University of the Western Cape
WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES
DEPARTMENT
POSTGRADUATE HANDBOOK
2015
Postgraduate Studies in the Department
The Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) Department locates gender scholarship within
the socio-political, cultural and economic context of national and global changes, through
teaching, research, skills development and advocacy. One of the key objectives of the
Department is to encourage the development of theory, knowledge and skills for those
already working in organizations or institutions directed toward gender transformation
and sexual rights, as well as for those intending to work in such fields. A broader
objective is to undertake and support research and teaching that innovatively explores the
gendered construction of social identities, relationships, beliefs and norms.
Teaching and research in the Department explore gender and sexuality from
intersectional, holistic and interdisciplinary perspectives. The study of gender intersects
with different power relations, such as those connected to race, class and sexual
orientation. Our research and teaching aim to develop and strengthen knowledge about
gender within local, national and global cultural and political processes.
The Department fosters interdisciplinary research and teaching; our postgraduate students
engage with a range of disciplines in course-work and thesis research offered through the
Department, as well as in different departments and faculties at the University.
Course Requirements
Postgraduate study in WGS is multidisciplinary and offers the degrees of Honours and
MA by course work (structured) and MA by thesis (unstructured). All our postgraduate
degrees are offered on a part-time basis to accommodate students who are in fulltime
employment.
Postgraduate study in WGS allows students to select their areas of interest and
specialization. Honours and Masters (structured) students have to register for two
compulsory core modules and a choice of two electives selected from those outlined in
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this handbook, and others on offer in departments and faculties including Law, the
School of Government, Social Anthropology, Sociology and English. In addition
Honours students complete a research essay (Code No. WGS 701).
Masters students have to submit a research proposal for approval by the Arts Faculty Post
Graduate Board of Studies, by the start of their second year of study, and thereafter have
to complete their mini thesis (Code No. WGS 801), preferably in one further year.
Department Vision
Developing Innovative Teaching and Research on Gender and Sexuality: The
Women's and Gender Studies Department is a vibrant site of teaching, learning and
research, where local, national and global knowledge is shared and developed. Our
primary aim is to support students as critical knowledge producers and practitioners with
a wide range of analytical, theoretical and practical skills. Postgraduate students are
expected to attend seminars hosted by WGS as well as meetings and workshops designed
for postgraduate students to develop writing and research skills, to present research and
proposals, and to discuss the work-in-progress of other postgraduates in the department.
Local, National and International Engagement:
Historically, the Department has had a particular niche in the Western Cape. We offered
the first postgraduate programme in Gender Studies in this region, and have a history of
supporting progressive organizational and political processes.
Currently, we continue to have close links with many of the community based and nongovernmental organizations dealing with gender justice and sexual rights in the region.
We also actively collaborate with departments and scholars focusing on gender at other
universities in the country. The Department also has strong international partnerships
(including research partnerships, projects funding student and staff research, and staff and
teacher exchange programmes) with universities in countries including the United States,
Finland and the Netherlands.
Staff in 2015
Desiree Lewis (Associate Professor, HOD and Postgraduate Coordinator)
Lindsay Clowes (Associate Professor, Undergraduate Coordinator )
Tamara Shefer (Senior Professor and Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning)
Sisa Ngabaza (Lecturer)
Mawada Abrahams (Administrator)
Ayesha Ludick & Dawn Bosman (Student Academic Coordinators)
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Anna Strebel (Professor Extraordinaire)
Nadia Sanger: Research Associate
STAFF PROFILE AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
Lindsay Clowes
(PhD in Historical Studies University of Cape Town)
After teaching in the History Department at UCT, Lindsay Clowes began lecturing in the
Women’s and Gender Studies Department in 2000. Her PhD focused on changing
representations of masculinity in Drum magazine between 1951 and 1984. Her more
recent work explores questions around masculinity, generation and sexuality. She has
also consistently been working in the field of teaching and learning practice and research.
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Accidental feminists? Recent histories of South African women
van der Spuy, Patricia; Clowes, Lindsay (History Department, University of the
Western Cape, 2007)
Coercive sexual practices and gender-based violence on a university campus
Clowes, Lindsay; Shefer, Tamara; Fouten, Elron; Vergnani, Tania; Jacobs,
Joachim (Taylor & Francis, co-published with Unisa Press, 2009)
“It’s not a simple thing, co-publishing”: challenges of co-authorship between
supervisors and students in South African higher educational contexts
Clowes, Lindsay; Shefer, Tamara (UNISA Press, 2013)
'A living testimony of the heights to which a woman can rise’: Sarojini Naidu,
Cissie Gool and the Politics of Women’s Leadership in South Africa in the 1920s
van der Spuy, Patricia; Clowes, Lindsay (Taylor & Francis, 2012)
Masculinity, matrimony and generation: Reconfiguring patriarchy in Drum 19511983
Clowes, Lindsay (Routledge, 2008)
Men and children: Changing constructions of fatherhood in Drum magazine,
1951-1965
Clowes, Lindsay (HSRC Press, 2006)
Men in Africa: masculinities, materiality and meaning
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Shefer, Tamara; Stevens, Garth; Clowes, Lindsay (Elliot & Fitzpatrick Inc., 2010)
Narratives of transactional sex on a university campus
Shefer, Tamara; Clowes, Lindsay; Vergnani, Tania (Taylor & Francis, 2012)
Perceptions of staffriding in Post-Apartheid South Africa: the lethal thrill of speed
or the masculine performance of a painful past?
