Gender Studies

The Gender Studies program is offered by the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, within the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI).

The interdisciplinary Gender Studies major enables students to undertake a broad study of sex and gender in contemporary and past cultures. Some of the areas that are studied include: bodies, sexualities and identities; masculinity; the intersection of gender, ethnicity and class; theories of love and friendship; constructions and representations of violence; feminism and histories and theories of gender.

Gender Studies allows students to explore how sex and gender are understood and lived in their own and other cultures, providing students with the tools to analyse a wide range of issues. The Department is committed to equipping students with research and writing skills that will assist in opening up a range of career prospects.

The study of gender also profoundly enriches studies in the humanities and social sciences and provides an important complement to degrees specialising in law or legal studies, education, social work, the sciences, the arts, government and policy-making, and international relations.

Gender Studies is available at first, second and third year and at fourth year honours level. The First Year unit, GCST1602 Introduction to Gender Studies, is a useful grounding in the discipline and is recommended for students who intend to do a major in Gender Studies.

A major in Gender Studies requires 36 senior credit points, including at least FOUR of the following:

• GCST2604 Sex, Violence and Transgression
• GCST2607 Bodies, Sexualities, Identities
• GCST2609 Masculinity, Mateship and Men's Lives
• GCST2610 Intimacy, Love and Friendship
• GCST2614 The Body: Theories, Practices, Cultures
• GCST3690 Transnationalism, Gender and Globalisation
• GCST3601 Gender, Race and Australian Identities.

The remaining two units may be chosen from any other Gender and Cultural Studies units, or from the list of cross-listed units available on the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences website.

Honours
To proceed to fourth year honours in Gender Studies, students must have a credit average in senior level Gender Studies units (including cross-listed units) totalling at least 48 senior credit points.

It is also possible to do joint honours in Gender and Cultural Studies. Prospective students for this joint program should see the Departmental website or handbook.

Contact/further information
Information on our units of study and staff with whom to discuss the program is available at sydney.edu.au/arts/gender_cultural_studies, or by phoning the SOPHI Office on +61 2 9351 2862.