BA English Literature

Year of entry: 2024

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Course unit details:
Gender, Sexuality and the Body: Theories and Histories

Course unit fact file
Unit code	ENGL20481
Credit rating	20
Unit level	Level 2
Teaching period(s)	Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

This course explores two analytical concepts central to our understanding of what makes us 'modern': gender and sexuality. We analyse specific examples of 20th century fiction, film, and popular culture in order to consider topics such as: desire, identity, sexual classification, repression and liberation, racial and classed bodies, transgression, normality and deviance, and trans politics. We also consider some of the key theorists of sexuality, including Freud and Foucault. Throughout the course key feminist and queer theorists are introduced in relation to debates about changing understandings of the three categories in the course title.

Aims

To introduce students to a range of theoretical work on gender, sexuality and the body informed by, or critical of, sexology and psychoanalysis;

To encourage students to assess such material critically;

To introduce students to a number of 20th century cultural texts which - self-consciously or otherwise - foreground issues of sexuality, gender and the body;

To encourage students to develop strategies of reading cultural texts informed by theories of sexuality, gender and the body.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, the successful student will have demonstrated:

An understanding of some of the main issues raised by theoretical accounts of sexuality and gender;

A grasp of the distinctions between different schools of thought in this area;

An ability to analyse cultural texts in ways informed by theoretical work of sexuality, gender and the body;

An appreciation of the implications for cultural criticism of the distinctions between the different schools of thought in this area.

Employability skills

Analytical skills: Students taking this unit will be able to analyse and evaluate arguments and texts. Above all, committed students will emerge from this course unit with an advanced capacity to think critically, i.e. knowledgeably, rigorously, confidently and independently.
Group/team working: Students taking this unit will be able to work courteously and constructively as part of a larger group.
Innovation/creativity: On this unit students are encouraged to respond imaginatively and independently to the questions and ideas raised by texts and other media.
Leadership: Students on this unit must take responsibility for their learning and are encouraged not only to participate in group discussions but to do so actively and even to lead those discussions.
Project management: Students taking this unit will be able to work towards deadlines and to manage their time effectively.
Oral communication: Students taking this unit will be able to show fluency, clarity and persuasiveness in spoken communication.
Research: Students on this unit will be required to digest, summarise and present large amounts of information. They are encouraged to enrich their responses and arguments with a wide range of further reading.
Written communication: Students on this unit will develop their ability to write in a way that is lucid, precise and compelling.

Assessment methods

Closed Reading Exercise 40%

Essay 60%

Feedback methods

Written and face-to-face (upon arrangement)

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam	2
Lectures	22
Seminars	11

Independent study hours
Independent study	165

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Ben Nichols	Unit coordinator
Jacqueline Stacey	Unit coordinator

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