Sedite, Dimakatso; Bowman, Brett; Clowes, Lindsay (Elliot & Fitzpatrick
Inc., 2010)
Pregnant girls and young parents in South African schools
Bhana, Deevia; Clowes, Lindsay; Morrell, Robert; Shefer, Tamara (UNISA
Press, 2008)
Risk and protective factors to male interpersonal violence: views of some male
university students
Clowes, Lindsay; Lazarus, Sandy; Ratele, Kopano (Medical Research
Council, 2010)
Risk and protective factors to male interpersonal violence: Views of some male
university students
Clowes, Lindsay; Lazarus, Sandy; Ratele, Kopano (Medical Research Council,
Tygerberg, 2010)
School principals and their responses to the rights and needs of pregnant and
parenting learners
Clowes, Lindsay; D’Amant, Toni; Nkani, Vuyo (HSRC Press, 2012)
South African schools' responses to pregnant girls and young parents: a study of
some Durban and Cape Town secondary schools
Bhana, Deevia; Clowes, Lindsay; Morrell, Robert; Shefer, Tamara (Unisa Press
and Taylor & Francis, 2008)
Talking South African fathers: a critical examination of men’s constructions and
experiences of fatherhood and fatherlessness
Ratele, Kopano; Shefer, Tamara; Clowes, Lindsay (Sage Publications, 2012)
Desiree Lewis
(MA, Wits; PhD, University of Cape Town)
Desiree Lewis is currently the WGS Head of Department and postgraduate coordinator.
She has worked as a lecturer and researcher in English and gender studies at the
Universities of the Western Cape, the University of Natal and the African Gender
Institute at the University of Cape Town. Her research focuses on popular, visual and
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literary culture in South Africa and postcolonial studies of feminisms, gender and
sexualities.
Selected Publications are:
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“The Multiple dimensions of Human Security through the Lens of African
Feminist Intellectual Activism in Africa Peace and Conflict Journal, vol 6, 1,
2013.
“Feminism” available at: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo9780199846733/obo-9780199846733-0116.xml, 2013
“Politics, Freedoms and Spirituality in Alaa Al Aswany’s Yacoubian Building,
Journal for Islamic Studies, vol 33, 2013.
With Tigist Hussen and Monique van Vuuren, “Exploring new media
technologies among young South African women”, Feminist Africa, Issue 18,
2013.
“The Politics of ‘Doing Gender in South Africa’” in Social Worker PractitionerResearcher, 24, 1 (March), 2012.
“Aesthetics and Identity in South African Fashion” in Moletsane, R, Mitchell, C
and Smith, A, eds. Was it Something I Wore: Dress, Identity, Materiality. Cape
Town: HSRC Press, 2012.
Desiree Lewis and Rick Rohde, “Sophia Klaaste: Self-portraits” in Social
Dynamics, 37, 2, 2011.
“Scripted bodies: Introduction”, Social Dynamics, 37, 2, 2011.
Desiree Lewis and Mary Hames “Gender, Sexuality and Commodity Culture” in
Agenda, 25, 4, 2011.
“Representing African Sexualities” in Tamale, S, ed. African Sexualities: A
Reader. Cape Town, Dakar, Nairobi and Oxford: Pambazuka Press), 2011.
“Writing Baartman’s Agency: History, Biography and the Imbroglios of Truth” in
Gordon-Chipembere, N. ed. Representation and Black Womanhood. New York:
Palgrave. 2011.
“Discursive Challenges for African Feminisms” in African Feminist Politics of
Knowledge: Tensions, Possibilities, Challenges. Eds. Ampofo, Akosua and
Arnfred, Signe, Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, 2010
“Gendered Spectacle: New Terrains of Struggle in South Africa” in Body Politics
and Women Citizens – African Experiences, ed. Ann Schlyter, Stockholm: SIDA
Studies. 2009.
“South Africa, African Feminism and Challenges of Solidarity” in Ruiters, G. ed.
Gender Activism: Perspectives on the South African transition, institutional
Cultures and Everyday Life. Grahamstown: Rhodes University, Institute of Social
and Economic Research.
“Feminism and the Radical Imagination” in Agenda, 72, 2007.
Living on a Horizon: the Writings of Bessie Head (Trenton, NJ: Africa World
Press), 2007.
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Sisa Ngabaza
M. ED (UZ) PhD (UWC)
Sisa Ngabaza has worked as a lecturer in the department of Women and Gender Studies
at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She has published on school age
pregnancy in South Africa and her research interests include gender, youth and
adolescent sexuality, adolescent pregnancy, parenting and power relations.
Her recent publications include the following:
 Policy commitments vs lived realities of young pregnant women and mothers in
school Western Cape South Africa [with Tamara Shefer], Reproductive Health
Matters 21(41) 2013
 Contestations of meanings of love and gender in a university students’ discussion
with Dominic Daniels, Olivia Frank and Rhulani Maluleke. Agenda 2013
Doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.822684
 Teachers’ responses to pregnancy and young parents in schools with Bhana, D. In
R. Morrell, D. Bhana and T. Shefer (eds.), Books and/or Babies. Pregnancy and
young parents in school .
 Cape Town: Human Science Research Council Press. 2012
 Positively pregnant: Teenage women’s experiences of negotiating pregnancy with
their families’, Agenda, 25, 2011
 South African teachers’’ responses to teenage pregnancy and teenage mothers in
schools with [ Bhana, D, Morrell R, Shefer T] Culture, Health and Sexuality, 12
(8) 2010.
Tamara Shefer
(MA Psychology, UCT; D Phil, UWC; Research Psychologist)
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Tamara Shefer is a professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the
University of the Western Cape and currently Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning in
the Faculty of Arts. Her research and publications are primarily in the following areas:
discourses of heterosexuality; contemporary and historical narratives of raced, gendered
and sexualized identities; masculinities; and challenges and innovations in teaching and
learning in higher education She is the co-editor of five books, the most recent being
Books and/or babies: pregnancy and young parenting in schools (2012); From Boys to
Men (2007) and The Gender of Psychology (2006).
