| Unit name | Gender and Development |
|---|---|
| Unit code | POLIM2032 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Egle Cesnulyte |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
N/A |
| School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is the unit important?
The unit will introduce issues, theories and debates concerning the area of gender and development. Engaging with various academic literature and theoretical perspectives, it will explore how different social, economic and political developments interweave together to affect the lives of women and men in different areas of the Global South.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit is an optional unit available to all PGT programs in SPAIS. The unit usually attracts a lot of students from programs with development orientation (International Development, Development and Security) as students aim to get a better understanding of gender dimensions of development processes; and many students from Gender and IR programme who want to expand their understanding of gender in developing contexts.
An overview of content
The unit introduces students to the Gender and Development scholarship, its critiques, and adjacent scholarship fields. It explores key theoretical positions important to understand gender relations in the contexts of the Global South: multiplicity of voices and scholarship paying attention to different and intersecting issues in the field, masculinities, colonial pasts and presents, social reproduction and depletion, neoliberal transformations and gendered global division of labour. The unit allows students to explore several areas where these gender issues can be observed empirically. An essay workshop helps students prepare for their assignment.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Students will learn about centrality of gender in development processes across the globe and will learn about key theoretical and conceptual approaches that are crucial in studying these issues and developing critical understanding of global processes. The unit allows to deepen students’ specialisation either adding to their understanding of issues in a more global context, or adding a gender dimension to development studies, depending on which programs they come from.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit the student should be able to:
Lectures: these cover key content, demonstrate how themes covered in different weeks speak to one another and the overall module aims, introduce students to the conceptual and theoretical debates of the issues studied.
Required readings: academic reading introduce students to theoretical/conceptual debates and selected case studies to deepen their understanding of topics studied that week. The course is built around its core texts, each week will have either 2 or 3 readings.
Seminars: the opportunity to reflect on and raise questions about the readings and material studied that week; discuss the issues of the week in more detail; discuss assignments. This will be a space for developing students’ critical engagement with literature and conceptual issues in a student-centered and interactive ways.
Recommended asynchronous resources: Each week’s Blackboard page contains additional recommended video or written material, accompanied by some directive questions, that is relevant either to the lecture or to the seminar topic (or to both) and designed to supplement the required weekly reading, spur discussion in seminar, and spark ideas for possible paper topics.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Students are asked to read one academic paper, and write a 1500w assignment in 3 voices: the author’s voice, an evaluative voice, and a personal voice. This allows students to develop their critical thinking and critical engagement with the text, which are crucial skills in academic writing.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
3000-word essay (100%) that develops students' ability to express their ideas and arguments in a substantive piece of writing.
When assessment does not go to plan
You will normally complete the reassessment in the same format as outlined above. Students are expected to select a different essay question from the original list.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. POLIM2032).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
