Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis Feminist scholarship is currently engaged in a process of transformation, challenged by anticolonial, antiracist and gay and lesbian movements as well as a diversity of `modernist' and `postmodernist,' theoretical, methodological and philosophical positions. The two subjects, `Sexual/social theory A and B', will examine a number of `critical exchanges' within feminist theory as they affect sociology and anthropology. These two subjects are offered as a linked set of units, and students are recommended to take both. A different set of issues will be explored in each of the two subjects but there are common themes running through both. Topics to be covered in `Sexual/social theory A' will include the status of the notions `woman' and `women,' and the concept of difference; changing conceptions of `sex' and `gender' in feminist and other discourses; the theorising of identity, experience and subjectivity; the significance of bodies; alternative theories about the representation of women, bodies, and sexuality in different cultural contexts.
Assessment (8 points) One exercise (2000 words): 33% + Essay (4000 words): 67%
Assessment (12 points) Two exercises (2000 words each): 20% each + Essay (5000 words): 60%