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SoSe 21: V-Culture-Gender-Media: Gender and Queer Theories

Sabine Schülting

Kommentar

Relationships between men and women are central to all cultures but ideas about what it means to be a man or a woman differ considerably. In recent decades binary notions of gender have come under attack and an increasing number of countries (legally) recognize non-binary identities or a third gender category. Gender Studies analyse these concepts in their cultural and historical contexts and question notions of a natural difference between the sexes. Masculinity and femininity are considered to be social constructs, and are studied in their intersection with other social categories such as race or class. Gender Studies explore the effects of cultural discourses about gender (e.g. in medicine, religion, law), the relevance of cultural practices and bodily acts, and – last but not least – representations of masculinity and femininity in literature and the media. There are many overlaps between Gender and Queer Studies, but the latter have shifted the focus of attention to sexuality in order to challenge any normative or seemingly natural connections between the body, gender identity and sexual desire.

This series of lectures will give an introduction to and overview of the key concepts and theories as well as the history of Gender and Queer Studies. In the second part of the semester, lectures will also address more recent debates on gender and ecology, intersectionality, postfeminism, and transgenderism.

The course will be organised as a series of weekly lectures (asynchronous), in the form of podcasts or Power Point presentations with audio, which can be accessed via Blackboard. Q&As and discussions will be organised as weekly WebEx video meetings, which will take place during the regular time slot of the course. All further information on the course as well as the video meetings will be made available on Blackboard in the first week of April.

Exchange students are of course welcome. Please note that there is no exam at the end of the semester (2 ECTS for attendance). Exchange students needing a grade and up to 5 ECTS will have to pass a written exam, which will take place in the last week of the semester.

Schließen