Module: HIS4102-20 Gender, Identity and Power: Themes and Approaches

Level: 4

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Jackie Collier

Module Tutor Contact Details: J.Collier2@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

This module will introduce you to ‘gender’ as an important category of historical difference. We all have experiences of how gender impacts upon our lives, both what we expect of ourselves and what others expect of us and ideas about the nature of each sex has affected all areas of men and women's lives historically. In the past the law, religion, and popular culture represented gender relations as rigidly hierarchical: women were to be chaste, silent and obedient while men were expected to be chivalrous or manly. But daily life was much more complex and there is increasingly good evidence that women and men actively negotiated gender roles. The module will explore the flexibility and dynamics of experience by encouraging you to consider broad questions about gender history from a wide chronological perspective and in a range of contexts. What did it mean to be a man or a woman in any given period? To what extent were the ideals of femininity and masculinity constructed? Could one challenge the accepted norms of one's gender identity? Was there such a thing as homosexuality prior to the modern age? You will develop a grasp of how evidence may be used to explore the lives of ordinary women and men whose voices, until recently, have been hidden from the historical record and on how gender can be used as a category to understand how society worked, exploring key ideas such as patriarchy; masculinity, femininity and separate spheres as they have changed over time.

2.Outline syllabus:

We will use this module to explore a selection of the following ideas and approaches, in a historical context or series of contexts:

Understanding Gender/Key theoretical concepts

Gender relations, sex and sexuality

The humoral body and medicine

Masculinity and femininity

Marriage and family

Law and education

Crime/deviancy

Popular beliefs/witchcraft

Men’s and women’s writing

Gender representation in political thought

Gender and social role reversal

Religion and the godly household

3.Teaching and learning activities:

Various aspects will be introduced to students through set readings and lectures, which will be explored in greater depth in seminar workshops through a study of a wide range of primary and secondary sources such as letters, diaries, pamphlets, ballads, sermons and advice books as well as legal testimonies that record stories of marital breakdown, petty crime, protest and neighbourhood disputes. You will be encouraged to think about the use of digital sources.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW
• Description: Group presentation (2000 words)
• % Weighting: 50%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW
• Description: Essay (2000 words)
• % Weighting: 50%