Some of her recent publications include:
 Critical reflections on contemporary responses to gender violence within public,
political, health and research contexts. African Safety Promotion: A Journal of
Injury and Violence Prevention: Special Edition on Gender, Violence and Public,
Political and Health Promotion Responses., 11(2), 2013.
 Deconstructing the ‘sugar daddy’: A critical review of the constructions of men in
intergenerational sexual relationships in South Africa [with A. Strebel].
AGENDA26(4), 57-63.DOI:10.1080/10130950.2012.760837
 Narratives on teenage pregnancy and parenting at school in contemporary South
African school contexts [with D. Bhana & R. Morrell]. Perspectives in Education,
31(1), 1-10, 2013.
 Fraught tenderness: Narratives on domestic workers in memories of apartheid.
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 18(3), 307-317, 2012.
 Narratives of transactional sex on a university campus [with L. Clowes & T.
Vergnani]. Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research,
Intervention and Care, 14(4), 435-447, 2012.
 AIDS fatigue and students’ talk about HIV risk [with A. Strebel & J. Jacobs].
African Journal of AIDS Research, 11(2), 113-121, 2012.
 ‘Sometimes taxi men are rough’: Young women’s experiences of the risks of
being a ‘taxi queen’. African Safety Promotion: A Journal of Injury and Violence
Prevention [with A. Strebel, C. Potgieter, C. Wagner). 9(2), 1-24, 2011.
 Racist sexualisation and sexualised racism in narratives on apartheid [with K.
Ratele]. Psychoanalysis, culture & society, 16(1), 27-48, 2011.
 Narrating gender and sex in and through apartheid divides. South African Journal
of Psychology, 40(4), 382-395, 2010.
Anna Strebel (Professor Extraordinaire)
(MA [Clinical Psychology], US; PhD, UCT; HPCSA-registered clinical and research
psychologist
Anna Strebel, previously professor in the Department of Psychology at UWC, is currently
appointed in the Mellon Visiting and Retired Scholars Mentorship Programme in the
Research Office at UCT, and based in the Department of Public Health and Family
Medicine. She also works as a consultant researcher, conducting and publishing
workespecially in the areas of HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, transactional and
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intergenerational sexuality, and qualitative methodologies,She is on the editorial board of
a number of international and local academic journals.
Nadia Sanger (Research Associate)
A doctoral graduate of the WGS Department, Nadia Sanger has researched and published
on the media, popular culture and representations of the body, and has recently begun
work in Critical Animal Studies. Nadia is a Fulbright scholar, having spent some time in
the Women’s Studies department at the University of Maryland in College Park,
Baltimore. She has worked as a Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research
Council (HSRC) for nine years, and is currently consulting independently. Her areas of
research and writing include qualitative research methodologies, feminist
intersectionality theories, and cultural studies.
Selected publications include:
 Reddy, C and Sanger, N. 2013. “Matters of Age: An Introduction to Ageing,
Intergenerationality and Gender in Africa”Agenda: Special Issue on Ageing and
Intergenerationality, 94.
 Sanger, N. 2013. “Imagining possibilities: feminist cultural production, nonviolent identities, and embracing the Other in post-colonial South Africa”, African
Identities, DOI: 10.1080/14725843.2013.775841.
 Sanger, N. 2011. “Review essay on Oliver Hermanus’ Shirley Adams”, Agenda:
Gender, sexuality and commodity culture, 25 (4): 18-23.
 Sanger, N. 2010. “‘The real problems need to be fixed first’: public discourses on
sexuality and gender in South Africa”, Agenda: Feminisms Today, Special Issue,
24 (83): 114-125.
 Sanger, N and Hadland, A. 2009. “Challenging patriarchal scripts? A gender
analysis of South Africa's community print media”, Agenda: Community Media,
Special Issue, 22 (77): 4-17.
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Sanger, N. 2009. “New women, old messages? Constructions of femininities, race
and hypersexualised bodies in selected South African magazines, 2003–2006”,
Social Dynamics, 35 (1): 137-148.
Sanger, N. 2008. “’There’s got to be a man in there’: Reading intersections
between gender, race and sexuality in South African magazines”, African
Identities, 6 (3): 275-291.
Sanger, N. 2008. “Engendering the National Gender Machinery”, New Agenda:
South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy Research, 29: 58-61.
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Sanger, N. 2007. “’We cannot at any stage be seen to be political, as we are not
here to engender change, but to inspire’: magazine editors and notions of
objectivity and neutrality”, Journal of Media and Gender Diversity, 3: 104-112.
Sanger, N and Clowes, L. 2006. “Marginalized and demonized: lesbians and
equality - perceptions of people in a local Western Cape community”, Agenda,
67: 36-47.
Useful Contacts for Postgraduates
Dean of Arts Faculty: Prof Duncan Brown
Secretary to Arts Faculty Dean: Ms Jill Flusk
Email: jflusk@uwc.ac.za
Tel: 021 959 2235
Senior Arts Faculty Officer: Ms B Sauls
Email: bsauls@uwc.ac.za
Tel: 021 959 2407
Arts Faculty Officer:
Collette Schroeder: cschroeder@uwc.ac.za
Tel:021 595 9261
Arts Faculty Officer responsible for Postgraduate Matters
Villeen Beerwinkel: vbeerwinkel@uwc.ac.za
Tel:021 595 9257
Division for Postgraduate Study Director: Prof Lorna Holtman
Email: lholtman@uwc.ac.za
Tel: 021 959 2451/3920
Gender Equity Unit: Director: Ms Mary Hames
Email: mhames@uwc.ac.za
Tel: 021 959 2813
Chair of Arts Faculty Postgraduate Board: Prof Simon Beck (Philosophy Department)
WGS Departmental Representative on APGB and Post-graduate Coordinator: Desiree
Lewis
Email: dlewis@uwc.ac.za
Tel: 021 959 2403/2234
Centre for Humanities Research, focusing on supporting Arts Faculty postgraduates
through seminars, conferences and funding.
