| CODE | LAS2061 | ||||||
| TITLE | Feminism: History, Thought and Achievements | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | H - Higher Level | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will give a general overview of Feminism from the 18th century through the so-called waves of feminism up to the present, mainly in the West, i.e. in the UK and US together with some reference to feminism in other parts of the world. Feminism will be approached mainly from a sociological point of view. The study-unit will discuss the main struggles and campaigns that feminists embarked on in their fight for gender equality starting from the Suffragettes to current issues such as the Me Too campaign. It will explore the many issues raised by feminists in their fight against what they perceived as an unjust, male-dominated social system. Feminism, however is not only about the fight for gender equality and the achievements of the feminist movement throughout the years. The study unit will also discuss the various ideas, concepts and theoretical views produced by feminist writers and academics especially from the 1960s to the present writing from different perspectives. Various strands of feminism will be discussed and compared since feminism is not about a single theory but incorporates the ideas of Liberal, Radical, Marxist, Black, Lesbian, Difference, Post-Colonial and Postmodern feminists, among others. Nor is feminism only about women. The unit will also look at theories about men and masculinities Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Have a more informed idea regarding what feminism stands for and how its various strands developed throughout history. - Perceive feminism both as a political movement engaged in struggles for gender equality and of feminism as a theoretical perspective engaged in an academic political project. - Distinguish the concepts and ideas developed by different feminists writing from different perspectives and standpoints and interpret them within different contexts. - Become familiar with the many issues raised by feminists over the past three centuries in their analysis of social/economic/political/historical systems and in their call for gender equality and social justice. - Appreciate that feminism is not one single theory which can explain the experiences of all women and which can be applied in all socio-cultural, historical and political contexts. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss feminist issues and theories within the historical and social context in which they were developed. - Compare and contrast different strands of feminism - Critically evaluate past or contemporary issues, using feminist concepts and ideas. - Apply feminist concepts to the analysis and understanding of social phenomena. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Scholz Sally J (2010), Feminism, Oneworld Publications, London, UK. - DK (2019), The Feminism Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, Dorling Kindersley, London, UK. - Whelehan, Imelda (1995), Modern Feminist Thought: From the second wave to ‘Post-Feminism’, New York University Press, New York. - Schneir, M. (1995), The Vintage Book of Feminism: The essential writings of the contemporary feminist movement, Vintage Books. Supplementary Readings: - Beasley, Chris (2005). Gender and Sexuality. Critical theories, critical thinkers; SAGE: London, UK. - Walters, Margaret (2006), Feminism: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. - Jenainati, Cathia & Groves Judy (2010), Introducing Feminism: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books, Duxford, UK. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Angele Deguara |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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