GENDER 700

Critical Theories and Methods in Gender Studies


Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for GENDER 700.

Description

This course engages, using an interdisciplinary approach, critical theories and epistemological debates in gender studies; provides grounding in key gender studies methods and methodologies. It traces the evolution in approaches to gender from early feminist scholarship to the present. It requires independent research and application of theories and methods.

In 2018, the course will focus on the very timely theme of “gender in dangerous times”; we will consider theoretical, methodological and practical approaches to studying gender in our current global context by using three distinct but interrelated themes:

  • Queer discourse analysis – interrogating the symbolic violence of religious discourses around queer identities
  • Care ethics – analysing the ways that care promotes alternative political subjectivities yet also perpetuates gendered inequalities and injustices
  • Intersectionality and gender – an exploration of the intersectional sociocultural categories that constitute gendered experiences and engagement in education

Each theme will be presented from a different disciplinary context (humanities, education and social sciences) and explored through weekly lectures and readings. Students will engage with the underlying theoretical and methodological approaches relevant to each theme (including their shared principles, theories and methods) and apply this learning within their own disciplinary area.

Our learning goals will enable students:

  • To develop the theoretical knowledge and methodological skills to interrogate the world through different critical lenses (e.g., feminist, queer, intersectional, discursive)
  • To draw on a range of disciplinary contexts (e.g., education, humanities, social sciences) in order to explore the multiple ways in which the world is inherently gendered
  • To foster the social responsibilities of the researcher as critic and conscience of society
  • To develop independent research skills through their participation in class discussions and course assessments

View the course syllabus

Availability 2018

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Caroline Blyth

Points

GENDER 700: 30 points