GENDER 700: Critical Theories and Methods in Gender Studies

 

GENDER 700: Critical Theories and Methods in Gender Studies

SEMESTER 1, 2018

30 points

 
Course Convenor: Caroline Blyth c.blyth@auckland.ac.nz 

 

Teachers:

Caroline Blyth c.blyth@auckland.ac.nz 

Annie Bartos a.bartos@auckland.ac.nz

Kirsten Locke k.locke@auckland.ac.nz 

 

Course delivery format:

Three hour weekly seminar

(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)

 

 Summary of Course Description:              

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to engage in critical theories and epistemological debates within gender studies; it provides grounding in key gender studies methods and methodologies.

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 – analyzing 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.

 

Assessments

Research essay (5000-6000 words) – 60%

Weekly reading responses (5000 words) – 30%

Presentation of research essay (week 11) – 10%

 

Weekly Topics:

Week 1 - introduction to class

Weeks 2-4 - Queer identities and critical discourse analysis – interrogating the symbolic violence of religious discourses around queer identities.

Weeks 5-7 - Intersectionality and gender – exploring the intersectional sociocultural categories that constitute gendered experiences and engagement in education.

Weeks 8-10 - Care ethics – analyzing the ways that care promotes alternative political subjectivities yet also perpetuates gendered inequalities and injustices.

Week 11 - presentation of essay topics and peer review.

Week 12 - summing up and class party

Required readings: 

These will be listed on the Canvas reading list

 

 Workload and deadlines for submission of coursework:           

The University of Auckland's expectation is that students spend 20  hours per week on a 30-point course, including time in class and personal study. Students should manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Deadlines for coursework are set by course convenors and will be advertised in course material. You should submit your work on time. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you may be required to provide supporting information before the assignment is due. Late assignments without a pre-approved extension may be penalised by loss of marks – check course information for details.