Women’s & Gender Studies

This class analyzes language and gender issues in contemporary society. It looks at how gender issues appear in language, and how language affects these gender issues. Topics include feminism, performative theory, queer theory, gender theory, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, critical discourse research, and how gender-related phenomena relate to language. This course also covers various gender theories in modern societies; critically examines language use and the social issues naturalized in it; tools and theories of linguistics; and how language might influence our world, and how we can use language to make this world a better place.

In line with notions from the Gender Revolution, gender inequalities within Western societies have narrowed or even reversed in some areas in the last half-century. For instance, women’s overall labor market participation has increased dramatically. Nevertheless, women have maintained primary responsibility for domestic tasks stalling overall progress towards gender equality. In the first half of each session, we synthesize the literature on gender inequalities in the labor market and the family focusing on heterosexual couples and aspects such as the division of labor, occupation, and income. To this end, we also discuss the underlying theoretical explanations and assumptions about such inequalities and the relevance of the country context. The second half of each session takes place in the PC pool. Here we explore gender inequalities using German panel data. We start with a brief introduction to the statistical software and the dataset before exploring gender inequalities descriptively and using regression approaches. Due to the complexity of the substantial topic, we predominantly focus on economic gender inequalities in these applied sessions. No prior knowledge of panel data is assumed, but a general interest in and knowledge of quantitative methods is expected.

The course gives an introduction to the Nordic context and an overview of how the concept and implementation of gender equality has developed and is currently practiced in the Nordic countries. The main focus is on the period after the 1970s, and themes that are taught relate gender equality to: gender equality as a concept; the women's movement and state feminism; work-life balance and gender equality ideals; access to work and politics; Nordic gender equality in an intersectional perspective; men and masculinities: change and continuity; gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights; gender-based violence; gender, climate, and indigenous rights. Moreover, dilemmas and paradoxes concerning gender equality in the Nordic countries are a central theme, as well as the attempt to answer questions as: How can we understand changing gender norms in the Nordic countries, and to what extent is it possible to identify a Nordic model of gender equality?

This course introduces and explores gender and sexuality studies, mainly from a sociological perspective, by examining various issues in recent Japanese society.

In Japan today, we frequently hear terms such as the “gender gap” and “LGBTQ”, some of which may be regarded as “current must-know terms” for university examinations or employment examinations. However, not many people recognize that gender is essentially a matter of power-knowledge. Gender, as power-knowledge, acts as a structural background that goes beyond the good or bad intentions of individuals. This course aims to examine how gender as power-knowledge makes various things unremarkable and socially “natural” (e.g., stay-at-home moms, heterosexual couples) but other things more distinctive (e.g., stay-at-home dads, gay couples).

Based on traditional discussions of power relations between men and women, this course outlines recent discussions focusing on complex relations among women and among men that do not always fit into the monolithic scheme of “male domination of women.” During the first half of the semester (lectures 1–6), the course covers basic ideas and concepts in gender and sexuality studies; in the second half (lectures 7–14), the course examines social issues, mainly in recent Japanese society.

*Topics regarding violence (including rape and hate crimes) will be discussed in multiple sessions of this course. Carefully consider your enrollment in this course if these topics make you uncomfortable; alternative assignments can be provided for these sessions.

What are the methodological implications of queer theory? What makes an article or a research project 'queer’ or ‘feminist’? This course provides students with a practical exploration of queer theory and feminist perspectives in research methods. We examine how societal norms and power structures impact research, including research design, data collection methods (such as surveys, interviews, and observations), data analysis techniques, and ethical considerations in research. We explore a range of concepts, such as intersectionality, homonormativity, and anti- and inter-disciplinarity, and discuss how they could shape and inform sociology and research. After covering these key concepts, we focus on ethnographic methods and address the ethics of conducting research with vulnerable groups, including the importance of consent, confidentiality, and reflexivity. Throughout the course, students develop critical thinking skills, engage in discussions and debates, and conduct research tasks under the supervision of the instructor. The course hosts guest speakers who are experienced in gender and sexuality research in Germany.  

