Module SGIA2411: Gender and Politics

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA2411: Gender and Politics

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module challenges assumptions of traditional theories within politics and international relations through engagement with a range of feminist and gender perspectives and a range of methodological engagements, ranging across political theory, qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• This module aims to introduce students to debates between different feminist approaches - (this may include liberal, Marxist, intersectional, poststructuralist, postcolonial, queer and posthuman) - and their application to empirical cases across the Global North and Global South.
• This course provides an understanding of the gendered underpinnings of knowledge production and the importance of reflective praxis.

Content

• This course will explore the merits of different feminist theories and the application of different theoretical approaches to empirical cases within Politics and International Relations across the Global North and Global South.
• The module reading list is of an interdisciplinary nature. It may include readings from Politics and International Relations, Gender Studies, Philosophy, Anthropology, Critical Theory, Law, among others.
• This course may also look to more ‘informal’ sites which may include emotions, art, poetry, zines, and oral history as a means to rethink traditional conceptualisations of theory and knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

• The ways that feminist approaches challenge traditional and conventional politics;
• The characteristics of different feminist theories;
• Feminist contestations of various empirical cases in politics and IR.

• The ability to understand and critically evaluate different feminist theories and their relationship with concepts in politics and international relations;
• The ability to apply feminist theories to issues in politics and international relations;
• An understanding of feminist reflective praxis

• The ability to deploy appropriate scholarly material and resources in support of reasoned, analytical argument;
• The ability to link theoretical concepts to empirical evidence and political practice;
• The ability to reflect upon ethical issues relating to academic research.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching and learning are through a series of 1-hour lectures and an associated series of 1-hour seminars;
• The lectures will provide formal instruction and will draw attention to the contested nature of key concepts;
• Seminars will allow students, under guidance, to test their own evaluation and understanding of both the context of debates and the appropriate concepts;
• Students are expected to deploy research skills in preparation for seminars and to be able to analyse complex theoretical issues, requiring recourse to interdisciplinary sources, and to defend their assessment of highly contentious practical and normative choices.
• Seminars will also act as spaces of reflection and peer assessment where students can receive feedback on their ideas and writing from others as part of formative preparation for this module.
• Formative work:
• Formative work consists of 3x300-word reflective blog pieces responding to prompts that will be published on Blackboard. The prompts will ask students to reflect on their understanding of gender as a concept that connects their lives to issues of politics and international relations. Students will have a number of opportunities to receive feedback on these pieces throughout the module, both from fellow students and from lecturers/seminar leaders.
• Summative assessment:
• Summative 1: 1 x 1,500-word reflective essay on a given theme that, following the formative, will encourage students to think critically and imaginatively about feminist approaches to international politics.
• Summative 2: 1 x 2,000-word written assignment that will give students the opportunity to develop a grasp of the course material through specific engagement with key texts, and general knowledge of the subject scope. It will test students' ability to form a coherent and sustained argument and their ability to support their argumentation through evidence and through consideration of counterarguments.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

3 x 300-word reflective blog pieces.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.