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F1507 Gender Studies (Cultures of the World core)

Avanza Martina

This course aims to approach some of the central issues of gender studies (gender socialisation, the social construction of femininity and masculinity, women's rights and sexual minority issues, equality and discrimination, power, sexual and reproductive issues, etc.) by focusing principally on politics. Given my specific expertise, particular attention will be focused on gender and activism (three sessions) and on the abortion issue (three sessions). Other central subjects will also be examined, such as citizenship, the vote and political representation (two sessions).


Teaching methods
Sessions will be structured around the discussion of essays, and they will privilege interactivity. During most sessions a theoretical essay will be read, and a case study will be outlined, whenever possible from the students' countries of origin. An issue will therefore be approached first theoretically (e.g. a critical review of political representation, from a gender point of view), then the second part of the session will consist in translating this theoretical treatment into practice (e.g. what is the sexual composition of Governments in the students' countries of origin?).
In some cases, the sessions will be in part dedicated to matching the scientific literature (essentially revolving around gender studies, sociology and political science) to the first-hand material gathered with the help of the students during classroom workshops. This process will enable the students to  input their own knowledge of their countries of origin to the discussion. During the session dedicated to the abortion debate, for example, the students will be asked to research the situation in their own countries on this issue, in order to enrich the discussion from the viewpoint of their individual national circumstances. We will then compare the different scenarios. This approach aims at diversifying the sessions (as reading only theoretical texts can prove monotonous in the long run), but also at making the most of the international composition of the class, and therefore also of the students' knowledge of their national contexts. This process will also help the students to familiarise themselves with the analysis of first-hand documentation.

 

Learning outcomes of the course
•    To gain knowledge and a critical sense of gender inequality today.
•    To learn to read and discuss theoretical texts on the course topics.
•    To link a theoretical area (e.g. political philosophy) to real-life cases.
•    To learn to analyse first-hand material photographs of politicians, personal experience of a mobilization campaign), by applying the knowledge acquired during the lessons.
•    To be introduced to direct observation as method of enquiry.

 

Co-curricular activities
Two guest lectures, one by a specialist on the Italian situation and one on the abortion debate.
- One field-trip: One participating observation of a gendered mobilization. Depending on the political agenda, that could be a mobilization in favour, or against, gay marriage (or civic unions), gender quotas, anti-discrimination policies at school, or abortion (which are live issues in Italy). We will then discuss in class what we have witnessed during the mobilization, and try to analyse our observations with the help of our field notes and the essays we have read together.
- If the students are interested, we could also watch some movies related to the subject of gender and politics.
For example, on the subject of abortion:
•    4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days a film by Cristian Mungiu (2007) about illegal abortion in Romania during the Ceausescu dictatorship.
•    Vera Drake, a film by Mike Leigh (2004) about a working-class woman in 1950's London who performs illegal abortions.
For example about LGTB activism:
•    Milk (Gus Van Sant 2008) about the life of the LGTB activist Harvey Milk (USA).

 

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