GDR/IDS 397/PHL322: Intro to Gender Studies
Course description
This course will explore the topic of gender studies. Gender studies itself is an extremely broad field of study encompassing all areas of academia and life. Students will be introduced to the principles and histories of feminism(s) in the US, Italy and globally. Readings will provide the basis for discussions on gender and feminism (gender studies having emerged from feminism), human rights, policy surrounding women and gender issues, masculinity, family, sexuality, ecology, language, art, and more. The course will address the ongoing project of making a more equitable world. This specific iteration gender studies takes a holistic approach and aims to integrate the methodologies feminism has given us (consciousness raising, horizontality, listening forward thinking) into the course itself. It should be noted this course looks at feminism and gender studies as a full-on practice for living, for everyone of any gender, as a mode of interacting with the world and changing it rather than to simply empower female-identified people within the patriarchal status quo.
Learning objectives
The objectives of this course are both theoretical and practical. Students are firstly asked to understand the concepts and philosophies of gender studies through readings, discussions, presentations, lectures, visits, and writing. Students are then asked to apply these ideas and concepts to other areas of study and of life. Because the field is so large and applicable across various academic disciplines students will be encouraged to use gender studies not as a static material but as a methodology for critically examining and engaging with all that they do. Students will also produce written and oral work in this class, the objective of these projects being clear, coherent, and reflective thinking in order to communicate their ideas in the most effective and efficient way possible. Another objective of this course is to work with students in their ability to discuss sensitive and controversial ideas in understandable, respectful, and practical manner.