Director: Prof Premesh Lalu
Secretary: Ms LameezLalkhen
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Email: llalkhen@uwc.ac.za
Phone: (021) 959 3162
Fax: (021) 959 1282
COURSES – Honours Note: Honours applicants must confirm that they register
for and complete all courses required by the Arts Faculty
Name of module: Theories of Feminism
Code: WGS731Semester 1
Lecturer: Associate Professor Desiree Lewis
Department: WGS
Level: Honours (and Masters)
The aims of this course are to:
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assist students with developing critical tools and frameworks for exploring gender
in interdisciplinary ways.
encourage students’ understanding of the relevance and implications of feminist
theorizing
encourage debate and critical reflection about gendered relations and dynamics, as
well as discourses of gender.
Philosophy:
The course aims at stimulating critical reflection about theoretical, political and
epistemological issues that have dominated feminist debates and activism, especially
since the institutionalization of women’s studies as an academic discipline in the second
half of the twentieth century. Classes will focus on participation, discussion, reflection
and debate. The value of the classes will therefore depend on students’ full preparation
and participation.
Seminar Outline:
The course comprises two sections. The first half of the course will provide a “road map”
of key feminist theories and traditions that are relevant to South African explorations of
gender, sexuality and related power relations and discourses. The second half of the
course will explore case studies that are especially relevant to South African contexts in
concretising theoretical trends reviewed.
Requirements
Students will be assessed on the basis of class presentations and participation, long essays
and short assignments.
Reading
Reading for each seminar is compulsory. A reader will be provided for seminars; further
reading (to which students will be directed) will be required for essays. Postgraduates are
encouraged to use our resource centre, which has a solid selection of books and journals
dealing with gender, feminism and sexuality.
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CORE COURSE - Honours
Name of module: Introduction to Feminist Research
Code: WGS711Semester 1
Lecturer:Prof Tamara Shefer
Department: WGS
Level: Honours
Aims of the course:
 To acquaint students with basic principles of feminist research methodology
 To unpack feminist perspectives and debates on research methodologies, methods and
techniques;
 To develop research skills and appropriate knowledge for carrying out a range of
research methods appropriate to feminist research;
 To facilitate the development of students’ own research projects, in particular the
development of the research proposal and the research report.
Methodology:
Seminars and class discussions.
Course content:
 Introduction to feminist research methodologies, key components and principles.
 Introduction to contemporary debates within feminist research methodologies,
particularly those pertinent to South Africa.
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Exploration of the links between feminist, qualitative and participatory
methodologies.
Practical skills for writing a research proposal and conducting a research project.
Course requirements:
Written assignments; development and presentation of research proposal.
Readings:
A wide range of readings on feminist research methodology and on various research
methods will be made available. Students are expected to read prescribed texts available
in the course reader, and to read sources recommended by the lecturer. Students must do
all reading for each session.
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CORE COURSE – Masters Note: MA candidates must confirm that they register for and
complete all courses required by the Arts Faculty.
Name of module: Trends in contemporary feminist theory
Code: WGS832
Semester 1 &2
Lecturer: Associate Prof.Desiree Lewis
Department: WGS
Level: Masters
Aims of the course:
 To provide students with an understanding of the implications of globally influential
feminist theories
 To encourage students’ competence with the concepts, tools and politics associated
with different feminist theories in relation to their MA research
 To provide students with theoretical concepts and frameworks for MA dissertations
and research projects.
Methodology:
Seminars based on readings, weekly written assignments.
Course requirements:
Written assignments and long essays; class participation and email contributions.
Readings:
A wide range of theoretical readings will be made available for each seminar, based on
the course content as outlined above.
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CORE COURSE – Masters
Name of module: Feminist Research Methodologies
Code: WGS806Semester 1
Lecturer: Prof Tamara Shefer
Department: WGS
Level: Masters
Aims of the course:
 To develop a detailed understanding of feminist critiques of traditional research
methodologies, methods and techniques, with particular reference to South African
context;
 To develop research skills and appropriate knowledge for conducting research on
various topics.
 To facilitate the development of students’ own research projects, in particular the
development of the research proposal and work towards the mini-thesis.
Methodology:
Seminars and class discussions.
Course content:
 Introduction to epistemological issues in research;
 Review of feminist research practice principles and historical tenets;
 Exploration of historical and current debates and challenges in carrying out feminist
research;
 Overview and practice in range of qualitative/feminist research methods including,
participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, participatory action research, life
history research, etc.;
 Practical skills for generating a research proposal and progressing on the research
project for the mini-thesis.
Course requirements:
Written assignments; development and presentation of research proposal.
Readings:
A wide range of readings on feminist and other critical forms of research methodology
and on research methods more broadly will be made available.
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ELECTIVE MODULES
The Department permits postgraduate WGS students to select courses from a range
of departments and faculties at the University. Students are encouraged to approach
different Arts Faculty departments (and departments in other faculties) to select
elective courses in disciplines in which they are interested. Students should confirm
the suitability of their choice with the Department and the Arts Faculty (See contact
details on page 10).
Note: The WGS department is unable to provide detailed listings each year because
course offerings and their teaching times in different departments regularly change.
Please consult the 2015 Arts Faculty Yearbook for details.
The following modules have frequently been chosen by our students.
Women’s Health and Well-Being: Transcultural Perspectives
Code:Hons:WGS 737; MA: WGS 837
Semester 2 Not on offer in 2015
Lecturers: Profs Vivienne Bozalek and Tamara Shefer
Department: Women's and Gender Studies
Level: Honours& Masters
Aims of the course:
The purpose of this module is to create a learning environment that facilitates
collaborative transcultural work in an online learning environment from different
geographical locations. You are invited to explore the concept of well-being and its
associated sets of values in relations to women’s physical, social and mental health, in
order to gain a gendered perspective about health issues and how they intersect with
power relations in different cultural contexts. You will have the opportunity to compare
and contrast your views and experiences on this topic with those of other participants
from your own geographic location as well as from other geographic locations. The
module will culminate with a collaborative group project in which you will analyze and
reflect upon how a particular aspect of Women’s Health and Well-Being is enhanced or
compromised in local contexts.
