| (Course Code/Name) Course Description:
GEND6101: Foundations of Feminist Methodology & Epistemology This course examines the challenge of feminist methodology and epistemology to traditional research methodology and epistemology. It exposes the myth of objectivity and clarifies concepts of feminist epistemology. This leads to an engagement of alternative perspectives in relation to the social sciences. It involves an analysis of social science research to evaluate classist, sexist and ethnocentric bias in research design, data collection and analysis and reporting. It also addresses the differential female and male experiences as data sources. GEND6101: Key Theories and Debates in Gender & Development This reading course is designed to expose students to key theories and debates in development and gender related developmental issues in the Caribbean. A history of development discourse will be given as starting point. Key developmental paradigms – dependency, modernisation, sustainable development and eco-feminisms, the labour market, gender, structural adjustment and change in Caribbean development will also be addressed.
GEND6001: Contemporary Feminist Theorising The course looks at the discursive strategies employed by Western philosophy and language in defining and constructing the category woman and womanhood as 'other', diseased and incomplete, in other words, a product of various pathologies. It must be noted here that 'otherness' is not only created on the basis of biological sex or social gender; it is also created on the basis of geopolitics and, to that extent, the course will deliberately affirm the Caribbean experience as a valid standpoint from which to interrogate and theorise. Hence, our own personal and collective Caribbean experience, as well as relevant Caribbean scholarship, will be an integral part of this course. The course is organised around four questions. Throughout the semester we will debate these four questions in so far as they comprise the constituent elements of the "Woman Question".
GEND6102: Data Collection and Analysis: A Gendered Approach This course is designed to assist students develop their qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills. The course is based on the principle of mixed methods approach, often used in gender studies, where both qualitative and quantitative methods are used enhance the quality of the research and to interrogate social problems and issues from a gender perspective. This course builds on the ‘The Foundation of Feminist Methodology and Epistemology’ and will focus on issues related to the collection of quantitative data as well as basic approaches to analyzing and presenting univariate / bivariate and multivariate datasets. The course assessment will also allow students to apply information gathered from the Feminist Methodology as well as this course in the development of a research proposal related to a selected topic of relevance to the field of gender and development studies.
GEND6502: Gender Analysis for Development Policy and Planning This course is designed to assist students develop their qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills. The course is based on the principle of mixed methods approach, often used in gender studies, where both qualitative and quantitative methods are used enhance the quality of the research and to interrogate social problems and issues from a gender perspective. This course builds on the ‘The Foundation of Feminist Methodology and Epistemology’ and will focus on issues related to the collection of quantitative data as well as basic approaches to analyzing and presenting univariate / bivariate and multivariate datasets. The course assessment will also allow students to apply information gathered from the Feminist Methodology as well as this course in the development of a research proposal related to a selected topic of relevance to the field of gender and development studies.
GEND6402: Gender & Political Mobilisation & Activism Understanding how the patriarchy and the gender system continue to influence the participation of women and men in political decision-making and therefore affect the realities of life for families, communities and nations is fundamental to the struggle for transformation in governance in the 2l St century and therefore a critical aspect of studies in Gender and Development. Understanding of issues of gender and governance is a part of the foundation for activism to achieve the goal of gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women. GEND6105: Gender in Conflict Situations This course explores key theories and issues of gender and conflict situations in global as well as regional contexts. It also investigates how gender, violence and war impact upon development. The course conceptualizes various forms of conflict situations in relation to gender ranging from total war and genocide to gender based violence in the private sphere. The course makes the link between prevailing gender inequalities and gender based violence, and also facilitates a gendered approach to the study of peace and justice initiatives.
GEND6201: Sexualities, Bodies and Power in Society The course exposes students to theoretical debates about the historical, social and psychological regulation of sexuality. It explores the importance of diverse sexual identities in controlling and ordering the structure of societies. This course is grounded in the theoretical, methodological and empirical realities of how sexuality functions as a distinguishing category of hierarchy and privilege. It examines the antagonism between bodies as natural, biological and socially controlled within the context of power and knowledge relations. Feminist analyses of the extent to which cultural messages about the ways that appropriate and transgressive masculinities, femininities and third gender categories are passively assimilated or actively resisted are debated. The importance of reproductive health care and safe sex campaigns are discussed. Interventions to increase the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are discussed. The implications for social policies to improve the socio-sexual status of women and sexual minorities are also addressed in relation to wider power inequalities such as race, ethnicity and class.
GEND6202: Gender and Globalization This graduate course explores historical and current issues, concepts and debates relating to globalization within the context of neoliberal ideology. We will consider how women and men's experiences with globalization differ and change with the restructuring of the global political economy. The course is divided into sections which explore the following questions: (i) How does globalization impact existing (gender) inequalities? (ii) How is it reconfiguring or producing new gender inequalities? (iii) What is the gendered impact of globalization in the Caribbean?
GEND9001: Thesis (Gender & Dev Studies) OR Internship Report Research Paper (8 credits) All M.Sc. students must complete, under academic supervision, either a written research project based on researching primary data or using secondary data sources on a subject chosen by the candidate in consultation with Faculty members OR complete a internship with an appropriately recognised NGO/public sector or research organization. Topics for the research paper must be submitted to the IDGS by the end of the Second Semester of Year One and must be related to the general subject area of Gender and Development and approved by the Coordinator, Graduate Studies. A list of possible internship organizations will be provided to the students at the end of the first semester. Students wishing to pursue this alternative to the research project must indicate their commitment to the MSc. Coordinator by the beginning of semester two. The IGDS will be responsible for the placement and monitoring of the intern/student. Upon approval of their topics for the research project/paper, students will be assigned supervisors who will subsequently work with them to determine the procedures to be followed for preparation of the research project, and for oral presentations. Following the candidate’s completion of the coursework, the research paper (maximum 20,000 words, exclusive of footnotes and appendices) is to be submitted by the end of August of their second year. The Research Project must be written in accordance with the University’s Regulations. Internship (8 credits) A student may also choose to do an internship instead of a research project. This internship will consist of a placement with an appropriately recognised NGO/public sector or research organization for three (3) months (typically during the Summer months of June to August). This will be followed by an additional three (3) months to write an internship report. Internships will be supervised by an internship supervisor assigned by the IGDS as well as someone in the agency identified to monitor and report on the student’s progress. The internship reports will be examined by the supervisor and another selected UWI examiner. The Institute will develop criteria for the selection of the appropriate organizations and will formulate a template for the internship report. This option is only open to students who can be registered full time for the duration of the internship. The internships are to provide the student with real experience relating to their degree and will be assigned to perform /participate in a relevant and challenging project(s). Effective assignments will be matched adequate supervision and will ensure interns are keeping pace and learning while doing about working in the field. All interns will be assigned in such a way that relates their academic work to practice and captures their work experience thus far. The intern will be involved in organization events such as staff meetings, workshops and seminars and allow opportunities for networking and informational interviewing with key personnel. All interns are required to submit an intern report at the end of her/his assignment. The internship placement will take place over the summer holidays for a period of three (3) months. The skills set of the potential intern must match up with some of the organization and must satisfy a specific need/task/project that the organization has. An additional three (3) months will be allocated for the completion of the internship report once the placement has been completed. Supervision will be provided by the UWI IGDS and an on-site supervisor in the organization where the student is doing the internship. Interns will provide some useful assistance for the organization while also gaining on-the-job training that will assist them with their future career search. This will be identified and agreed upon between the IGDS and the organization prior to commencement of an internship. |