Women’s & Gender Studies

This course combines anthropological approaches with interdisciplinary theories to understand experiences of mobilities and immobilities shaped by race, gender, sexuality, citizenship and class.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of the major debates, key thinkers, and intellectual trajectories in feminist thought. Through close engagement with both classic and contemporary texts, we examine feminist critiques of liberalism, capitalism, and the state, as well as theories of gender, sexuality, race, and embodiment.

The course also introduces alternative theoretical frameworks, including care ethics, intersectionality, and decolonial/postcolonial feminisms. Throughout the semester, we critically examine the conceptual foundations of feminist theory while considering how these frameworks can be applied to contemporary politics and social practice.

This course offers an introduction to the history of women in medieval Islamic societies (600 - 1500 AD), through their experiences and representations in art and literature. The course aims at finding the boundaries that divided the worlds of women and men in the economic, legal, and spiritual spheres. It does so by looking at a variety of texts, including the Qur'an, Prophetic traditions, marriage contracts, travelers' accounts, and the tales of the Arabian Nights. By comparing sources from diverse cultural perspectives, students consider the development of a cultural, economic, legal, and spiritual female identity in the Middle Ages, and critically examine medieval and modern discourses on women and Islam.

This course examines the core vocabulary and approaches that are common in global development today. It covers strategies to stay up to date with the ever-shifting terrain of development practice, and develop the sensibilities to work effectively with a range of development partners. Students will gain critical insight into how to make development ‘inclusive’ for all people, regardless of gender, (dis)ability, sexuality, socio-economic background and so on.

In modern society, where uncertainty is increasing, the importance and necessity of intimate relationships—such as romantic partnerships, marriage, and family—are being increasingly emphasized. In particular, phenomena related to love, marriage, and family are changing more rapidly than ever before. A broad examination and understanding of these intimate relationships not only help individuals respond flexibly to such changes, but also contribute to the formation of healthy values regarding love, marriage, and family. Ultimately, this fosters individual happiness and promotes the well-being of families and society as a whole.

This course introduces students to the history of gender and sexuality from the medieval period to the present. Students look at a variety of textual and visual sources, and consider global perspectives on gender and sexuality and how they intersect with structures of power and social hierarchies. Students explore themes such as gender fluidity, women's reproductive health, sexualities, family structures, women at work, women's rights and oppression, gender violence and feminism(s). The course offers an opportunity for global comparison between societies of the past and our modern world, helping students to understand how categories such as gender are not fixed but rather develop over time.

In 1394, John Rykener, having been detected in women’s clothing and calling themself 'Eleanor’, was arrested in London for ‘committing that detestable, unmentionable, and ignominious vice’ with John Britby. This case went unremarked for decades despite the printing of a calendar of these records, because the editor summarized it only as ‘Examination of two men charged with immorality’. This course takes this case as a starting point and asks: was Eleanor Rykener a trans woman? Was John Rykener a man in drag? Were they genderfluid? Are these terms applicable in the Middle Ages? Did this case even happen or was it all a political satire? Students read comparable cases from elsewhere, recent scholarship on the issue, other sources relating to queer identities in the Middle Ages, and historical fiction focusing on Rykener as a character.

This course examines gender studies within the field of media including how gender shapes representation, identity, and power through film, visual culture, and digital media. Topics include: gender as social construction, performance, and technology; representations of violence; the impact of new media, social networks, and AI on gender identities and narratives. 

The course explores genders and sexual diversity in the modern society. Students discuss and investigate challenges in international politics, economics that different gender groups including, men, women, and LGBTQ face as the world becomes globalized. The course will contribute to the development of students’ ability to conceptualize their understanding of genders and sexuality with a global perspective.