ENG40940 Gender and Sexuality in Theory and Representation

Academic Year 2021/2022

This course offers an advanced grounding in theories of gender and sexuality and their relation to literary and cultural production as well as to historical and contemporary global social movements and socio-political issues. Drawing on the rich diversity of gender and critical sexuality studies as well as gender, feminist, queer, and trans theories, we will explore the ways in which such ideas, frameworks and concepts can enrich our understanding of the complex intersections of culture and identity, our analyses of literary and visual texts, and our analysis and capacity to act in relation to crucial social justice issues. Areas for particular focus might include: the histories of gender & sexuality; Black feminist thought; postcolonial feminist though; marxist feminisms & social reproduction theory; queer diaspora; the gaze; trans theories; hetero/homo/cisnormativities and anti-normativity; queer temporalities; sex, gender, and migration; neoliberalism & carceral feminism; biopolitics & necropolitics.

Theorists we will explore will include some of the following: Audre Lorde; Patricia Hill-Collins; bell hooks; Saidiya Hartmann; Chandra Mohanty; Gloria Anzaldua; Julia Kristeva; Laura Mulvey; Lauren Berlant; Sara Ahmed; Lisa Duggan; Jack Halberstam; Jose Munoz; Michel Foucault; Achille Mbembe; Jasbir Puar; Hil Malatino; Jay Prosser; Viviane Namaste; Juliana Huxtable.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By completion of this module, students should:
- have a good understanding of key developments, frameworks and concepts in the understanding and constitution of gender and sexuality from the late 19th century to the present;
- be able to assess and critically engage with key theoretical works on gender and sexuality;
- have an advanced understanding of the historical and cultural specificity of conceptualisations of gender, sexuality, and desire;
- have an advanced understanding of the complex interactions of social, cultural, epistemological and representational factors in the constitution of gendered and sexual subjectivities;
- have an advanced understanding of the relationship between theory and politics in feminist and queer work;
- have an advanced understanding of the centrality of race, ethnicity, class and geopolitics to any exploration of gendered and sexual subjectivities;
- be able to bring the above theoretical and conceptual competencies to bear in their analyses of a wide variety of texts and media, including the production of a cogent, high level academic essay, in-class discussion, and evaluation of your own writing and thinking enabled by peer assessment exercises.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24

Specified Learning Activities

76

Autonomous Student Learning

100

Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This class has a strong focus on discussion and class participation. Approaches to learning may include:

Group discussion
Peer and group work
Critical writing
Close reading
Reflective learning
Contexts, overviews etc offered in class by the lecturer

 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Gender Representation and Theo (ENG40160)


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: 4000 word essay Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

70

Continuous Assessment: Three critical and reflective exercises during the semester Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

30


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be provided individually (in person or online) after each CA assignment with the opportunity to make revisions to the assignments before final submission at the end of the semester. Feedback will be provided individually (in person or online) on essay plans/proposals before completion of the final essay. Feedback will be provided individually on the final essay after the completion of the module.