AGS300 - Theories of Sex and Gender
Unit details
| Year: | 2021 unit information |
|---|---|
| Important Update: | Unit delivery will continue to be provided in line with the most current COVIDSafe health guidelines. This may include a mix of on-campus and online activities. To find out how you are impacted, please check your unit sites for announcements and updates. Unit sites open one week prior to the start of each Trimester/Semester. Thank you for your flexibility and commitment to studying with Deakin in 2021. Last updated: 4 June 2021 |
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Cloud (online) From 2022: Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Cloud (online) |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 2: Daniel Marshall |
| Prerequisite: | Complete four level 2 units |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. |
| Scheduled learning activities - campus: | 1 x 1-hour class per week, 1 x 2-hour seminar per week |
| Scheduled learning activities - cloud: | Information not yet available |
Content
What makes a body a particular gender? How does a person know what their sexual orientation is? In what ways do we enact our particular gendered and sexual identities in everyday life? How have different disciplinary approaches understood gender and sexuality in diverse ways? This unit focuses on innovative and influential theoretical approaches to the study of sexuality and gender across disciplines. It is divided into three modules (bodies, feelings, and practices). Mapping out a range of theories of sexuality and gender the unit travels between influential sexological, anthropological and psychoanalytic theories from the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries through to more recent pathfinding work in indigenous studies, transgender studies and queer and feminist theory. Engaging with theoretical writing alongside screen texts, this unit contextualizes and unpacks this range of theoretical engagements with bodies, feelings and practices to deepen our understandings of what sex, gender and sexuality mean today. This unit will strengthen students’ ability to critically engage with the history of ideas in relation to sex, gender and sexuality, and reflect on how they can apply these understandings in future creative or critical work (such as Honours study in the field), and in other vocational settings, including education, research, and policy.
For students studying the Gender and Sexuality Studies Major, this is one of four compulsory core units (the others are AGS101, AGS102, and AGS200). This subject is also available as an elective for students who are not studying the GSS Major.
| ULO | These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Identify and critically reflect on key theoretical approaches in the contemporary study of sexuality and gender | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO2 | Apply theoretical resources to plan a research project, synthesizing theoretical, empirical and/or historical knowledge to generate a research hypothesis and methodology | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO3 | Curate relevant theoretical resources to persuasively argue a critical position in relation to a contemporary issue connected to an expression or experience of gender and/or sexuality understood in relevant local and global contexts | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking GLO8: Global citizenship |
| ULO4 | Develop teamwork skills in relation to critical reflection and research regarding sex, gender and sexuality and participation in relevant discussions | GLO7: Teamwork |
These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1 – Research and Writing Exercise | 1600 words or equivalent | 40% | Information not yet available |
| Assessment 2 – Essay | 2400 words or equivalent | 60% | Information not yet available |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning Resource
There is no prescribed text. Unit materials are provided via the unit site. This includes unit topic readings and references to further information.
Unit Fee Information
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