Methodology
This module will be conducted entirely in an e-learning environment. It is a post-graduate
level module and will assume that you have access to a computer and internet connection.
During this module you will have the opportunity to interact with your virtual classmates
from different countries through synchronous modes (chat) and asynchronous modes
(discussion forums and e-mails). You will also engage in research activities related to
women's health and well-being.
Module Content
 Women's health and well-being
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o Definitions
o Personal perspectives
o Comparative perspectives
The ways in which women's health and well-being can be:
o enhanced
o compromised
Conceptualizing and analyzing women's health and well-being in relation to
the following parameters: Race; Class
Age/generation; Geographical context; Historical context; Cultural contexts;
Sexual orientation.
Research Project
You will be choosing one of the following topics as a focus for your final group project.
You will be working in a small group collaboratively to deepen your knowledge of
Women's health and well-being in terms of A, B & C stated above:
 Mental Health issues
 HIV/AIDS
 Reproductive health and sexuality
 Women's Bodily Integrity
 Social well-being
Competencies
At the end of this module you should be able to:
1. Assess factors that contribute to or constitute women's physical, social and mental
health and well-being in specific localities and across localities.
2. Assess which factors could enhance and/or compromise health and well-being
from a gendered perspective in specific localities and across localities
3. Work collaboratively with other students and lecturers/facilitators to develop an
awareness of gendered differences with respect to the ways in which health and
well-being is constructed across the parameters of difference in historical,
cultural, generational, racialized, sexualized, classed, political and geographical
contexts.
4. Construct knowledge of how well-being is constructed and experienced through
interrogating power relations and values in relation to women’s physical, social
and mental health.
5. Develop an interview schedule, conduct a qualitative interview, reflexively
engage with your own and other’s findings in relation to context and social policy
and collaboratively develop themes in relation to the research conducted in one
specific area of women’s health and well-being.
Assessments
Assessment will be cumulative in nature to facilitate independent and group activities that
will allow you to generate knowledge, share experiences, and reconstruct knowledge in a
collaborative environment. A total of 11 assignments will be conducted that build on each
other. The CALENDAR for details and time requirement in these assignments will be
available in the course outline and online.
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Name of module: Gender, Development and Public Management
Code: SOG 821
Consult with SOG
Note: Students must register with the School of Government in advance. Dates and
information are obtainable from the SOG.
Department: School of Government
Level: Masters.
Aims of the course:
 To concentrate on gendered understanding of development (and development
management) in national and international context
 To focus on the ways in which 'neutral' approaches to development are in fact
gendered, as well as the ways in which this hinders the development process in the
so-called 'Third' world.
Methodology:
The course is divided into three components each presented by a different lecturer:
1) Gender and Socialization
2) Gender and Socio-economic Development
3) Rethinking Gender and Development
Content:
 How socialized gender roles affect social roles both within the home and work
environments.
 The impact of socialized roles, derived from both within developing states and
without, on the sound and inclusive development strategies.
 Gendered understandings of development theory and development management and
their inhibiting effect on inclusive development strategies.
 The impact of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and foreign nongovernmental organizations on gendered understandings of development and socioeconomic security.
 The deconstruction and reconstruction of gendered understandings of development in
the creation of stable long-term development strategies.
Course requirements:
 Each component is weighted as follows:
Component 1: 15% (based on class evaluation).
Component 2: 40% (one short essay, 35%; class presentation, 5%)
Component 3: 40% (one short essay, 35%; class presentation, 5%)
 Final exam: a policy paper (minimum of 50% for 3 component requirements
necessary to write the final exam).
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Name of module: Health in Medical Anthropology
Code: Hons:Soc742, MA: Ant 847
Note: Checkdetails with Anthro/Soc Department
Lecturer/s: Diana Gibson
Department: Medical Anthropology/Sociology
Level: Honours and Masters
Aims of the course:
To explore ten different themes within the broad area of Medicine and Health in Africa in
order to provide a critical analysis, including a gender analysis, of these areas.
Methodology:
Lectures, seminars.
Content:
 The Anthropology/Sociology of Epidemiology, including gendered patterns of ill
health
 Mental Health, including cross-cultural and gender issues in the construction of
mental health and illness
 Applied Health Research Methods
 The Anthropology/Sociology of the Body, including a Foucauldian analysis of
technologies of the body and the constructed and gendered body
 Indigenous and alternative health care, including the role of women in care
 Reproductive Health, e.g. representations of female reproduction, male and female
circumcision, reproductive technologies, adolescent reproductive health, rape and
sexual violence
 Health Care Institutions
 Chronic Illness
 Culturally and context sensitive health promotion
 Health Programme Design and Policy
Readings:
A wide range of readings will be provided for each theme.
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Name of module: The Anthropology of Visual Culture
Code: Hons: Ant 734 MA: SOC 853
Note: Check details with the Anthro/Soc Department
Lecturer: Prof Heike Becker
Department: Anthropology
Level: Honours and Masters
What the course is all about
Visuality and the appreciation of visual representation have been central to anthropology
since the beginnings of the discipline. For many decades anthropologists have engaged
the part played by visual forms and media in different societies. Anthropology’s own
visual practices in film and photography go back to the very beginnings of ethnographic
fieldwork, but have recently been critically reflected and re-developed.
