Sociology of Gender and Family
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Course code
RAS6024.YK
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Soo- ja perekonnasotsioloogia
Course title in English
Sociology of Gender and Family
ECTS credits
4.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
The course aims to familiarise students with some key concepts, debates and theoretical perspectives in the research fields of contemporary sociology of gender and sociology of family. Also, the aim is to provide opportunities for thinking and discussing the practical manifestation of some central research problems related to gender and family in everyday settings.
Brief description of the course
The course focuses on gender as a socially constructed category and its pervasiveness in various spheres of social life and social structures. At the same time, the course focuses on family as a basic social institution in the Estonian and global context. Through studying family as a gendered institution, gender is analysed in the private and public spheres and the boundaries of these spheres is challenged. Throughout the course, an intersectional approach is taken, paying attention to ways in which the categories of gender and family intersect with other socially constructed categories, such as race, age, ethnicity, sexuality etc.
The course gives an overview of the following topics and areas of study:
• The basics of sociology of gender and family: key concepts and approaches
• Intersectionality
• Gender, family and the work of production and reproduction
• The personal is political: gender and various types of family, relationship between state and family
• Gender and family in post-colonial, transnational and global settings
• Methodological questions: how to study gender and family sociologically?
The course consists of seminars focusing on the topics listed above. Students are required to read 1-2 texts or familiarise themselves with other material assigned for each seminar. In addition, each student will write three reflection papers on the compulsory materials of three seminars of his/her choice. Each student will have a short presentation on the materials of one seminar. All students are expected to actively and meaningfully contribute to seminar discussions.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- is familiar with the central concepts and theoretical-methodological approaches of contemporary gender and family sociology;
- is able to assess processes taking place in the society and inside the family and the interrelatedness of these processes;
- is able to compare the processes taking place in the institution of family and gendered social structures in Estonia with respective international trends;
- is able to pose research questions concerning family and gender and prepare a basic research plan for carrying out research on these topics.
Teacher
Lektor Kadri Aavik (PhD), Dotsent Kadri Täht (PhD)
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