Sex, Race and Death in Global Politics (L7091A)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

Explore the multiple connections between gender and violence in contemporary international politics.

Whilst war and other forms of collective violence seem to be everywhere in world affairs, it has often been commented that the many manifestations of gender are less visible, even invisible, in the realms of high politics.

Today, some issues of gender (sexual violence in war, the inclusion of homosexuals in the military, 'cultural' forms of misogyny) enter public and policy debate.

But many others (such as media representations of gender violence, the continuum between 'peace' and 'war' violence or the connection between armies and prostitution) are neglected by practitioners and scholars of international relations.

You'll study a range of these themes in their theoretical and historical perspective. Topics include:

  • gender in war and society
  • imperial gender violence
  • military masculinity
  • women at war
  • wartime sexual violence
  • sex industries and human trafficking
  • homosexuality and military culture (including queer theory perspectives and recent debates about 'homonationalism')
  • feminism, anti-feminism and gender studies in the academy
  • gender violence in popular culture.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

30%: Coursework (Essay, Group presentation)
70%: Written assessment (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 30 hours of contact time and about 270 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: