99994 - Applied Gender Studies

Learning outcomes

The course aims at training students to apply gender studies’ key concepts and theoretical approaches to the analysis of a series of contemporary social challenges and transformations in the fields of culture, sexuality, work, technologies, and politics, amongst other. After completing the course, students can recognize gender as one of the basic principles organizing human society and culture, mobilize the gender studies’ concepts to produce a critical knowledge and apply a gender-sensitive perspective in imagining emancipatory strategies and policies.

Course contents

The course introduces students to the main analytical perspectives of gender studies through an examination of key concepts developed within the fields of women’s studies, men’s studies, and queer studies.

Lectures will explore central concepts such as gender order, intersectionality, heteronormativity, (positive) marginality, care, androcentrism, subjectivity, and performativity. These concepts will be first examined from a theoretical perspective and subsequently applied to the analysis of concrete social phenomena and current processes of social transformation.

Attendance is not mandatory but is strongly recommended, as active participation will enhance students’ understanding of the theoretical frameworks and their practical applications.

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students, the exam materials will be indicated by the instructor during the course and will consist of lecture slides and short texts in English.

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

• R. Connell (2009), Gender: In World Perspective, Polity Press.

• M. Evans & C. Williams (2012), Gender: The Key Concepts, Routledge. This text is not mandatory, but it may serve as a helpful glossary and conceptual guide while reading the other texts, especially for understanding key ideas and perspectives that are referenced but not fully explained elsewhere.

In addition, students must select one of the following texts:

• hooks, b. (1994), Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Routledge.

• Haraway, D. (1990), Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge.

• Halberstam, J. (2011), The Queer Art of Failure, Duke University Press.

• Lynch, K. (2022), Care and Capitalism, Polity Press.

• Federici, S. (2018), Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, PM Press.

• Kern, L. (2020), Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World, Verso Books.

• Jones, L. (2023), Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood, Allen Lane.

Teaching methods

The course combines frontal lectures with seminars and discussions.

Frontal lectures are primarily intended to introduce students to the core concepts and theoretical foundations of gender studies.
Seminars and other interactive activities will support students in applying these concepts to real-world social phenomena and contemporary transformations. These sessions will draw on recent empirical research and are designed to foster active participation and critical reflection.

By successfully completing the course, students will be better equipped to engage in public debates on gender issues and to apply gender studies’ analytical tools across academic, personal, and professional contexts.

Assessment methods

NB: Applied 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.

Students attending classes will be assessed either through a final written essay or through an oral exam (during regular exam sessions) based on the materials and readings discussed during the course.

Non-attending students will be assessed through an oral exam based on the required readings listed in the course bibliography during the regular exam sessions.

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