76076 - Gender Studies

Learning outcomes

The course aims to introduce students to the main concepts and theoretical approaches in the analysis of gender, its historical development, and the evolution of gender-sensitive policies.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge of the key approaches that define gender studies and their influence on policy-making. Moreover, they will be able to critically reflect on the various dynamics and forms of gender inequality.

Course contents

The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with key issues, questions, and debates in both classic and contemporary gender studies. Gender studies is a multidisciplinary field of research that critically analyzes gendered performances and power relations across a variety of social domains, including culture, labor, family, sexuality, health, and public policy.

The first part of the course will introduce students to foundational texts in feminist theory and women’s studies. This section will explore how feminist scholars have addressed central topics such as gender equality and political change, femininity, racism and anti-racism, marriage and family, sexuality, media representations of gender and race, differences among and between women, and human rights.

The second part of the course will focus on the scholarship in men’s and masculinities studies. Students will examine the social construction of male identities, the meanings attached to masculinity and maleness, and the processes through which different forms of masculinity are created and negotiated. Special attention will be given to how these experiences vary in relation to class, age, and ethnic background.

The third part of the course will engage with queer theory and LGBTQ studies. This section will investigate how these intellectual traditions have challenged normative understandings of gender and sexuality, and how they have contributed to the analysis of power dynamics in institutional processes of recognition, exclusion, and stigmatization.

Throughout the course, particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between theory and practice, especially in terms of public policy. In particular, we will examine the relationship between gender studies, feminist and queer activism and the evolution of gender policies.

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students, the course is based on materials (slides and short texts in Italian and English) provided by the instructor during the lessons.

Non-attending students are required to study the following materials:

• Connell, R., Questioni di genere, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2011.

• Plus one of the following thematic reading paths:

Gender Socialization
– Bourdieu, P., Il dominio maschile, Feltrinelli.

- Gianini Belotti, E., Dalla parte delle bambine, Feltrinelli, 1973 (reprint 2023)

Feminism and Motherhood
– Rich, A., Nato di donna. La maternità come esperienza e istituzione, Bollati Boringhieri, 2021
– Dalla Costa, M.R., Potere femminile e sovversione sociale, DeriveApprodi, 2002

Black Feminism
– Davis, A., Donne, Razza e Classe, Edizioni Alegre, 2018 (trans. M. Moïse)
– hooks, b., Elogio del Margine / Scrivere al buio, Tamu Edizioni, 2020

Masculinity Studies
– Connell, R., Maschilità, Feltrinelli, 1996
– Rinaldi, C., Uomini che si fanno pagare, DeriveApprodi, 2020

Queer Theory and LGBTQ Studies
– Bernini, L., Le Teorie Queer. Un'introduzione. Mimesis, 2017.
– Marcasciano, P., L’aurora delle trans cattive. Storie, sguardi e vissuti della mia generazione transgender, Alegre, 2018

International students (who don't speak/read Italian) are welcome to get in touch to define a specific bibliography.

Teaching methods

The course combines frontal lectures with seminars, group readings/discussions, and movie screening.

Frontal lectures will run for about the first half of the course and will be mainly aimed at introducing students to main concepts and theories of gender studies.

The other teaching activities will make up the second half of the course and seek to expose students to examples from more recent empirical studies, gendered biographies and feminist/queer political experiences, and at encouraging their active involvement and critical thinking.

Through successfully completing this course, students will be better prepared to participate in and contribute effectively to the larger public conversation about the role of gender in society and to apply the critical tools of gender studies in their academic, personal and occupational lives.

Assessment methods

NB: Gender Studies is an optional course, and it is not possible to determine the number of students enrolled before the beginning of the lectures. For this reason, the assessment methods described below may be revised at the start of the course in consultation with the students and in accordance with the actual number of participants.

Assessment methods

• Attending students will be assessed through:
  – two optional midterm written exams covering the main concepts and theories in women’s, men’s, and queer studies presented during the lectures.
  – Students who choose not to take the midterm exams (or who decide to reject their grade or who get rejected) will take an oral exam on the same topics during the regular exam session.

• Non-attending students will take an oral exam based on the required readings listed in the course syllabus.

Students who are employed or caregivers and have officially recognized status by the University may request an alternative date or time for the oral exam during the regular exam sessions. To do so, they must contact the instructor by email at least 30 days prior to the scheduled exam date.

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (DSA students) or with temporary or permanent disabilities are advised to contact the University's dedicated office in a timely manner: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti
The office will provide guidance and, where appropriate, suggest adaptations. Any proposed accommodations must be submitted to the instructor at least 15 days before the exam, who will assess their feasibility in relation to the course’s learning objectives.

Teaching tools

Projector, PC, powerpoint slides, articles and documents suggested during the lessons.

Office hours

See the website of Ilaria Pitti