Gender, Sexuality, Culture module (HU21001)

Society is structured by ideas of gender and sexuality. These ideas are represented across culture in film, literature, social media, and beyond.

This module introduces important concepts about gender and sexuality and shows how these concepts have changed over time.

Lecturers from English Literature, Philosophy, History, Creative Writing, Film, and Languages will offer an overview of influential ideas in the study of gender and sexuality from their disciplines, and help you recognise how sex-gender systems can have real and physical consequences in individuals' lives.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• learn new vocabularies to describe experiences of gender and sexuality
• learn different histories of gender and sexuality
• develop philosophical ideas about gender and sexuality
• analyse the role of gender and sexuality in a range of art and cultural forms, including literature, film, comics, and performance

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

• think critically about representations of gender and sexuality in different contexts
• read complex texts from across the Humanities disciplines, and weigh the quality of different materials
• use primary and secondary sources to write effective arguments

Assignments / assessment

• textual analysis - 1,000 words (35%)
• research essay - 2,000 words (55%)
• weekly discussion questions (10%)

This module does not have a final examination.

Teaching methods / timetable

• two lectures per semester week
• weekly discussion seminars

In Weeks 1-5, you will focus on the big ideas of gender and sexuality, key terms, and historical perspectives. Week 6 is reading week.

Weeks 7-11 will use the ideas learnt in weeks 1-5 to examine different cultural examples, i.e. literature, film, comics, and performance.

The content of the module is updated every year to keep up with current events and contexts.