Queer history is both a subject and a practice, and this course provides an introduction to both. It is, first, an introductory global history of sexuality, demonstrating the vast range of approaches different societies have taken to regulating and experiencing the body and desire. It also aims to introduce students to the method of queer history, one of many approaches to the past which illuminate how Historical Grand Narratives are produced, and how they might change. 

This course operates from the premise that there is nothing natural about gender differences. It explores the theoretical underpinnings of this premise and its implications for how scholars, students, and practitioners can think about sustainable development centered around commoning and care. This overview course has a distinct approach to understanding how gender and ecological conditions are interrelated. Grounded in social theory, it is inherently critical of standard development and gender narratives and instead seeks explanatory power within historical and structural conditions and explores different approaches to this. The course readings are selected as key contributions to broad debates on gender, environment, and development and are rooted in disciplinary fields such as critical geography, political economy, feminist political ecology, and critical social theory. Structured around core themes including decoloniality, critiques of capitalism, globalization, performativity, care, and commoning, the course engages in primary readings of feminist and other critical scholars who have been at the forefront of conceptualizing gender and human/environment relations in different ways. It discusses how gender and ecological conditions are interrelated; the dynamics behind the widespread “dual oppression" of particular humans and the environment as well as the policy responses designed to redress these; critical perspectives on buzzwords like “sustainability,” "sustainable development,” and "gender” that circulate in policy and project documents, global “development goals,” and social movements; and a range of conceptual and analytical tools to both explain today’s realities and instigate change toward new future trajectories. The course offers students of environment and development, geography, global development, environmental science, food science, natural resources governance, or similar fields the opportunity to learn how to understand and analyze the relations between gender, environment, and sustainable development, and to engage in debates about different approaches to these issues. It combines close reading and discussion of texts with case studies, documentaries, and interactions with activists and social movements. It provides an opportunity to build skills to formulate critical questions and clear methodologies around the entanglements between issues of gender and the environment and the challenges these pose to sustainable development to understand and engage in diverse gender and environment conflicts and debates across diverse topics, scales, and contexts.

Ireland’s symbolic and gendered construction as a musical nation offers a starting point for discussions of music, gender, and Ireland. Following that, the course surveys a range of genres, performers, and performance platforms from the 19th century onwards to explore the relationship between gender and music in the Irish context. Particular emphasis is given to traditional and popular music examples. 

Berlin is called the most sexually open capital of Europe today. In clubs, bars, workshops and festivals, a broad range and mix of sexual orientations are created in different and also crossing scenes and sex-positive spaces. Homosexual, transgender, tantric, polyamory, sex-positive and BDSM-oriented persons meet and celebrate and create new sexual techniques and lifestyles in so-called sex-positive spaces. The government of Berlin has already recognized the economic dimension of the liberal sexual culture. What does liberal sexual culture exactly mean? What kind of historical roots are important to analyze, e.g. the anonymity of the big city, the homosexual movement and the golden twenties? What was and is avant-garde and when does it turn into commerce? Four sub-items will structure the seminar: Sex-positive spaces, LGBTQI+ and Gender-Fluidity, Kink and Tantra, alternative porn films and literature. Excursions and interviews with experts will be part of the seminar. We will work with texts and films, and students will develop their own research question and project.

The time separating the Declaration of Sentiments (1848) from the nineteenth amendment that granted American women the right of vote (1920) marked a turning point in the history of women in the US. Although a number of women rose to prominence in the male-dominated literary world of the second half of the nineteenth century, most of them have long been forgotten. The recovery work to which feminist criticism gave an impulse in the 1970s and is still ongoing today has drawn attention to the pivotal role played by some of these writers in the redefinition of women's place in American society. This course initiates a reflection on the way in which these women dealt with such issues as slavery, domesticity, industrialization, and the rise of a visual culture in the fast-developing society of their times. Due attention is paid to the Gothic genre that allowed them to express their most intimate concerns and anxieties under the cover of supernatural fiction, as well as to the regional sketch, a supposedly minor genre that some of them turned into an instrument of resistance to the dominant patriarchal ideology.