GI402 Half Unit
Gender, Knowledge and Research Practice
This information is for the 2023/24 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Marsha Henry
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MPhil/PhD in Gender, MSc in Gender and MSc in Gender (Research). This course is available on the MSc in Culture and Society, MSc in Gender (Rights and Human Rights), MSc in Gender (Sexuality), MSc in Gender, Development and Globalisation, MSc in Gender, Media and Culture, MSc in Gender, Peace and Security, MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities and MSc in Social Research Methods. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Please note the course may be limited to those taking GI402 as a core course depending on numbers.
Course content
This course introduces students to critical epistemological and methodological scholarship relevant for embarking on gender research at graduate and postgraduate level and beyond. The course provides a critique of ‘mainstream knowledge’ through an exploration of Black, queer, postcolonial and other intersectional feminist theories. In addition, the course offers an engagement with some of the practical, ethical and methodological challenges of conducting gender research and producing feminist knowledge through drawing on a variety of ‘disciplinary’ experiences and reflections. Finally, the course engages with decolonising and decentring intiatives and questions the place of Gender Studies as an interdisciplinary field. The course asks: what are the implications of producing research within, beyond and without the epistemic centres of global north feminism?
Teaching
This course runs in Autumn term.
Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.
Formative coursework
Proposal Essay (1500 words) in the AT.
Indicative reading
Patricia Hill Collins (2000) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Sara Ahmed (2016) Living a feminist life. Duke University Press.
Uma Narayan and Sandra Harding, eds (2000) Decentering the Center: Philosophy for a Multicultural, Postcolonial and Feminist World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Assessment
Project (100%, 3000 words) in the WT.
The project includes one part research proposal and one part reflective essay.
Student performance results
(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)
| Classification | % of students |
|---|---|
| Distinction | 33.6 |
| Merit | 50 |
| Pass | 14.5 |
| Fail | 2 |
Key facts
Department: Gender Studies
Total students 2022/23: 36
Average class size 2022/23: 38
Controlled access 2022/23: Yes
Value: Half Unit
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills