Genders, Bodies, Borders

Subject 673-385 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Semester 1, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 1.5 hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Total Time Commitment: 2.5 contact hours/week, 6 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: 25 points of first year from any area of study within the Faculty of Arts.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Dr Maree Pardy

Contact

Dr Maree Pardy

mpardy@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: This subject looks at the central place of gendered meanings in diverse cultural contests globally, focusing on the increasingly gendered and sexualised character of these contests. The contests examined include: the wars over 'the family'; the ways in which the body becomes an important symbolic site for cultural politics; beauty; fatness and thinness; the veil: bikinis and burqas; the cultural politics of nationalisms and ethno-nationalisms; religious revivalism's and the 'clash of civilisations'; and contests around 'human rights' and 'cultural values'.
Objectives:
  • sound understanding of the main developments in feminist thinking about the relationships between 'culture', gender and identity and the intersections of gender, 'race', ethnicity and class.
  • a sound understanding of key concepts in contemporary feminist and postmodernist thought.
  • an awareness of the interrelationships between major social divisions including those of gender, race, ethnicity, class and sexuality.
  • an ability to locate these social divisions in specific cultural and historical contexts, with particular emphasis on cross-cultural comparisons
  • an understanding of feminist debates on 'identity' and 'identity politics' and their relationships to wider social theory debates.
Assessment: A tutorial journal of 750 words 15% (due end semester), a research essay 2000 words 55% (due mid-semester) and a reflective essay 1250 words 30% (due in examination period).
Prescribed Texts: A reader will be available at the university bookshop.
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • demonstrate research skills through competent use of the library and other information sources;
  • show critical thinking and analysis and ability to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and by determining the strength of an argument;
  • demonstrate understanding of social, ethical and cultural context through the contextualisation of judgements, developing a critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities and by constructing an argument.
Notes: This is a core subject for the minor in the interdisciplinary program in gender studies. This subject may also be completed as part of the interdisciplinary program in the social theory minor and sequence. Students who have completed 131-034 prior to 2008 may not enrol in this subject
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Gender Studies
Social Theory

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