Women’s & Gender Studies

This course examines the silencing of women and their exclusion from the canon of universal literature. It introduces the wide spectrum of gender studies and feminist theory in English-speaking countries since the 1960s, in order to analyze, assess, and re-assess novels, short-stories, poems, and other artistic expressions created by women from the end of the 19th century to today. This course discusses female authors who have fallen into oblivion and those who enjoy scholarly prestige and popular recognition. It explores the interaction between gender and feminism, as well as sexuality, sexual orientation, gender roles, the female body and mind, trauma, mental health, motherhood, ethnicity, social class, and women's civil rights during the 20th century.

This course explores the history of clothing and fashion from a gender perspective. It emphasizes the way constructions and norms on gender identities and roles determine what we consider appropriate or inconvenient, in terms of appearances.

The course gives an introduction to gender equality in the Nordic context. It provides an overview of how the concept of gender equality has developed, and how it is implemented. The focus is on the period after the 1970s. Central themes in the course include: gender equality as a concept; work-life balance; Nordic masculinities; gender equality in an intersectional perspective; gender equality and the military; gender-based violence; gender equality as nation branding; gender and sustainability.

This lecture analyzes the three basic factors that have influenced modern Jewish identity: enlightenement, anti-Semitism, and Zionism. It examines the changes of how Jewish identity is understood. A special focus is placed on the differentiation of cultural or national and religious identity with an emphasis on feminism and queerness. Gender relations are examined within their respective religious, cultural, and social contexts. Social history and the history of the common man is discussed and a special focus is placed on the active participation of Jewish women in society as well as the intellectual and artistic life within European nation states.

This course develops a critical framework for thinking about gender and sexuality, with special attention to issues of class, race, and ethnicity under different societies. The course is based on a participatory, active learning approach, with an emphasis on critical reflection and peer-to-peer learning. Participants do the required readings, weekly assignments, participate in group discussions and final group oral presentation.

This course is divided into three parts. Part one offers a history and introduction to literary theory that made possible the emergence of post-structuralism. Part two discusses Jacques Derrida, his foundational texts, and the theory of deconstruction. The final part of the course examines feminist theories in literature.

This course focuses on the role of women in five of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It examines the traditional theological principles and the practical laws that have directly impacted, for better or for worse, upon the lives of women within these religious traditions. It also explores historical and contemporary challenges to doctrines and practices that are seen to undermine women’s equality and freedom. Rather than study each religion in serial fashion, the course adopts a comparative, thematic methodology, tracing key themes across the religions concerned. Those themes include femininity and divinity, historical founders’ attitudes to women, key scriptural texts and their interpretation, life-cycle rituals, marriage and divorce, sex and procreation, clothing and social freedom, worship and purity, and leadership and authority.

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.