Gender and Women's Studies
The following modules are available to incoming Study Abroad
students interested in Gender and Women's Studies.
Alternatively you may return to the complete list of Study Abroad
Subject Areas.
GEN.101: Gender Studies: Identities, Inequalities and Politics
- Terms Taught:
- Full Year only
- Michaelmas Term only
- Lent / Summer Terms only
NOTE: If you are studying with us for a Full Academic Year and you select a course that has full year and part year variants, you will not be allowed to take only part of the course. - US Credits:
- Full Year course - 10 Semester Credits
- Michaelmas Term only - 4 Semester Credits
- Lent / Summer Terms only - 6 Semester Credits
- ECTS Credits:
- Full Year course - 20 ECTS Credits.
- Michaelmas Term only - 8 ECTS Credits
- Lent / Summer Terms only - 12 ECTS Credits
- Pre-requisites: None
Course Description
Have you ever wondered why women in Britain are paid, on average, 13% less than men? Why women's bodies are used in advertising? Do you think that class is a women's issue? Is being white simply about skin colour? Does the Law treat men and women in the same way? Are these questions relevant to the world we inhabit? This course explores such questions.
Educational Aims
This course aims to develop an understanding of a range of perspectives central to Gender Women's Studies, introducing students to some of the disciplines, main theoretical concepts, and most recent research involved in the field.
The course is divided into five main sections:
- Gender and social institutions;
- Women's movements;
- Cultural representations of gender;
- Identity and difference;
- Making bodies.
Students are encouraged to discuss these themes, drawing on their own experiences, as well as on reading.
Outline Syllabus
This course introduces some of the central concepts and issues in Women's Studies. We examine the history of Women's Studies as a discipline, and its relation to different kinds of feminist theories, focusing on the two themes of 'women, power and resistance', and 'women and difference'.
Particular areas covered include:
- The social organisation of gender relations
- The cultural representation of gender
- Constructions of gender identities
- Women and political organisations
Assessment Proportions
- Coursework: 60%
- Exam: 40%
MCS.227: Gender and Media
- Terms Taught: Lent and Summer Terms only
- US Credits: 4 Semester Credits
- ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS
- Pre-requisites: Two semesters of Sociology
Course Description
The media are hugely influential in shaping, reflecting and challenging gendered power relations. Feminist theorists have been attentive to the ways in which our lives are mediated, suggesting that we construct and perform our identities in relation to media representations of gender, sexuality and the body. This 15-credit module focusses on these issues, exploring some of the key cultural, social and political questions surrounding gender,?sexuality and the media. The module draws on key concepts in feminist theory, queer theory, body image, Marxist feminism, masculinity studies and feminist activism to explore how gender works across a wide range of media platforms. Specific media studied include film, advertising, fashion media and celebrity culture, politics, television genres such as reality television and soap opera, and gaming and digital media.
Assessment Proportions
- Media Analysis (750 words) (20%)
- Essay (3000 words) (80%)
OWT.330: Contemporary debates on gender and diversity in management
- Terms Taught: Michaelmas term only.
- US Credits: 4 Semester Credits.
- ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS
- Pre-requisites: No pre-requisites. Open to all final year LUMS, PPR and Sociology students.
Course Description
The course aims at enabling students to develop a sensitivity towards recognising the complexity of human experiences and developing an understanding of key issues on gender and diversity in contemporary organisations. More specifically, the course aims at providing both a theoretical and practical basis for developing responsible managers that can foster an inclusive and equitable workplace. The course aims to equip the students with the tools to identify issues of diversity in the workplace and sets of transformative and affirmative actions to achieve fairer outcomes. To achieve this, the module will focus on understanding diversity, performativity and normativity, race and intersectionality, and posthumanism in the context of management practice.
Educational Aims
After following this course, students should be able to:
Develop, understand, and evaluate many of the opportunities and limitations that arise from promoting diversity and inclusion in organisations,
Stimulate creative thought in the approach to understanding the role of gender and diversity in organisational contexts,
Deconstruct existing accounts of gender and diversity and the social and organisational consequences arising from the lack of diversity and inclusion in organisations (e.g. in the media and in business texts) in an informed and critical way,
Develop an understanding of the importance of affirmative and transformative action to address issues of diversity in organisations, beyond tokenistic representation.
Outline Syllabus
This module examines several of the gender and diversity issues that contemporary organisations face as a result of the complex nature of management. In order to consider how gender and diversity have been implicated in the transformations of contemporary organisations, this course will focus on understanding diversity, performativity and normativity, race and intersectionality and posthumanism. Case studies and readings will be introduced and discussed in detail over the course. This will enable students to (1) familiarise themselves with key historical and contemporary developments, (2) to explore the challenges to achieve effective inclusion and diverse organisations, and (3) to consider the scope for management action in response to these challenges. The aim of both the lectures, workshops, and this form of assessment is to enable students to develop techniques, methods of analysis and research expertise relating to the place of the diversity and inclusion agenda in contemporary organisations. By the end of the course, students should have enhanced their understanding of relevant theoretical and practical issues that arise, as well as having developed their critical and analytical skills.
