Women’s & Gender Studies

This course explores the history of women and gender in Spain in the twentieth century.

This course presents a survey of contemporary theories and research regarding the interaction between gender and communication. Emphasis is on a variety of factors and contexts involved in daily communication such as language, non-verbal messages, interpersonal and familiar relationships, educational process, mass media, and work place. Topics include essential features of current theories which seek to cast light on the gender communication process; the impact of changing roles of gender in the society as constituted and presented by communication; the differing social and cultural expectations and portrayals of men and women in various situations; the differences between males and females in perception, information processing, and verbal and non-verbal communication patterns; distinct standpoints and insights derived as valid and acceptable.

This course analyzes the issues of power, leadership, and authority from the perspective of gender, and the strategies of women's leadership that contribute to altering controversial barriers and produce benefits for men and women. It examines the contribution of women in developing countries whose domestic, professional, and public activities have transformed communities at the local and global level.

This course provides an exploratory analysis of gender and inequality studies through the disciplines of political science, economics, and history. The first part is dedicated to the description of socioeconomic inequalities between men and women in a variety of dimensions. Evaluations of public policies which focus on family life and professional life are presented. The second part focuses on the wealth and complexity of expressions and words used to talk about inequality. The course then looks at the manner in which inequality between the sexes is political. Lastly, a historical approach of the feminist movements rounds out the analysis.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program in Modern, Post-Colonial and Comparative Literatures. The course is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. Students acquire knowledge of gender studies (theories and methodologies) in diverse cultural contexts whereby the notions of identity and otherness, difference, and diversity are analyzed within an intercultural perspective. The course intends to favor the capability to deconstruct these notions in diverse texts (theoretical, literary, and visual). The course focuses on the following topics: controversial books, ethical reading, and ethical criticism: cultural representations of diversity and the survival of the outsiders. The course analyses books that were banned (such as WIDE SARGASSO SEA or THE COLOR PURPLE) or controversial (for instance THE PASSION OF NEW EVE and DISGRACE) for their provocative and non-mainstreaming cultural position. The first lessons analyze critical theories on difference and diversity within an intersectional perspective. The second part interrogates and discusses literary and visual texts where the construction of women and other subjects as "negative" and functional/structural diversity are challenged and overcome through narrative strategies of resistance and trans-formations. The violence of representation is thus exposed and critically challenged. The diachronic study of theories and fiction (in different genres) aims at showing repetitive patterns in the cultural representation of difference as well as in the strategic patterns of resistance, reaffirming the necessity, right, and power of diversity.

This interdisciplinary course, which draws on social psychology, political and social theory, and sociology, explores what it is to live in a multicultural world where identities are in flux. The first part of the course introduces the main debates of one of the most dynamic areas of contemporary inquiry: multiculturalism, diversity, and gender. It explores how categories of difference (race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality) are complex and interrelated. It considers the theoretical underpinnings of multiculturalism to explore the normative as well as pragmatic arguments for and against it. The concept of culture is explored in depth by drawing on sociological studies that try to help better understand cultural differences. The course then considers the question of intercultural dialogue and how it can be used as a resource to facilitate communication between different cultural groups. The second part of the course considers actual cross-cultural case studies to explore how states have developed diverse policies related to cultural pluralism. It also explores how gender and other categories of difference interact with modern institutions in contemporary society. Throughout, the course analyzes various ways of looking at power and political culture in modern societies with the objective of developing the ability to think critically about mechanisms for change. Students read relevant texts from a wide diversity of literature. Each session focuses on a particular theme and includes a student presentation that communicates and argues persuasively one's viewpoint on a topic.

This course introduces students to some of the main questions addressed by both the sociology of health and the sociology of gender. It applies a gender perspective to the sociology of health and uses health as an interesting topic to analyze gender inequalities and social norms. The first part of the course focuses on gender and health as sociological objects. The second part analyzes how health care systems interact with the very definition of gender by illustrating the case of intersexuality and transgenderism. The third part of the course focuses on two main topics: gender inequalities in health (examining both health outcomes and health as an occupation) and the study of specific health conditions that have a gendered dimension (like reproductive health, violence, infant feeding practices, or covid-19).

This course examines key concepts that underlie gender analysis, and how they are expressed in politics, culture and society. It examines the meaning of gender across a range of subjects and issues on the global stage and in our everyday lives.

In what ways does gender play a role in our daily lives and in our societies? How are understandings and performances of gender and sexuality shaped by discourses and how do they inflect discourses in turn? How have perceptions of gender been changing and how do they vary across cultures and places? How do material factors and emotions interact with discourses in shaping gender? And, finally, how can gender be approached in a variety of manifestations and connect theory to practice?

The course addresses these and related questions by providing an overview of ‘classical’ and contemporary theorizations of gender as well as looking at some differences in defining gender issues and shaping gender politics. Students look into the history of debate about gender and sexuality, and the key definitions developed by feminist critics. This includes engaging with ways of ‘doing’ femininity and masculinity and constructing gendered identity at the interface of race and sex. Students focus on some contributions of gender theory to the larger field of critical humanities and social sciences. Students are introduced to a variety of materials from texts and film, mass and new media, everyday practices, and international policies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to working with different types of data.