GEND401 Debates in Gender and Sexuality

Examines several contemporary debates in the study of gender and sexuality. In relation to each debate, we ask what it means to explore the links between larger intellectual or political ideas and more intimate, personal domains.

Examines several contemporary debates in the study of gender and sexuality. In relation to each debate, we ask what it means to explore the links between larger intellectual or political ideas and more intimate, personal domains.
Each year in this paper we examine two or three debates in the study of gender and sexuality. Our approach is interdisciplinary, drawing from gender studies, anthropology, sociology, political theory, history, textual analysis, philosophy and beyond.
Section One explores the construction, regulation and instantiation of sexuality in everyday life. Commencing with a discussion of the social and historical aspects to the study of human sexuality, we explore a number of sites in which the sexual has been created and experienced: social interaction, space/place, political debate, popular culture and postmodernity. In this way, we explore the multifarious character of human sexuality in some depth and breadth.
Section Two explores ideas about the relationships between nation, gender and 'race' in New Zealand's settler society. These connections have been the subject of extensive theoretical and scholarly discussion, some of which we will consider. They have also been addressed, however, through the fiction feature film, which has come to be an important vehicle for articulating narratives and counter-narratives of nationhood and their relation to identity categories. This section of the paper will, therefore, also consider a group of feature films and analyse their successive articulations of the nexus of gender, race and nation.

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Prerequisite

72 300-level GEND points

Notes

(i) Students who have not passed the normal prerequisite may be admitted with approval from the Programme Co-ordinator. (ii) May not be credited together with ANTH 411 passed in 2005 or 2006.

Eligibility

Open to students who have gained entry to GEND Honours or students from Honours in related fields who wish to substitute the paper for one in their major. The paper often includes an interdisciplinary group, which creates very lively discussion.

Contact

sgsw@otago.ac.nz

More information link

View more information on the Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work's website

Teaching staff

Co-ordinator: Associate Professor Annabel Cooper

Teaching Arrangements

There is a 3-hour seminar each week.

Textbooks

There is no text book. Students are expected to read the set readings and range beyond them in their wider reading.

Graduate Attributes Emphasised

Scholarship, Critical thinking, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.

Learning Outcomes

• Critical understanding of the debates in contemporary theorising around gender, sexuality and nation
• Confidence and experience in carrying out independent research in oral and written forms
• Preparation for further study and research in gender and sexuality

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