Introduction to Gender Studies

Course goals

This course introduces students to the study of gender in its intersection with other important topics such as race, sex and sexuality, religion. Students will thus become familiar with a selection of important concepts and theories from Gender Studies within the context of the Humanities. Furthermore, they will be able to apply these concepts and frameworks in the analysis of concrete social and cultural phenomena (i.e. media objects, artistic representations). 
   
Learning objectives:
Students will be able to:
 - identify and explain how gender, in its intersection with other categories of difference play a role in societal power imbalances;
- develop a critical vocabulary to engage in gender analysis on the basis of key theoretical debates in the field;
- work in a team, collectively develop critical arguments and identify concrete examples and case studies that illustrate/support/challenge said theories;
- engage in a nuanced analysis of complex social, media, arts and cultural events;
- improve their critical thinking skills, academic writing skills, as well as communication skills;
 

Content

This interdisciplinary course teaches you how gender (also: sexual difference), ethnicity, class and sexuality affect identities and subjectivities, and play a role in the production, consumption and interpretation of cultural artifacts. Learning to look through the lenses of 'gender',  'ethnicity' and ‘sexuality’, you will experience how cultural and social scientific approaches have to be combined in critical analysis (‘intersectionality’). You will be trained in how to use various interdisciplinary approaches when it comes to the gender, ethnicity/race and sexuality sensitive analysis of different cultural artifacts, genres and media: literature, history, film and other forms of popular culture, language and the new media.

The anthology 'Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture A Comprehensive Guide to Gender Studies, 2nd Edition, edited by Rosemarie Buikema, Liedeke Plate and Kathrin Thiele was developed for this course. A red thread running through the book and the course are 'woman warriors': women who struggle for equality and contest and challenge societal norms. Examples range from Simone de Beauvoir to Lara Croft, from Sarah Bartmann to Phoolan Devi. The book can be bought at Savannah Bay (Telingstraat 13, Utrecht). The course is both devoted to different theoretical frameworks, approaches and methodologies such as Gender, Postcolonial and Queer Theory as to particular issues and topics such as the question of representation in terms of gender, race and sexuality, feminist art and aesthetic theory, and secularism and multiculturalism.
 
This level 2 course, is an optional faculty-wide introduction to the minors in Gender Studies and Postcolonial Studies (open to all students) and one of the preparatory courses to the major in Postcolonial and Gender Studies (part of the bachelor Taal & Cultuur Studies / Language and Culture Studies).
Students interested in further studying questions of gender, ethnicity-race, class, queer theory, postcolonialism and representation, can do a minor/major in Postcolonial/Gender Studies; or, to continue further they can do the a one-year Master in Gender Studies or follow a two-year Research Master in Gender and Ethnicity.

For information on the minors, see:
https://students.uu.nl/en/gender-studies and https://students.uu.nl/en/postcolonial-studies
For info on the masters, see the Graduate Gender Programme:
https://www.genderstudies.nl

Additional information

The following courses are equivalent to this course. You can only follow one of these courses.
- Gender, etniciteit en cultuurkritiek (MC2V18001)
- Gender, Etnicity and Cultural Critique (MC2V19001)
- Gender intersectionaliteit cultuurkritiek (MC2V24001)
- Gender, Intersectionality and Cultural Critique (MC2V24002)

Please note: the time slot shown here is not yet final, and may still be modified until the third Wednesday in September