Course description
Gender, Sexualities, and Women's Studies 1101 provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Women’s and Gender Studies, emphasizing the gendered social processes and structures that shape our lives. Beginning with an intersectional introductory review of feminist and queer theories and movements, the course will survey a range of contemporary social issues in Canada. It will also explore changes in gendered experiences and perspectives within a dynamic and increasingly global context.
Course content
A sample course outline will include theoretical foundations of Gender, Sexualities, and Women's Studies such as:
- A brief history of feminisms, related theoretical frameworks and/or movements in Canada and beyond
- Intersectionality: integrating analysis of race, class, sexualities, colonialism, (dis)ability, and gender
- Queer theory
- Social constructionism
- Essentialism within feminist and queer theorizing and activism
- Creation and enforcement of norms and margins; moving margins to center; privilege and oppression; defining and examining hegemony
- Theoretical perspectives: anti-colonial, anti-racist, Marxist, socialist, liberal, radical, cultural, queer, critical disability studies, standpoint, and anarchist feminisms
The course will also apply the above to contemporary social, cultural, and political issues including all or some of:
- Gendered education, science, and technology
- Gendered bodies
- Language as a site of oppression, power, and resistance
- Gendered violence
- Globalization and transnational feminisms
- Colonization, resistance, and reconciliation
- Objectification, racialization, and sexualities
- Masculinities
- Incarceration and institutionalization
- Work and welfare
Learning activities
The course will employ a number of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some or all of the following:
- Lecture
- Seminar discussion
- Oral presentations
- Small group discussions
- Creative group engagement
- Guest lectures
Means of assessment
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy and will include both formative and summative components. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
Evaluation will be based on some or all of the following:
- Course Engagement and/or Attendance
- Group Projects and/or Presentations
- Exams/Quizzes
- Research Portfolio
- Reading Responses
- Term Papers or Creative Projects
- Journal Reflection
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, successful students will be able to recognize, explain, and analyse:
- the relevance of various feminist theoretical approaches to contemporary issues;
- the issues and consequences of feminist activism within Canadian and global contexts;
- the ways in which gender and sexualities are constructed and perpetuated through social processes, organizations, and institutions;
- the ways in which gendered interests are represented by social policy and assess the potential for policy equity;
- diversity in feminist and queer perspectives;
- the relevance of anti-colonial approaches to feminist issues;
- the relevance of course materials to students' own lives and experience.
Textbook materials
A list of recommended textbooks and materials is provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline, which is available to students at the beginning of each semester.
Possible texts include:
Margaret Hobbs and Carla Rice, eds. Gender and Women’s Studies in Canada. Toronto: Women’s Press, current edition.
Miliann Kang et al., eds. Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Amherst MA: University of Massachusetts, current edition.
Michael Kimmel, Amy Aronson, and Amy Kaler, eds. The Gendered Society Reader. Toronto: Oxford University Press, current edition.
Michael Kimmel and Jacqueline Holler. The Gendered Society. Toronto: Oxford University Press, current edition.