Time and Location

Last taught in Spring 2015

Not scheduled for academic year 2015-16

Description

Studying gender encompasses the analysis of the social relations of men and women and the meanings attributed to masculinity and femininity in specific cultural settings and historical moments. Gender also offers a way of understanding how political and other forms of power operate; why and how wars are fought; what kinds of workers are fashioned and rewarded; how identities are deployed and understood; and why sexual desires take the form that they do. Students will be introduced both to classic works and to new studies and will be required to supplement the common readings with material from their own geographical/disciplinary interests. The course encourages the exploration of large social/cultural processes that have transnational or global impact (egs, revolution, imperialism, economic globalization, religious conflict, slavery, etc.) but students may also use the course to help them identify a narrow topic suitable for a M.A. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation.

Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will have:

• a solid understanding of how gender emerged as an academic field of inquiry in the 1980s, spanning traditional disciplines and embracing interdisciplinary forms of analysis

• a basic grasp of the different ways that various disciplines (history, sociology, political science, international relations, and women’s studies) approach the study of gender

• a preliminary theoretical comprehension of how gender assists scholars in identifying problems for consideration and offers specific approaches for analyzing those problems

• a detailed grasp of a specific subject area, or topic, chosen by the student and researched thoroughly

Syllabus

[Most Recent] AMH5930 gender Newman syll s15