ECTS course syllabi
Faculty of Philology
APPLIED GENDER STUDIES
ECTS code
AGS-S-3
Feminist movements
Hours
30
ECTS points Final requirement
2
grade
Year
I
Semester
I
Form
classes
(obligatory)
Language Prerequisites
English
none
Provider
University of Opole / Faculty of Philology
Studies
Subject
Applied Gender
Studies
Degree
MA
Organization
Full time
Profile
Major/Specialty
Academic
SPECIALITY SUBJECTS
Course name
ECTS code
Form
Hours
ECTS
points
Instructor
Feminist movements
AGS-S-3
class
30
2
Dr Anna Czerner
Forms of evaluation of effects (see below for types of effects)
Essay (1, 2, 3, 4, ,5, 6, 8, 12, 13)
Oral presentation (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Methods of instruction/ forms of classroom activity
ECTS points in relation to student’s duties
Class discussion of assigned literary works and theoretical
texts
Individual projects (presentations concerning feminist
issues in selected texts)
Written responses to readings
1 ECTS pt. – 30 hours of class participation
1 ECTS pt. – 30 hours of preparation for class (reading the
assigned texts and writing the essays)
Course description
The course addresses both a theoretical insight into feminist movements’ academic and ideological frames and the effective
social activity of women. Each class session will be devoted to discussion of the specific problem presented in the text.
Students will be provided with knowledge about historical development of women’s movement and its contemporary
challenges as well. The focus is on the understanding how feminist movements identify social problems and how they induce
desirable changes.
Course objectives
The course is designed to help students develop a conceptual framework that will provide an understanding of the feminist
perspective on social reality. Students will be expected to master skills in identifying a broad range of social actors and
grassroots movements in the field of women's rights. On a practical level, the course encourages students to build
sociological skills in data collection, analysis and interpretation.
Course content
1. History of feminism: the beginnings of the women's movement, the first and second waves of feminism;
political, economic, and socio-cultural circumstances.
2. The theory and practice of feminism: the academic and ideological grounding of women’s rights movements.
3. Postfeminism: the origins and defining controversies; pop culture; political and ecological context. The female
body – new attitudes .
4. The relationship between feminism and multiculturalism: minority rights, gendered citizenship, European
dilemmas.
5. Women and the labour market: gender inequalities in paid work; unpaid work in the households – prospective
solutions of the problem; labour migration.
6. Family life, intimate relationships, debates over motherhood. Feminism movements’ effect on family-friendly
policies.
Women’s health movements: the democratization of medical knowledge, so-called expert patients, the case of
breast cancer activism, patient-to-patient grassroots movements.
8. Feminism and politics. The private/public divide in liberal political theory. Woman’s role in the church. The
natural law approach. Women’s political participation.
9. Popfeminism – women’s issues in media, ‘girl power’ idea, idols and icons, common simplifications and
generalizations about gender and feminism.
10. Rethinking the feminist future: the challenges for the next decade.
7.
Reading list
A. obligatory reading (to get a credit):
A.1. used in class
The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism, ed. Sarah Gamble, Routledge 2002.
A.2. used for self –study
New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity, ed. Rosalind Gill and Christina Scharff, Palgrave
Macmillan 2011.
B. supplementary reading:
Arneil Barbara, Politics and Feminism, Wiley-Blackwell 1999.
Benhabib Seyla, The Claims of Culture Equality and Diversity in The Global Era, Princeton University Press 2002.
Brown Phil, Stephen Zavestoski, Social Movements in Women’s Health, Sociology of Health & Illness, Vol. 26 No. 6,
2004.
Duman Fatih , The Roots of Modern Feminism: Mary Wollstonecraft and the French Revolution, International Journal
of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 2 No. 9, May 2012.
Gibbon Sahra, Breast Cancer Genes and the Gendering of Knowledge Science and Citizenship in the Cultural Context
of the ‘New’ Genetics, Palgrave Macmillan 2007.
Gilbert Neil, A Mother’s Work: How Feminism, the Market, and Policy Shape Family Life, Yale University 2008.
Gutiérrez-Rodríguez Encarnación, Migration, Domestic Work and Affect: a Decolonial Approach on Value and the
Feminization of Labor, Routledge 2010.
McRobbie Angela, The Aftermath of Feminism Gender, Culture and Social Change, Sage 2009.
Reitman Oonagh, Multiculturalism and Feminism: Incompatibility, Compatibility, or Synonymity? (open access:
http://www.ssoar.info)
Turshen Meredeth, Women’s Health Movements: A Global Force for Change, Palgrave Macmillan 2007.
Knowledge
Students:
1. have a broadened knowledge of legal, economic and political conditions of gender issues (K_W07)
2. have broadened knowledge of social diversity and inequality (K_W09)
3. have a deepened knowledge of social, political and cultural institutions; follow the news and
participate in cultural events (K_W15)
Skills
Students can:
Effects
4.
5.
6.
7.
search for, analyze, select, evaluate and use information collected from various sources and
presented in various media (K_U01)
work independently and do effective self-study to develop interests and advance research (K_U03)
apply the terminology, theoretical frameworks, research paradigms and methodological approaches
of linguistics, literature and culture studies, as well as social studies (K_U04)
collaborate with other students to define and find a solution to a given problem related to gender
issues (K_U13)
Social competences
Students:
8. shapes his/her opinions on the basis of the obtained general and detailed knowledge (K_K03)
9. recognizes and respects cultural, social and ethnic differences in communication patterns (K_K08)
10. is aware of his/her civic responsibilities and is tolerant towards other actors in the public sphere
(K_K10)
11. is able to participate creatively in social projects (K_K13)
12. follows the news and participates in cultural events (K_K14)
13. is able to share advanced sociological knowledge with both professionals and laypeople (K_K15)
Contact
Dr Anna Czerner
anna.czerner /at/ wp.pl, Phone: 728 623 889