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Understanding how and why gender matters is vital to the arts and humanities, whether our interests lie primarily in artistic, social and cultural questions or in historical and political perspectives.
Gender has to do with the ways in which people operate in the world, informing cultural expectations, social structures, the world of work and leisure activities. Gender is not a binary system as queer theorists and activists have argued; neither does it exist in isolation such that studying gender involves questions of race, ethnicity, class and sexuality.
Gender Studies derives then from feminist questioning of hierarchies and assumptions. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has a proud tradition of teaching and publishing work which asks these questions of the disciplines in which we work. Building on this established background the Masters in Gender Studies provides an opportunity to explore gender from an interdisciplinary Humanities perspective. Students will be based within the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities and be taught by experts from across disciplines including literature, history, philosophy, languages, film and media studies. Input from experts in cultural studies, politics, law and business will provide a valuable social science perspective to the programme.
Core modules introduce fundamental debates in gender studies and feminist research methods. Students will learn about the history of ideas, key writings and developing political thought in relation to gender equality in the arts, society and culture. From literary theory to online activism, the course explores the dynamics of gender that structure the private/public worlds in which women and men, girls and boys, queer and non-binary folk, operate.
Gender Studies seeks to foster an in-depth and focused understanding of the gendered aspects of society and culture, particularly in relation to other inequalities and social divisions.