The course explores anthropological perspectives on visuality, visual culture, and visual
anthropology as representation. It critically engages with the central place given in the
contemporary Western-dominated culture to vision as a form of knowing and making
sense of the world at the expense of other senses and forms. The course, further,
investigates perspectives on visuality and media, such as those that allow us to rethink
how processes of modernity and globalisation actually work on the ground. Finally, the
course deals with visual anthropology and a critical reflection of visual ethnography. It
includes a practical project in visual anthropology.
Why you may be interested in taking it
The course offers postgraduate students the opportunity to theoretically and practically
engage with a significant field of anthropology. It will contribute particularly to the
training of those postgraduate students who are interested in a career in media, the
cultural industry, or research.
Topics that the course deals with
*
Ways of looking (at the world, at images, and at/in anthropology)
*
The senses in anthropology
*
Visuality and surveillance
*
Visual methods in ethnographic research
*
Globalization, imagination & media
*
Malls, memorials & messages: South African visual culture & public spaces
*
Thinking visual anthropology: representation and histories
*
Anthropology & photography
*
Anthropology & film
*
Contesting images: new forms of representation?
*
Field project
Details of the project will be announced at the beginning of the course, Last year, the
topic was:
21
22
Name of module: Gender in cross-cultural perspective
Code: Hons: ANT 733; MA: ANT 850
Note: Check details with the Anthropology Department
Lecturer/s: Diana Gibson
Department: Anthropology
Level: Honours and Masters
Aims:
By the end of this module, a student will be able to:
 Identify and analyze current theoretical approaches to the issue of gender in
different cultural settings
 Understand the development of feminist anthropology from a historical
perspective
 Identify gender issues at it relates to ideas concerning sexuality in cross-cultural
perspective
 The gendered nature of institutions and how it affects gender behaviour
 Understand the effects of ideas concerning gender on individual bodies
 Recognize the restrictions and freedoms that gender roles place on people
Methodology:
Seminars, class discussion, videos
Course content:
 Contemporary perspectives on gender, identity and sexuality
 The development of feminist anthropology
 Bodies and sexualities in cross cultural perspective
 Cross-cultural meanings and practices attached to masculinities and femininities
 Transgender
Course requirements:
Written assignments, class presentations
23
Name of module: Gender and Nationalism
Codes: Hons: HIS 742; MA:HIS 842
Note: Check details with History Department
Lecturer/s: Prof Patricia Hayes
Department: History
Level: Honours and Masters.
This course focuses largely on Africa, but is not confined to the continent. It explores the
insights brought by the study of gender to the discipline of history. Feminist scholarship
has challenged social history in particular, firstly through the impetus of Marxist
feminism and more lately through post-structuralist influences.
The course explores this historiography, from the critique of Marxist androcentrism
through to the study of how gendered subjects and subjectivities (including masculinities)
are historically made. The central aim is not only to acquaint postgraduate students with
these critical literatures, but also to develop the skills needed to make gendered readings
of ‘raw’ historical texts during research work. Accordingly, time will be spent examining
archival and other ‘primary’ texts for their gender implications, and such practical
research examples will also be used to engage with the historiographical debates.
The intention of this course is to produce historians capable of bringing a rigorous
gendered perspective to the study of the past, which in turn makes it possible to critique
the workings of the discipline.
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Postgraduate Research and Writing
25
General
Postgraduate study presents different challenges from undergraduate study mainly
because postgraduates are expected to work far more independently, especially in reading
widely and expressing ideas in writing. Postgraduate students should not expect to be
reminded or prompted about course requirements and required reading.
Postgraduate study requires much more reading, reflection and discussion, and less
conventional teaching time than undergraduate study. It is vital that you keep up with
recommended reading in the case of course work, and that you read as widely and
extensively as possible in the case of preparing for your thesis proposal and thesis. It is
also imperative that students, including Honours, Masters and PhD students working on
proposals or long research projects, write frequently and consistently.
It is crucial for postgraduates to write frequently to build up a
momentum; it is only possible to develop ideas once you put
something down on paper. Procrastinating and fixating on
extensive reading before writing is likely to make the writing
process overwhelming. You or your supervisor are unlikely
to be satisfied with early drafts, but these are essential to the
writing process and development of your ideas.
The following are guidelines for honours, Masters and PhD students’ research proposals
and essays/theses.
Recommendations for Working towards Honours Research Report (Note: The
information below should be used as a guide, and will vary according to your topic.)
March

By the beginning of March you should begin general thinking and reading about
your topic, and finalise who your supervisor will be
April
 By early April you should finalise your research topic and develop your research
question and aims
 Once you have finalised your research question you need to start reading around
your topic. Summarise the key issues raised in the important readings. You should
identify at least 12 key readings, which you should have a thorough knowledge
of. Draw on the Library Research Skills meeting to help you find relevant
reading. What are the key ideas? What are the main research areas? Who are the
26

May


key theorists? Where and how does your research question fit into this academic
terrain?
Start a bibliography of these readings on RefWorks and keep adding to this as
you find relevant readings.
Early May put your literature review through Turnitin, submit the first draft of
your literature review (4-10 pages). Start working on your methodology and or
theoretical and conceptual framework
Late May put your methodology through Turnitin, submit the first draft of your
methodology section to your supervisor, start working on your interview
schedule, or draft data analysis or case study. At this time you should also develop
your literature review and update RefWorks
June
 Early June submit your draft interview schedule or data analysis, or case study
and the 2nd version of your literature review to your supervisor, start reworking
your methodology section; rework your interview schedule; start planning your
interviews
 Late June submit the 2nd version of your methodology or theoretical and
conceptual framework section; update RefWorks
July
 Conduct interviews, transcribe interviews and begin data analysis/ develop basic
draft data analysis or case study
 Fine tune literature review and methodology; update RefWorks
August
 Early August submit first draft of data analysis or case study
 Continue fine tuning literature review and methodology/ theoretical and
conceptual framework
 Mid-August start working on 2nd draft of the data analysis/ case study
September
 Early September submit 2nd draft of data analysis/ case study
 Late September submit 3rd draft of data analysis/ case study
October
 Early October submit first complete draft to Turnitin and then to your supervisor
 Mid October work on changes to first draft
 End of October submit final draft to Turnitin and submit your study for
examination.
