Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 18 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 10 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Seminar Performance | 10% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2250 word essay | 45% |
| Semester Exam | 1.5 Hours (1 x 1.5 hour exam) Pre-seen exam schedule am | 45% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 500 word assignment in lieu of seminar participation | 10% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2250 word essay, if essay element failed | 45% |
| Supplementary Exam | 1.5 Hours (1 x 1.5 hour exam) | 45% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Critically assess the interconnections between gender, sexuality and race in the Americas.
2. Critically evaluate the distinctive perspectives which a study of gender, race and sexuality bring to thinking about politics.
3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of gender dynamics in practice.
4. Critically evaluate the way in which colonialism and slavery configured relations of power through gender relationships.
5. Critically assess the gendered and raced dynamics of power as played out in social relations
6. Evaluate and critically analyse how gender stereotypes configure the world of work, society and politics.
Brief description
This module explores dynamics of gender and sexuality in Latin America, paying particular attention to the often invisiblized but powerful dimensions of race. It begins by outlining the theoretical and historical context which condition gender dynamics and turns to explore key issues which shape contemporary politics: sex tourism; the world of work; gendered violence; gender/sex and high-powered politics; advances and retreats in women'r rights; sexual politics and homosexuality. The module will draw on examples from across the region and students will be encouraged to explore their own interests when researching and writing assessments.
Aims
The module aims to explore dynamics of gender and power, focusing on experiences and events in Latin America. As such, it aims to expand the common view that gender is an add-on to the study of politics and society by placing gender, sex and race at the centre of analysis, and exposing the work of these elements in configuring the social world. It thus aims to enrich student'r concept of what constitutes politics, deepening and complicating their understanding of power and how it works.
Content
The module focuses on three aspects. Firstly, students will be introduced to the key political, economic and social dynamics which shape understandings of gender in Latin America, including Marianismo and Machismo as well as heteronormativity. Secondly, the module locates contemporary gender dynamics within the historical context of gender and sexuality in Latin America (especially 500+ years of colonialism and slavery). Thirdly, students will apply this learning to empirical examples drawn from a range of historical periods and countries across the Americas.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas verbally and in writing, and how to present their arguments most effectively. They will develop skills in using the many sources of information available to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Students will also be required to submit their written assessments in word-processed format and the presentation of work should reflect effective expression of ideas and good use of language skills in order to ensure clarity, coherence and effective communication. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from the module convenor and other students. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and exercising their own initiative, including searching for sources and deciding how to answer assessed essay questions. |
| Information Technology | Students will enhance their proficiency using Blackboard, where materials to support learning will be made available. Students will also develop skills in searching for, and assessing the validity of, online information sources as part of preparation for lectures, seminars and assessed tasks. Assessed work will be presented in electronic format, according to standard expectations. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The module is designed to hone and test skills of use to students in their working lives, particularly in speaking to small groups, listening, thinking and responding to the statement of others. Moreover, the written work requires students to write clearly and concisely, which is a common task in the workplace. Students will be encouraged throughout to reflect on their performance and to consider lessons for future application. |
| Problem solving | Independent work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of written assignments will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems |
| Research skills | Students will be required to undertake independent research in order to complete the assessed work. This will involve utilizing a range of information sources, including core academic texts, journal articles, electronic publications, and online news sources. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualize and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: • Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module • Evaluate competing perspectives • Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and contemporary social and political problems. |
| Team work | Students will undertake team exercises in the seminars. For many of the topics of this module, seminars will consist of small-group discussions where students will be asked to discuss as a group the core issues related to the seminar topic. These class discussions and debates form a significant part of the module, and will allow students to approach and examine a given topic through team work. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6