SOC6023 - Gender and Society

Objectives:

Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.

Content:

This module explores and examines key issues related to the understanding of gender and the role of gender in structuring and mediating social life. Through a critical examination of gender as a concept, this module examines the production, performance, consumption, and contestation of gender in everyday life. Challenging ‘common sense’ understandings of what gender means students will explore and critically analyse a range of topics related to gender including: gender inequality, power, the family, reproduction, fertility, masculinity, labour and the economy, identity, social control, and media representations. Primarily drawing on Gender Studies and Sociology this module encourages students to think across disciplines and to utilize the knowledge gained from this module to help explain larger social transformations occurring in contemporary society.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Lecture
Hours: 40
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Workshop
Hours: 20
Intended Group Size: 30

Guided independent study
Hours: 240

Further details relating to assessment
Assessment 1 – Conference style poster – Students will be required to produce a conference style poster that examines a particular representation of gender within the media. This could, for example, be an advert for a consumer product, a social media post by a celebrity or company, a toy, or an example from film and television. Studenst should critically examine their chosen example utilizing appropriate theories covered during the first semester of teaching.

Assessment 2 - Case Study Essay – Students will work with the module leader to pick a contemporary debate around gender, or a contemporary case relevant to gender and produce a critical examination of that chosen case. To achieve this students will critically examine theories of gender and the sociology of gender. Students will be expected to briefly outline their chosen case and identify specific elements from their case that they will examine in further detail within their essay. The intention here is to ensure students are thinking about the real-world implications of these debates and how they have real-world impact.

Assessment:

001 Poster (conference style); A1 poster eqv. 2,000 words; end of semester 1 40%
002 Case study essay; 3,000 words; end of semester 2 60%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - ALISON WILDE
Level - 6
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 6YL

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