Year
2020
Units
4.5
Contact
1 x 2-hour seminar weekly
Prerequisites
1 1 first year topic in American Studies
1a 1 first year topic in Development Studies
1b 1 first year topic in Asian Studies
1c 1 first year topic in History
1d 1 first year topic in International Relations
1e 1 first year topic in Political Studies
1f 1 first year topic in Sociology
1g 1 first year topic in Social Admin & Social Work
1h 1 first year topic in Women's Studies
2 EDUC1120 - Teaching and Educational Contexts
2a DRAM1002 - Drama 1B: Bodies of Work
2b SCME1001 - Media and Society
2c SCME1002 - Convergence Cultures
2d ENGL1101 - Approaches to Literature
2e JUSS1000 - An Introduction to Justice and Society
2f LEGL1101 - Australian Justice System
2g LEGL1102 - Contentious Justice Issues
2h CRIM1101 - Crime and Criminology
2i CRIM1102 - Criminal Justice System
2j PSYC1101 - Psychology 1A
2k PSYC1102 - Psychology 1B
2l DSRS1201 - Perspectives on Disability and Rehabilitation
2m DSRS1209 - Human Diversity
2n HLTH1003 - Legal and Ethical Aspects of Health Care
2o ENVH1702 - Our Environment, Our Health
2p HLPE1541 - Social Determinants of Health
2q NURS1003 - Psychosocial Perspectives of Health Care
2r LEGL1201 - Law in Australian Society
Must Satisfy: (((1 or 1a or 1b or 1c or 1d or 1e or 1f or 1g or 1h)) or ((2 or 2a or 2b or 2c or 2d or 2e or 2f or 2g or 2h or 2i or 2j or 2k or 2l or 2m or 2n or 2o or 2p or 2q or 2r)))
Enrolment not permitted
1 of SOCI2006, SOCI2028, SOCI3045 has been successfully completed
Course context
Associated majors: Sociology; Women's Studies
Topic description
The course examines the historical emergence and cultural construction of gender & sexuality as categories of human thought and experience. How did gender & sexuality come to constitute the innermost truths of the human individual, the core of personal life, the object of social control and governmental regulation? What are the practical consequences of organising our lives and institutions around the notion of gender & sexuality? Emphasis will fall not on the natural 'truths' - biological essentialist assumptions about gender & sexuality - but on the social meanings attached to them in different cultural contexts.
Educational aims
This topic has four aims:
  1. To use contemporary issues relating to conventional and new forms of gender and sexuality in Australia and elsewhere to explore:

    • Influences on the changes, challenges and continuities in gendered and sexual life

    • Different perspectives on the implications of such changes for gender and sexual relations, social cohesion and identity

  2. To assist in the development of skills relating to the critical analysis of, and reflexive engagement with, relevant academic and professional literature, and popular discourses

  3. To provide an opportunity for the development of research skills.

  4. To encourage constructive and informed participation in lectures and tutorial activities.
Expected learning outcomes
On completion of Gender & Sexuality you should be able to:

  1. Critically evaluate debates about gender and sexuality.

  2. Identify, access and evaluate relevant resources and materials from a range of sources; and to relate these to issues / theories discussed in lectures.

  3. Demonstrate an ability to address a research question; find and analyse relevant information relating to that question.

  4. Construct a coherent academic argument when writing the research essay.