Macquarie University

Foundations in Gender Studies - GENX110

What it means to be identified as male, female, or other on the gender spectrum varies with time and place. Meanings of gender and challenges to them are tied up with the dynamics of power, with dreams of freedom, with the distribution of resources, and with cultural representations in a society's gender order. This unit is an introduction to Gender Studies, an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand gendered meanings and differences, to recognize how these interlock with sexuality, race, class, disability, and other identities, and to analyse how such intersecting identities shape human experience at the social and individual level. We establish foundational knowledge of and key concepts in how gender has been theorised and researched over time, particularly since the late 1960s, and explore the interactions between grassroots gender liberation movements and scholarship in disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. The unit can be taken as a one-off elective in any degree, or in pursuit of a major or minor in Gender Studies.

All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au