FHEQ level

This course is set at Level 7 (Masters) in the national Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.

Course Aims

Sussex University is one of a few institutions in the UK which offer postgraduate programmes in Gender Studies. Its taught MA programme in Gender Studies draws on faculty expertise from across the university and enable students to explore gender relations, representations and identities in a variety of different social and cultural spheres. Students explore how gender intersects with other markers of difference such as 'race', ethnicity, class and sexuality. They undertake study of feminist research methods appropriate to the examination of gender issues across a wide thematic range. They are also encouraged to apply gender theories to current social and policy issues, popular culture and everyday experience. The programme aims to cater equally for those seeking to develop an existing research interest, those in a career in which issues of gender play an important role - such as personnel or equal opportunities - and those who simply wish to explore a broad range of issues concerning gender.

Course Learning Outcomes

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:

A. Knowledge and Understanding

Students graduating from this programme will have the following knowledge and understanding:
1. An advanced grounding in theories and methods prevalent in gender studies.
2. A critical understanding of the construction of masculinity and femininity across different historical periods and within different cultural settings.
3. A detailed appreciation of relationships between men and women as relations of unequal social and symbolic power.
4. An in depth understanding of gender as mediated by other social categories including ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, disability and age.
5. An appreciation of the relevance of gender and the contribution of feminist theory to other academic disciplines.
6. An advanced understanding of a variety of research methodologies and feminist epistemological and methodological debates.
7. The ability to develop and express high-level intellectual arguments.
8. The ability to reflect self-critically on intellectual progress.

C. Practical Skills

Students graduating from this programme will have developed a range of practical skills, which will include:
1. The ability to organise and produce self-directed original research.
2. The ability to apply conceptual frameworks to the collection and analysis of data.
3. The ability to draw on appropriate methods in order to answer research questions.
4. The ability to engage in scholarly debate drawing on suitable evidence.

D. Transferable Skills

Students graduating from this programme will have developed a range of transferable skills, which will include:
1. The ability to source, collate and process a variety of different resources.
2. The ability to present complex ideas clearly, in written work and oral presentations.
3. The ability to work as part of a team.
4. Skills in time-management and organisation.

Part-time course composition