Gender Studies Course

Lesson 1 • Core Theoretical Frameworks

Surveys liberal, radical, socialist, and poststructuralist feminist theories. Equips students to identify which framework underlies any given argument.

Lesson 2 • Key Concepts and Terminology

Defines patriarchy, hegemony, normativity, and related terms used throughout the course. Prevents conceptual confusion in later analytical work.

Lesson 3 • Historical Origins of the Discipline

Traces gender studies from early feminist scholarship to its institutionalization in academia. Contextualizes why the field emerged and what problems it addresses.

Lesson 1 • Socialist and Materialist Feminism

Explores how class, labor, and capitalism intersect with gender oppression. Prepares students to apply materialist analysis to economic and workplace contexts.

Lesson 2 • Transnational and Global Feminisms

Surveys feminist movements outside Western contexts and critiques of Western-centric theory. Expands students' analytical lens to global gender dynamics.

Lesson 3 • Liberal Feminism and Equal Rights

Examines the argument that gender equality is achievable through legal and institutional reform. Connects liberal theory to policy debates students will analyze later.

Lesson 4 • Radical and Cultural Feminism

Analyzes the claim that patriarchy is the primary system of oppression requiring structural dismantling. Introduces students to separatist and cultural feminist responses.

Lesson 1 • Applying Intersectionality to Case Studies

Guides students through structured intersectional analysis of documented social cases. Builds the applied skill of producing intersectional arguments from evidence.

Lesson 2 • Class, Labor, and Gender

Examines how socioeconomic class shapes gendered experiences of work, family, and opportunity. Connects class analysis to feminist economic critique.

Lesson 3 • Race, Gender, and Power

Analyzes how racial hierarchies and gender systems co-constitute each other. Students learn to read racialized gender and gendered race simultaneously.

Lesson 4 • Origins of Intersectionality

Traces Crenshaw's legal scholarship and Black feminist thought that produced intersectionality. Establishes why single-axis analysis is insufficient for complex identities.

Lesson 1 • Family Structures and Gender Roles

Examines how family forms assign, reinforce, and contest gender roles across cultures. Connects domestic arrangements to broader systems of power.

Lesson 2 • Education and Gender Socialization

Analyzes how schools transmit gender norms through curriculum, pedagogy, and peer culture. Prepares students to critique and redesign educational practices.

Lesson 3 • Religion, Culture, and Gender Norms

Explores how religious traditions and cultural practices construct and contest gender. Develops students' ability to analyze gender across diverse cultural contexts.

Lesson 4 • Workplace Inequality and Labor Markets

Investigates occupational segregation, wage gaps, and gendered workplace cultures. Equips students to analyze labor market data through a gender lens.

Lesson 1 • Masculinity, Violence, and Risk

Analyzes links between dominant masculinity norms and violence, risk-taking, and health outcomes. Connects masculinity critique to public health and safety concerns.

Lesson 2 • Fatherhood, Care, and Masculinity

Examines how fatherhood norms evolve and how care work challenges traditional masculinity. Prepares students to analyze policy implications of changing fatherhood ideals.

Lesson 3 • Theorizing Masculinity

Introduces Connell's hegemonic masculinity and subsequent theoretical developments. Establishes masculinity as a relational, hierarchical, and historically variable construct.

Lesson 1 • Heteronormativity and Its Effects

Analyzes how heterosexuality is institutionalized as the default and norm. Students identify heteronormative assumptions embedded in social structures.

Lesson 2 • Queer Theory in Applied Contexts

Applies queer theoretical tools to analyze media, policy, and organizational practices. Develops students' ability to produce queer readings of social texts.

Lesson 3 • LGBTQ+ Identities and Experiences

Surveys the diversity of LGBTQ+ identities and the social conditions shaping their experiences. Builds empirical grounding for queer theoretical claims.

Lesson 1 • Theories of Representation

Introduces semiotics, the male gaze, and encoding-decoding as tools for media analysis. Provides the theoretical toolkit for all subsequent media critique in this chapter.

Lesson 2 • Film, Television, and Gender

Examines gendered patterns in narrative, character, and production across screen media. Connects industry structures to representational outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Gender Stereotypes in Advertising

Analyzes how advertising constructs and sells gender norms to audiences. Students apply content analysis methods to advertising texts.

Lesson 4 • Digital Media and Gender

Investigates how social media platforms shape, amplify, and contest gender norms. Prepares students to analyze digital gender dynamics and online activism.

Lesson 1 • Designing a Gender Equity Intervention

Guides students through problem diagnosis, stakeholder analysis, and intervention design. Produces a complete, evidence-based gender equity proposal as a capstone deliverable.

Lesson 2 • Gender Mainstreaming in Organizations

Examines strategies for embedding gender equity into organizational policies and practices. Prepares students to advise institutions on gender mainstreaming implementation.

Lesson 3 • Advocacy, Campaigns, and Social Change

Analyzes successful gender equity campaigns and the strategies that drove their impact. Develops students' capacity to design and execute advocacy initiatives.