Assessment Proportions
Summative assessment: Essay, 2000 words
Students will be provided with a selection of 3 essay questions. Each question will focus on one of the module's core themes. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their essay plans and receive formative feedback in the final workshop of the module.
PPR.205: Introduction to Feminist Philosophy
- Terms Taught: Lent / Summer Terms Only
- US Credits: 4 Semester credits
- ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS Credits
- Pre-requisites: No pre-requisites stated
Course Description
The aim of this module is to introduce students to feminist philosophy by exploring some of the main debates in this area of philosophy. It also aims to familiarise students with different strands and traditions within feminist philosophy and cultivate their ability to engage in philosophical discussion in an informed and competent fashion by developing their own views on different issues. Finally, it aims to provide them with skills and knowledge that would allow them to pursue the study of feminist philosophy further during their undergraduate studies at Lancaster and beyond.
Educational Aims
Students who pass this module should be able to:
- Demonstrate a good understanding of some of the core issues in feminist philosophy
- Show an awareness of the different traditions and strands in feminist philosophy as well as their relationships with other philosophical traditions
- Engage with and evaluate philosophical arguments in a nuanced fashion and provide their own perspective on the issues discussed
Outline Syllabus
This course will offer an introduction to feminist philosophy by addressing the question of what feminist philosophy is and providing an overview of some important debates in feminist philosophy including the debate on the question what is a woman and the distinction between sex and gender, the literature on intersectionality and the relationship between gender-based and other forms of oppression, and feminist thinking on care, marriage and the family. These issues are among the most important ones in contemporary feminist philosophy as wellbeing issues that occupy a prominent place in public debate. Further, they will allow us to explore different traditions and approaches to feminist philosophy, analysing contributions of analytic and continental feminist philosophers, of liberal feminist philosophers and those critical of the liberal tradition, and centring perspectives that are often marginalised.
Assessment Proportions
Essay (2250-2500 words submitted at end of term). This tests for developed skills in written communication and ability to critically evaluate arguments and views. It also tests for knowledge and understanding of relevant topics and ability to produce a polished piece of academic writing.
Exam (2hrs, Summer term; 2 questions). This tests for developed skills in written communication, critical argument and for knowledge and understanding of relevant topics under time pressure.
40% Coursework 60% Exam
PPR.263: Women and Philosophy in the Ancient World
- Terms Taught: Lent / Summer Terms Only
- US Credits: 4 Semester Credits
- ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS Credits
- Pre-requisites: None
Course Description
Students will be introduced to:
- Some of the most well known and influential women philosophers from the ancient world in India, China, and Greece
- The key texts and idea associated with the most well known and influential women philosophers from the ancient world in India, China, and Greece
- The methodological challenges of studying women philosophers in the ancient world
The Module aims to develop:
- The ability to engage in informed argument about key topics in the study women philosophers
- The ability to engage in informed argument about key topics in comparative and global philosophy
- Understanding of various cultural approaches to philosophy
Educational Aims
Students who pass this module should be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the key women philosophers, their texts and ideas, from the ancient world
- Demonstrate an understanding of the key methodological challenges of studying women philosophers from the ancient world
- Demonstrate an understanding of the texts and contexts covered in the course
- Be able to review and assess the major texts/thinkers under review demonstrated through verbal and written assessment
- Engage critically with philosophical debates on the topics covered
- Apply various theoretical frameworks and critical tools in order to understand, explain and analyse developments in the field
- Articulate their own position in relation to the thinkers/texts/themes of the module.
Outline Syllabus
Focusing on women philosophers is part of reclaiming important perspectives that are often left out of philosophy curricula. The content of the module will be philosophical sources from the ancient world that were either: authored by women, include views, voices, and/or characters that claim to represent a woman’s perspective, or that are explicitly about women. We will engage sources from ancient China, Greece, and India. In addition to reading this source material, the module will also develop the awareness of and skills to address some of the unique challenges of studying women philosophers, particularly in contexts where it is not clear if women composed the sources attributed to them. The exact context might change from year to year, but indicative sources might include: The Mahabharata (an epic narrative from India that includes a number of female characters who speak on philosophical issues); Ban Zhao’s Instruction for Women (a treatise on the education of women from ancient China, c 100 CE); and On Wisdom, by Perictione, who was a philosopher from the Pythagorean school.
Assessment Proportions
There will be two essays. The first one will be 1250-1500 words. The essay questions will be about topics covered in weeks 1-5. The first essay will be due in week 6 and returned by week 10. (Worth 40%)
The second essay will be 2250-2500 words. The essay questions for the second essay will be about topics covered in weeks 6-10. (Worth 60%)
PPR.371: Wild Asian Goddesses: Power and Transgression in South and South East Asia
- Terms Taught: Lent / Summer Terms Only
- US Credits: 4 Semester Credits
- ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS Credits
- Pre-requisites: Relevant previous studies in philosophy, religion or a related subject.
