Disciplines and areas of study
Gender, sexuality, and diversity studies
Program Coordinator: Dr Terrie Waddell.
Gender, sexuality and diversity studies (GSD) is an interdisciplinary area of critical inquiry focussing on how our bodies and identities are categorised and lived out in social, political and ethical relations. More specifically, GSD examines the complex interrelationships existing between such diverse markers of identity as sex, gender, femininity, masculinity, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, class, and age. Primarily based on the themes, concerns and perspectives emerging from feminist scholarship, post-colonial studies, and queer theory, GSD gives students the opportunity to hone skills in critical thinking, effective writing, media and textual analysis, historical and sociological investigations and legal interpretations. In drawing on a wide variety of disciplines in one area study, GSD is unique, offering students more scope and flexibility when constructing their degrees. The interdisciplinary focus additionally provides students with a breadth of knowledge and range of skills applicable to all professional, public, and personal life choices one makes after university study. Students may enrol in a major, double major or single units of GSD studies.
Programs of study
Students who wish to satisfy the requirements for the degree with a major in GSD studies must complete 130 credit points in the area, including 60 credit points at third year level and at least 40 credit points from the core units listed below. A major in GSD studies should preferably be commenced in first year. However, it is possible to be accepted into the major at second year based on satisfactory completion of approved first year humanities, social sciences, or legal studies units.
Most units accredited as part of GSD studies may be taken without the usual disciplinary prerequisite. However, students wishing to do so are advised to seek approval from the unit coordinator.
Double Majors
Given the pertinence of gender, sexuality and diversity issues in the workplace, media, government policy and legislative change, GSD offers a perfect double major with other areas of study. Other studies might include sociology and politics, media studies, history, Australian studies and legal studies. This expands the opportunities for both interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary post-graduate research. At the same time, a double major adds to qualifications for employment opportunities.
Gender Studies Units
| Teaching period | Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|---|
| First year units (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Sex, Gender and Identity | GSD1SGI |
| TE-SEM-2 | Sex, Gender and Diversity | GSD1SGD |
| Second or Third year units (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Gender and Sexuality: contemporary debates | GSD2GES/GSD3GES |
| TE-SEM-1 | Reading Course A | GSD3RCA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Contemporary Feminist Thought | GSD2CFT/GSD3CFT |
| TE-SEM-2 | Gender and Development | GSD2GAD |
| TE-SEM-2 | Reading Course B | GSD3RCB |
Important notice: Not all of the units listed below will be available every year. See the unit lists for the specific disciplines, where units unavailable in 2008 will be noted.
| Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|
| Core units | |
| Contemporary Feminist Thought | GSD2CFT/GSD3CFT |
| Gender and Development | GSD2GAD |
| Gender and Sexuality: contemporary debates | GSD2GES/GSD3GES |
| Gender Relations in Australian Society | HIS2GRA/HIS3GRA |
| Human Rights: fundamental issues | PHI2HUR/PHI3HUR |
| Love, Desire and the Master-Slave Dialectic | PHI2LDM/PHI3LDM |
| First year units (15 credit points) | |
| Sex, Gender and Identity | GSD1SGI |
| Sex, Gender and Diversity | GSD1SGD |
| Second or third year units (20 credit points) | |
| Antiquity, Gender and Religion | HIS2AGR/HIS3AGR |
| Australians at War: gendered perspectives | HIS2AAW/HIS2AAW |
| Body, Mind and Culture | ANT2BMC/ANT3BMC |
| Charting the Colonial Pacific | HIS2CCP/HIS3CCP |
| Childhood and Culture | ANT2CAC/ANT3CAC |
| Cinema and Sexuality | CST2CAS/CST3CAS |
| Contemporary Feminist Thought | GSD2CFT/GSD3CFT |
| Crime, Law and Culture | LST2CLC/LST3CLC |
| Crises in South Asia: weapons, women, well-being | POL2CSA/POL3CSA |
| Critical Social Policy | SOC2CSP/SOC3CSP |
| Cross Cultural Communication | LIN2CCC/LIN3CCC |
| Deviance, Criminality and Social Control | SOC2DCS/SOC3DCS |
| Discourse, Body, Knowledge | PHI2DBK/PHI3DBK |
| Discrimination and the Law | LST2DAL/LST3DAL |
| Ecological Philosophies | PHI2ECP/PHI3ECP |
| Families and Change | SOC2FAC/SOC3FAC |
| Film, History and Narrative | HIS2FHN/HIS3FHN |
| Food, Drink and World History: ancient world to modern Australia | HIS2FDA/HIS3FDA |
| Gender and Development | GSD2GAD |
| Gender and Sexuality: contemporary debates | GSD2GES/GSD3GES |
| Gender and Spectatorship | CST2GSP/CST3GSP |
| Gender Relations in Australian Society | HIS2GRA/HIS3GRA |
| Genocides and the Holocaust: Europe, Asia, Africa | HIS2GAH/HIS3GAH |
| Human Rights: fundamental issues | PHI2HUR/PHI3HUR |
| Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods | SOC2MQB/SOC3MQB |
| Inventing the Bush | ENG2ITB/ENG3ITB |
| Kinship, Gender and Marriage | ANT2KAM/ANT3KAM |
| Liberalism and its Critics | POL2LAC/POL3LAC |
| Living with Colonialism: resistance and accommodation | HIS2LWC/HIS3LWC |
| Love and Eroticism in Asian Literature | AST2LEA/AST3LEA |
| Love, Desire and the Master-Slave Dialectic | PHI2LDM/PHI3LDM |
| Media Ethics | PHI2MET/PHI3MET |
| Migration to Australia in the 19th and 20th Centuries | HIS2NTA/HIS3NTA |
| Modern Drama and Acting Identity | DRA2MOA/DRA3MOA |
| Plato and the Meaning of Being | PHI2PAM/PHI3PAM |
| Professional Ethics | PHI2PET/PHI3PET |
| Punishment in Context | LST2PIC/LST3PIC |
| Re-situating Modernism: decolonising contexts | ENG2REM/ENG3REM |
| Sex and the Media | MST2SAM/MST3SAM |
| Sex, Gender and Work | SOC2SGW/SOC3SGW |
| Sociology and Everyday Life | SOC2SEL/SOC3SEL |
| Visual Anthropology: documenting cultures | ANT2ASF/ANT3ASF |
| Women Writing A | ENG2WWA/ENG3WWA |
| Women Writing B | ENG2WWB/ENG3WWB |
| Third year units (20 credit points) | |
| Reading Course A | GSD3RCA |
| Reading Course B | GSD3RCB |
- Key: 1 Not available in 2008.
Honours
Qualified students may enrol in the fourth year honours program in gender, sexuality, and diversity studies. Students may enrol in honours solely in GSD studies, or combine it with honours in another discipline. To qualify for admission to honours, students must normally have completed the pass degree with a major in GSD studies and have obtained an average grade of B in relevant units. Students who do not have a B average should consult the Honours Coordinator and may be considered for admission. Enquiries about the honours program should be directed to the GSD Studies Honours Coordinator.
Students undertaking honours are required to complete two coursework units (20% each) and a 15000-word thesis (50%). Attendance at a fortnightly honours seminar is compulsory. A 3000-word essay will be submitted as a part of this seminar. This is worth 10% of the final result.
A full description of these units (including the unit name, unit code, credit points, campus/location, unit coordinator, class requirements, assessment, prerequisites, and readings) appears at the end of each discipline entry. A full description of GSD units appears below. For the most recent descriptions of all units, please access the unit database at www.latrobe.edu.au/udb_public.