Gender and Sexualities

1. Subject knowledge and understanding

The programme of study will offer you the opportunity to consider and explore the various theories and perspectives on gender and sexualities, and the way they interact with other disciplines. Throughout the programme, you will learn how to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding about the main concepts and milestones underpinning the areas of gender and sexualities, the impact on different perspectives of everyday life, and the knowledge that has been gained over the last decades internationally, as well as explore how these have developed in the Maltese context. You will be enabled to describe ways in which the various international conventions strive for human rights, as well as the considerable emphasis placed on the importance of increasing knowledge and awareness of gender and sexualities issues among the general population, as well as among professionals.



2. Intellectual development

Through the programme, you will be able to critically assess the meaningful employment of rights, such as human, civil and political rights, by women, LGBTIQ+ and other oppressed groups, and the need for the facilitation of access/removal of barriers, to enable active participation at all levels of communities and societies.

You will also be able to adopt an intersectional approach in your analysis of gender and sexualities, as they inter-relate with other identity markers such as race-ethnicity, disability, nationality, religion and class.



3. Key/transferable skills

Through the various study units offered in this programme, you will be able to:

• Question sexism, heteronormativity and hegemonic masculinity as social constructions, and explain ways in which your own gender has been shaped by cultural practices.
• Demonstrate your own take of a queer way of thinking, through the development of a critical lens that enables you to shed light on blind spots that characterise thinking and knowledge production.
• Articulate of our own reflections on specific readings and input, including that given by people working in the sector as well as members of different minority communities.
• Take a critical position in contemporary debates related to the important concepts and principles underlying the implications of heteronormativity and the gender binary in society.


4. Other skills relevant to employability and personal development

   You will be able to:

   • Describe both national and international policy related to gender and sexualities (education, employment, political representation, health, violence, etc.) and delve deeper into the factors that have facilitated or hindered the successful implementation of these policies and services.
   • Use your knowledge and understanding to critically assess existing policies in the field of gender and sexualities, offering alternative solutions to existing problems.
   • Engage in discussions, in both formal and informal ways, offering critical appraisals about gender and sexualities discourse and practices, challenging dominant narratives and every day practices, and offering informed perspectives and recommendations in various interdisciplinary contexts.