minimum that you should watch.  If you have time to watch more than the assigned episodes, watch as much as you reasonably can.

Dates	Assignments
T Aug 27	Introductions the first episode each of Autumn’s Concerto (2009) – Vanness Wu, Ady An Shining Inheritance (2009) – Lee Seung-gi, Han Hyo-joo
F Aug 30	the first episode each of Secret Garden (2010) – Hyun Bin, Ha Ji-won Boss & Me (2014) – Hans Zhang, Zhao Liying What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018) – Park Seo-joon, Park Min-young Well-Intended Love (2019) – Xu Kaicheng, Wang Shuang Use for My Talent (2021) – Jasper Liu, Shen Yue
T Sep 3	NO CLASS (Monday schedule instead)
F Sep 6	the first episode each of Descendants of the Sun (2016) – Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo One Spring Night (2019) – Jung Hae-in, Han Ji-min Find Yourself (2020) – Song Weilong, Victoria Song Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) – Kim Seon-ho, Shin Min-a You Are My Glory (2021) – Yang Yang, Dilraba Dilmurat
T Sep 10	Episodes 1-5 of Cheese in the Trap (2016) – Park Hae-jin, Kim Go-eun
F Sep 13	Episodes 6-10 of Cheese in the Trap
T Sep 17	Episodes 11-16 of Cheese in the Trap
F Sep 20	Episodes 1-5 of Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (2017) – Park Hyung-sik, Park Bo-young
T Sep 24	Episodes 6-10 of Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon
F Sep 27	Episodes 11-16 of Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon
T Sep 30 Oct 1	MIDTERM EXAM
F Oct 4	Episodes 1-5 of Hotel del Luna (2019) – Yeo Jin-goo, Lee Ji-eun
T Oct 8	NO CLASS (Fall Break)
F Oct 11	Episodes 6-10 of Hotel del Luna
M Oct 14	Thesis paragraph for ACADEMIC ESSAY due as a shared Google Doc by 11:59pm
T Oct 15	Episodes 11-16 of Hotel del Luna
F Oct 18	Episodes 1-4 of Summer Strike (2022) – Im Si-wan, Kim Seol-hyun
M Oct 21	ACADEMIC ESSAY DUE in Canvas by 11:59pm
T Oct 22	Episodes 5-8 of Summer Strike
F Oct 25	Episodes 9-12 of Summer Strike
T Oct 29	Episodes 1-6 of Lighter & Princess (2022) – Chen Feiyu, Zhang Jingyi last day to withdraw with a W or to request ungraded option
F Nov 1	Episodes 7-12 of Lighter & Princess
T Nov 5	Episodes 13-1817 of Lighter & Princess
W Nov 6	DRAFT SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN PLAN DUE in Canvas by 11:59pm
F Nov 8	Episodes 19-24 of Lighter & Princess Episodes 8-12 of Hidden Love (2023) – Chen Zheyuan, Zhao Lusi
T Nov 12	Episodes 8-13-17 of Hidden Love (2023) – Chen Zheyuan, Zhao Lusi
F Nov 15	Episodes 14-1918-21 of Hidden Love
T Nov 19	Episodes 2022-25 of Hidden Love
W Nov 20	FINAL SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN PLAN DUE in Canvas by 11:59pm
F Nov 22	Episodes 1-65 of Best Choice Ever (2024) – Xu Kai, Yang Zi
T Nov 26	Episodes 7-126-10 of Best Choice Ever
F Nov 29	NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
T Dec 3	Episodes 13-1811-15 of Best Choice Ever
W Dec 4	SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN CONTENT and PERSONAL NARRATIVE DUE in Canvas before 11:59pm
F Dec 6	Episodes 19-2416-20 of Best Choice Ever
FINAL EXAM PERIOD	FINAL EXAM