The deadline for graduation in March 2016 is November 2015
Research Proposals for Masters and PhD: (See information available from the
Division for Postgraduate Study:
http://www.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=cms&action=showfulltext&id=gen20Srv2
3Nme0_9922_1258366986&parent=gen11Srv7Nme54_2430_1210050416&menustate
=pet)
27
Purpose of Proposal
Broadly, a research proposal does the following:
 Describes the research problem
 Explains the significance of the problem or topic and rationalizes the research
 Reviews literature and sources relevant to your topic
 Explains the theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches you will use
to explore your topic
Note that these often overlap.
Research proposals allow you to plan the intellectual journey that will allow you to arrive
at certain goals. Even if your eventual research changes from your proposal in certain
ways, the initial research proposal is an important starting point, and allows you to focus
your reading and writing.
The proposal also:

Shows your supervisor that you are adequately informed about your topic to
pursue the research
 Demonstrates to the Arts Faculty Postgraduate Board (and a broader academic
community that may not have the specialized knowledge of your field that your
supervisor has) that you are intellectually prepared to undertake the research, hat
the research is feasible and appropriate to your level of study, and that you have
done adequate thinking about the topic and sufficient preparation for the study.
Submission of Proposals
Masters by coursework and minithesis:
After completing coursework, usually after the first year, you need to submit a research
proposal to the Arts Faculty. Once it has gone through both the faculty and Senate Higher
Degrees Committees, your minithesis title will be registered for a period of three years.
(Note: your title is registered for three years, but you need to register as a Masters student
at the beginning of every year.)
 Rule A 19.3.2: The title of a thesis/ minithesis is approved for a period of three
years, after which the student shall apply to Senate for an extension of time.
28
Masters by full thesis:
The last day for registration is usually towards the end of March. You may only register
if the department has accepted you as a full thesis student, and – usually -- once it’s been
confirmed who will supervise you.
The University requires that you submit a proposal to the Arts Faculty Postgraduate
Board by the end of the academic year. Once the proposal has gone through both the
faculty and Senate Higher Degrees Committees, your thesis title will be registered for a
period of three years. (Note: your title is registered for three years, but you need to
register as a Masters student at the beginning of every year.)
 Rule A 19.3.1: The maximum period of study is three years. Extensions may be
granted by Senate only in exceptional cases on submission of a motivated
application by the student and a recommendation of the head of the department.
Doctorate:
PhD candidates need to submit a proposal to the Arts Faculty Postgraduate Board by the
end of the academic year; your thesis title is registered for a period of five years.
 Rule A 23.1: The approval of the relevant head of department has to be obtained
before a candidate is allowed to register. The proposed title of the thesis, as well
as the supervisor must be approved by the Senate before the end of the first year
of registration.
Format and Length of Proposal
Note that research proposal formats do not need to be the same, but generally require the
following:












Cover page indicating your name, the department in which you are registered, the
degree for which you are registered and the name of your supervisor
Abstract (on separate page)
Title
10 key words (or composite words)
Aims of the research
Rationale and Background
Literature review
Research problem / hypothesis
Theoretical and conceptual framework
Methodology, including, where necessary, ethics statement.
Chapter outline/Thesis structure
Preliminary Bibliography
Proposal Length: Masters’ proposals should be between 12 and 15 double-spaced
pages.
Doctoral proposals should be between 15 and 20 double-spaced pages.
29
THE THESIS
As the writer of the thesis, the student is responsible both for the main text and presenting
it in accordance with university requirements. Except for honours long essays, all theses
should include the following:
Preliminary Sections, pages numbered in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc).
Title page
Keywords
Abstract
Declaration
Acknowledgements (optional)
Contents
Main text divided into numbered chapters with headings
Notes
Bibliography
Appendices (optional)
Title Page
This should include the following:
the full (registered) title of the thesis
the full names of the author
the following statement:
A minithesis submitted in (partial, in the case of structured MAs)fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts/ Doctor of Philosophy in the Department
of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of the Western Cape.
date submitted for examination.
name(s) of supervisor(s)
DECLARATION
The following declaration must be made. It must stand on a page by itself under the
heading, DECLARATION:
I declare that ... (full title of thesis, in italics) is my own work, that it has not been
submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I
have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references.
Full name.................................... Date..................................
Signed.........................................
30
Referencing and Plagiarism
With scope for plagiarism increasing because of the wide availability of different kinds of
information, the identification of plagiarism – with software, by supervisors, by
university committees and by examiners, has become a major concern. Note that
plagiarism will not only lead to failure, but will prevent you from re-registering, and will
have far-reaching consequences for your career as a student, or prospective employee. All
draft and final work submitted by postgraduate students must be put through Turnitin.
Whenever phrases and important ideas taken from a text are used, their source must be
acknowledged. Direct use of others’ words requires that you put these in quotation
marks, even if you have indicated the source used. Quotations longer than three lines
must be indented. Note that the use of others’ words and phrases is plagiarism.
(Students often use others’ phrases and simply acknowledge the source, and not that they
have used words from the source; this is plagiarism.)
You need to acknowledge sources of borrowed ideas even when you do not use the words
of the text from which you borrow. When you use your own words to express the ideas of
someone else, you must still quote the source, even though you do not have to use
quotation marks.
Remember to note all your references, and keep a list as you proceed with your proposal
or thesis. This will prevent you from losing track and leading you to panic when you are
finalizing your proposal or thesis.
