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Introduction to the Politics of Gender - POL00054I

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• Department: Politics and International Relations
• Credit value: 10 credits
• Credit level: I
• Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

Gender shapes our political and social landscape and our personal interactions. The module will provide an introduction to gender theories with a particular focus on their importance to politics.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Autumn Term 2022-23

Module aims

Gender shapes our political and social landscape and our personal interactions. This module aims to introduce students to gender theories and to enable them to draw upon these theories in making sense of political issues, broadly conceived. The module will guide students through the established cannon of theoretical work on gender. We will discuss the relationship between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’, trans* theory and politics, discourse and performativity theory, intersectionality, (post)coloniality, masculinity, and sexuality. The module will provide students with the necessary tools to understand the complexity of gender and carry out research on gender studies.

Module learning outcomes

Upon completing this module, students will be able to:

• Explain, and critically evaluate, the most important theoretical approaches to understanding gender;
• Demonstrate understanding of the political nature of gender

This module will also equip students with a range of key transferable skills:

• The ability to participate thoughtfully and actively in discussions over gender and political issues;
• The necessary skills to critically evaluate theoretical assumptions;
• Theoretical tools in written and oral course-related activities.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled)	100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled)	100

Module feedback

Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.

Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 20 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.

Indicative reading

Judith Butler. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London and New York: Routledge.

R.W. Connell, Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet (Berkeley, LA: University of California Press, 1990).

Patricia H. Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 1990)

Jack Haberstam, Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018).