Aims

The objective of this course is to enable students to acquire a basic knowledge of the issues surrounding gender and the social relations between men and women, and to situate these gender issues within the wider framework of issues in contemporary society.

Main themes

The main theme of the course is to show the links between gender issues and other types of inequality, an approach which draws on elements from a range of disciplines in the Social Sciences. The perspective taken is at once comparative and historical.

Content and teaching methods

Among the principal topics under discussion will be:
- basic theoretical approaches to gender systems: features and issues
- analytical tools
- the construction of male and female roles in various societies
- their expression in teaching and the labour market
- consequences on marriage, divorce and fertility
- consequences on health, mortality, ageing
- gender and sustainable development
- gender and economy: analysis of the practices of the social economy (variety of motives and social networking)
- the development of discourses and practices in relation to the integration of gender issues in cooperation and development organizations (national and international)

Method:
The course will be primarily lecture-based (with illustrations), with an interactive component (incorporating questions and debates) and is backed up by a reading portfolio.

Other credits in programs