Course Description
The module aims to:
1. develop a scholarly awareness of Asian goddess traditions, their main goddesses, wild and mild, their mythologies, texts, histories and philosophical currents
2. establish a bigger picture of 'global religions' by looking at ancient notions and practices surrounding female sacred power
3. encourage thinking on issues connected to gender and power through the study of these particular traditions.
4. foster sensitive, informed interpretations of a variety of non-Western historical sources and gain an understanding of the richness of classical Indian languages (Sanskrit and Prakrit)
Educational Aims
Students who pass this module should be able to...
1. have both a broad and nuanced historical knowledge of Shakta (goddess-oriented) traditions in South and South East Asia through studying a wide range of sources and examples in depth
2. critically assess the connections of these traditions with society, culture and power
3. be able to assess the implications of these traditions for gender and politics in religion
Outline Syllabus
South and South East Asian religious traditions are globally unique for their reverence of female divine power. Called Devi (goddess) and Shakti (power/potentiality), the Goddess is thought to be multiform and worshipped in ‘power-sites’ (shaktipithas) scattered all over the subcontinent. In theological traditions of medieval India, she was conceptualized in some of the most sophisticated metaphysical arguments as an ultimate Consciousness. For worshippers, she is a symbol of many things: autonomous power, liberation, rulership, transgression, duality, sexuality, passion, motherhood, the colour red, Death, vision and sleep.
In this module we explore the only major religious culture, in which female sacred power plays an undilutedly central role. We assess its history and its importance in South and South East Asian society drawing on classical historical sources-- Sanskrit narratives, ritual manuals, poetry, philosophical literature and epigraphy, as well as explore her impact on living traditions.
Along the way we will be exploring the following questions:
What does the tradition of goddesses in South Asia say about the role of heretical traditions and doctrines, of which many of its scriptures and practices were considered parts?
What relation do myths of the goddess's sacred places bear with histories of actual places, in other words, what was the relationship between ‘myth’ and history (how for example do stories of kings receiving kingship from the goddess articulate histories of state formation)?
What relation do passages of worship in doctrinal literature have with actual worship?
How does the Goddess’s tradition blur the realms of power-in-society and power-outside-society and why?
Assessment Proportions
The module will be assessed through one essay 4500-5000 words in length, written on a topic/question from a list shared with students before the start of the module. (100% Coursework Only)
SOCL314: Feminism and Social Change
- Terms Taught:
- Full Year only
- Michaelmas Term only
- Lent / Summer Terms only
NOTE: If you are studying with us for a Full Academic Year and you select a course that has full year and part year variants, you will not be allowed to take only part of the course. - US Credits:
- Full Year course - 8 Semester Credits
- Michaelmas Term only - 4 Semester Credits
- Lent / Summer Terms only - 4 Semester Credits
- ECTS Credits:
- Full Year course - 15 ECTS Credits
- Michaelmas Term only - 7.5 ECTS Credits
- Lent / Summer Terms only - 7.5 ECTS Credits
- Pre-requisites: Five semesters of sociology; two may be from cognate disciplines such as anthropology or social psychology.
Course Description
This challenging course investigates gender inequalities within society through a focus on historical and contemporary debates in feminist theory and activism. The course has an 'intersectional' focus that means we will consider gender inequalities as bound up with other forms of discrimination and marginalisation, particularly racial and ethnic inequalities, disability and social class.
The first term will challenge you to think about 'what feminism means today' through a consideration of key aspects of feminist thought and activism from the late 1960s onwards. We will consider ideas such as ‘the personal is political’, consciousness raising and the contemporary relevance of sexism. We will also consider feminist research practices and methods and the idea of work as liberation to prepare you to carry out an intergenerational interview on the theme of gender, work and social change. In the latter part of term 1 we will explore the Women’s Health Movement and explore contemporary feminist activism through current examples of everyday activism. In the second term we take the feminist manifesto as a central document which expresses lived experiences of gender inequalities and collective desire for social change and explore the contemporary resonance of ideas introduced in the first term through engaging with topics such as breast cancer activism, anti-feminist backlash, and black and cyborg feminisms.
Throughout the course we will interrogate social constructions of sex differences and consider how lived experiences of inequality are perpetuated. By the end of the course you will be familiar with some of the key debates within feminism today and be able to make connections between feminist theory and forms of feminist practice. This course will challenge you to interrogate your own assumptions about sexual difference and inequality and we expect you to take a full part in lively class discussion and debate. The course involves analysis of varied media including academic texts, advertising, art, film and news media.
Educational Aims
- To examine key concepts and theoretical approaches in contemporary feminist theory
- To develop core skills of critical scholarly analysis, evaluation, and interpretation
- To improve written and spoken expression, argumentation, criticism, and use of evidence
- To introduce and develop methodologies for interpreting visual and textual sources
- To develop confidence in scholarly reading and writing
Outline Syllabus
- Introduction: The Nature-Culture debate
- Gender
- What is Sex and Gender?
- Performativity
- Transgender
- Sustaining Feminisms - Women, Work and Class
- Essay Writing/Reading Week
- Sex Work/Prostitution, Migration and Trafficking
- Media and Body Image: Workshop
- Overview of the First Term
Assessment Proportions
