Gender Studies

Gender Studies, with its motivating force of women's studies, is just as needed now as it ever was–perhaps in some respects more so–with the increasingly sophisticated and pervasive attempts to persuade the consumer/reader/user that all is equal and, finally, merely a matter of choice. One of the tasks of this major will be to address and redress this notion. It is an area of intense public debate and we seek to equip our students not only to enter into this debate but at some future time perhaps, to lead it.

The major is made up of subjects from the Faculties of Arts, Commerce, Education, Law and Science. It is an interdisciplinary major which recognises that students come from a range of backgrounds and may want to study over a range of areas. There are no core subjects. A number of the subjects within the proposed major deal not only with the impact of being gendered as female, but also with definitions of masculinity and with queer theory, an area of study more commonly associated with sexuality than gender.

The Gender Studies major will encourage students to develop greater tolerance and understanding of gender equity issues, values which they could bring to debates in the wider community.

Co-ordinator: Dr Anne Lear, (English Studies Program, Faculty of Arts).

Details of the Major

A major in Gender Studies will consist of at least 54 Credit Points chosen from the following range of subjects (at least 24 credit points must be at 300 level). Students will choose at least five subjects from the list of Specialist Electives, and no more than two from the list of General Electives.

Normal pre-requisites apply for the following subjects unless these are waived by the Head of Unit. This applies, in particular, to LAW subjects, for which LAW100 Law in Society is a necessary pre-requisite and will not be waived.

Please note: not all subjects will be available in any one year.

Specialist Electives

To satisfy the requirements of the major, students must choose at least five subjects from this list.

100-Level		Credit Points
ENGL121	Text and Gender	6
200-Level
ECON208	Gender Work and Family	8
EDUC292	Gender and Social Justice	8
ENGL260	Nineteenth Century Australian Literary Culture	8
POL290	Women in Society - Productive Reproductive Labour	8
PHIL260	Philosophy of Feminism A (also available as PHIL363)	8
300-Level
ENGL337	Sex Power and Chivalry: Medieval to Modern Literature	8
ENGL345	Twentieth Century Women Writers	8
ENGL365	Nineteenth Century Women Writers	8
AUST300	Twentieth Century Australian Literary Culture	8
ENGL371	Twentieth Century Australian Literary Culture	8
HIST380	Twentieth Century Australian Literary Culture	8
HIST318	The Making of the Modern Australian Woman	8
PHIL363	Philosophy of Feminism B	8
SOC330	Sociology of Gender Relations	8
CCS334	Technologies of the Body	8
LAW335	Anti-Discrimination Law	6
LAW349	Feminism and the Law	6
General Electives
To satisfy the requirements of the major, students must choose no more than two subjects from this list.
100-Level
GEOS142	The Human Environment: Problems and Change	6
SOC103	Aspects of Australian Society	6
200-Level
CCS215	Gender, Race, Colonialism	8
EDUF212	Education II	6
ENGL259	Introduction to Canadian Literature	8
SOC205	Sociology of the Family	8
300-Level
GEOS348	Cultural Landscapes	8
LAW303	Children, Families and the Law	6
PHIL380	Bioethics	8