Educational objectives
This is an introductory course that aims to provide a general overview and insight into scientific content on gender and sexuality. Specifically, it focuses on how issues related to gender, and sexuality shape social behaviors, influencing our perceptions of the self and others, and impacting lived experiences. By the end of the course, students will have acquired the tools to navigate the spectrum of gender and sexuality and have an overview of their application in the studies of social work.
Following the Dublin Descriptors, the learning outcomes are the following:
Knowledge and Understanding: Demonstrate a broad understanding of the various tools and approaches for analysing gender, sex, and sexuality; develop a critical understanding of the intersections between gender and sexuality with race, class, and ethnicity; gain a deep comprehension of both feminist and queer perspectives on the social and cultural construction of gender, sex, and sexuality; develop a critical understanding of intersectionality and adopt a decolonial perspective on issues related to gender, sexuality and gender-based violence; acquire a fundamental understanding of the social work approach to addressing the oppression of women and discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals.
Applying knowledge and understanding: To examine the implications of gender and sexuality in relation to the oppression of women, gender-based violence, and heteronormativity, as well as their intersections with race, class, and ethnicity. The course will explore societal and institutional systems of power, privilege, oppression, and marginalization. Students will be required to demonstrate their ability to apply the knowledge gained from the theoretical perspectives presented during the course to issues related to the oppression of women and LGBTIQ+ people, and to understand the implications for social work.
Making judgments: To develop consciousness about the gendered construction of the self and the others through a deepened understanding of how social, cultural, and biological categories shape our lives and our understandings of the world; students need to demonstrate a critical view of what they have learned and show the ability to think differently on the topics of gender and sexuality.
Communication skills: To cultivate a language framework for thoughtfully articulating the critical vocabulary in the field of gender, sexuality, and feminist studies; students need to
articulate in a clear, understandable, and linear way all the knowledge they have acquired, using the specific vocabulary of the discipline appropriately.
Learning skills: To understand and be able to use the feminist and intersectional perspectives as tools for self-reflection, as well as frameworks for discussing and comprehending narratives related to the experiences of oppressed women, survivors of
gender-based discrimination and violence, and the discriminations faced by LGBTQI+ people. Students are expected to make critical and relevant use of the concepts learned, applying appropriate categories for analyzing specific social phenomena related to gender and sexuality
Additional educational objectives and learning outcomes
A related goal is to make the student able to choose for himself/herself the theoretical stances on the key debates on gender and sexuality. To 'choose' in this context implies having a sufficient understanding of the stakes involved, sufficient knowledge of the main positions in the debate, and the ability to justify one's theoretical preferences in the light of alternatives.