Referencing and Bibliographies
Various styles and conventions are used for academic writing generally and thesis
writing specifically. One of the most popular, recommended to WGS students, is the
“author-date” or Harvard style for citations and reference lists/ bibliographies.Generally,
however, consistency in presentation is important, and external examiners often pay
particular attention to citations and references.
31
Citing sources within the text
Indicate that you have borrowed words or ideas from a source.
1. When the name(s) of the quoted author(s) form part of a sentence, the reference
indicator consists of the date and the page on which that quotation appears. For example:
In dealing with feminist fiction, Carol Boyce Davies (1995: 34) describes themovement
beyond boundaries of much women’s writing.
When the author is not referred to in your sentence, indicate the name within the
reference indicator after your sentence:
It has been argued that feminist fiction moves beyond boundaries determined by
dominant traditions (Davies, 1995: 34).
List of references at the end of the text
The bibliography provides full details of all quoted sources and references in your text,
and needs to provide the reader with all publishing details.
Davies, CB. 1995. Moving Beyond Boundaries: Black Women’s Diaspora. London:
Pluto.
If a sourcedoes not specific an author or organization, the alphabetic arrangement is
according to the name of the editor(s) or by the first main word of the title.
If you are using more than one source - by the same author – published in the same year,
use “a”, “b” etc directly after the year both in your text reference and in the reference list
at the end.
Bennet, J. 2000a. "Gender-based Violence in South Africa". AGI Newsletter, vol 6.
Bennett, J. 2000b. Southern African Higher Educational Institutions Challenging Sexual
Harassment/Sexual Violence: A Handbook of Resources. Cape Town: African Gender
Institute.
Titles of all published materials are listed using italic type or by underlining and not both.
The edition should be mentioned unless it is the first edition. When there is no edition
statement, you may assume that the work is a first edition.
Examples of references to books:
Examples of how to cite:
A book by a single author:
Butler, J. 1990. Feminism and the subversion of Identity. London:Routledge.
A book with more than one author:
Mager, A and Blake, M. 2001. Masculinities in the Making of Gendered Identities: A
Getnet Guidebook for Trainers. Cape Town: GETNET.
32
A book produced by an editor rather than an author:
Turshen, M. Ed. 2001. The Aftermath: Women in Post-Conflict Transformation. London
and New York: Zed.
An edition of a book other than the first:
Visser, N. 1992. Handbook for writers of essays and theses. 2nd ed. Cape Town: Maskew
Miller Longman.
A chapter in a book:
Taylor, H. 2005. Gender, Power, Culture. In Gender and SocialOrganization theory:
Selected readings. 2nd ed. Edited by J. A. Burrows. Harmondsworth, Middlesex:
Penguin. 60 75.
A paper from a conference publication:
Pillay, D. 2004.Exploring Gender in the Classroom: A Guateng Study. Proceedings of the
Conference on Gender and Performance. 8-13 November. Dale House, University of
York. 50-61.
Citing journal articles
Articles are listed according to the surname of the first author that appears on the article.
If there are more than three authors, you may give the name of the first author only,
followed by “…[et al.]”.
The title of the journal is italicized.
Provide the volume and issue numbers of the journalfollowed by the start and end page
numbers of the complete article. Some journals have volume or issue numbers only and
not both.
Examples of references to journals:
Kiondo, E. 1999. Access to gender and development information by rural women in
Tanzania. Innovation. 19:18-27.
Rasebotsa, N, Molema, L and Lederer, M. 2000. Women Writing Africa. Feminist
Forum. 23 (2):89-97.
Citing a thesis or an unpublished discussion
The titles of unpublished works are not underlined or italicised.
Examples of references to unpublished sources
Makhubela, P.M. 1998. Public libraries in the provision of adult basic education
programmes: the case of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. D.Bibl. Thesis.
Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Western Cape.
Thapisa, A.1998. Co-operation with the University of Botswana. [Personal interview, 10
March]. Cape Town. (Unpublished).
33
Citing electronic sources
Citations for electronic sources are as important as those for print sources. Readers
require clear indications about how and whereto find sources. Because electronic data
may be moved and documents sometimes disappear, it is important to indicate the date on
which you referred to a source to indicate when the link functioned.
When electronic sources are also available in print, give the print source as well since
electronic sources may not be adequately archived.
Any citation to an electronic source should conform to your chosen citation style and
should contain:
an author if this information is available
the date on which the document was produced or updated
the title of the electronic document
the medium, which may be “Online” or “CD-Rom” in square brackets, or you may use
“Electronic” if you are not sure whether the source is online or networked CD-Rom
the uniform resource locator (URL) which may sometimes be given between angle
brackets (<>). If the URL is very long, it may be written on two lines, but try to break a
line only where a punctuation mark occurs and do not add a hyphen, as this will alter the
URL.
the date, in square brackets,on which the document was last accessed.
Examples of how to cite an electronic journal:
Aird, A. 2001. E-commerce in higher education: can we afford to do nothing? Ariadne.
26. [Online]. Available: http://ariadne.ac.uk/issue26/e-commerce/intro.htm [2001, March
8].
Smith, A.G. 1997. Testing the surf: criteria for evaluating Internet information resources.
The public-access computer systems review 8(3). [Online]. Available:
http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html [2002, September 12].
A journal article available in both electronic and print formats:
Pereira, C. 2005. Zina and Transgressive Sexuality in northern Nigeria. Feminist Africa,
5: 36-45. [Electronic]. Available: EBSCOHost: Academic Search Premier. [2008,
November 15].
Articles from the World Wide Web:
Standler, R.B. 2000. Plagiarism in colleges in the USA. [Online]. Available:
http://www.rbs2.com/plag.htm [2002, September 11].
34
Walker, J. 1997. Intellectual property in the information age: a classroom guide to
copyright. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/papers/copyright/ipdummie.html [2002,
September 11].
NOTES
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36
37