Women’s & Gender Studies

This course starts with the question of what is understood by “gender” in gender studies and a systematization of the field of gender studies in STEM/planning. In the second part students examine studies of gender studies in STEM and planning in different disciplines. The course concludes with a project phase in which students are in working groups on topics from the field of gender studies on STEM/planning using the materials provided and present the results.

This seminar explores the interface between queer identity, music, and history and investigates how musical spaces may serve as mirrors and critiques of societal norms. Students investigate the experiences of queer artists through a historical perspective and see how they use music as a form of social critique and expression. Beginning with operatic roles in the 17th century, through contexts like the 19th century cakewalk, the cabaret of the Weimar republic in the 1920s-1930s, as well as hip-hop culture, the seminar uncovers how gender transgressivity and performance art are reflected in music. Students analyze queer and transgressive music scenes as “heterotopias” (Foucault) – places of resistance against societal norms – and discuss the role of music in the construction of community and identity. Important texts by Audre Lorde, Michael Foucault, and Theodor W Adorno offer theoretical foundations through which the interventional power of music in the negotiation of identity and difference can be understood. Students develop their own case studies of queer artists and their visual, cultural, musical, and/or social moments of intervention.

Students will consider hegemonic understandings of the body as essentially linked to histories of colonialism and power. They will investigate frameworks about the body proposed by minoritized groups, developed out of collective struggle and political movements, found in feminism and critical indigenous studies. Students will recognize the essential differences between these frameworks as well as how they intermingle and intersect.

This course explores the dynamic interplay between gender, space, and state policies in Iran, focusing on how women navigate and resist the gendered narratives imposed by the state. By examining both historical and contemporary contexts, the course delves into the ways Iranian women, from various backgrounds and walks of life, have engaged with modernity, anti-modernity, and state-driven agendas. Through a mix of theoretical frameworks and case studies, students gain insights into the strategies used by women to resist and negotiate oppressive structures, with an emphasis on the spatial aspects of their resistance.