Gender and Intersectionality

In this course you will learn how gender intersects with class, sexuality, religion, nationalism and equality to gain a deeper understanding about the dynamics in contemporary societies around the world. The course, that is offered by University of Iceland, is a well-researched primer to gender studies as a scientific discipline. The course will draw on a variety of materials including literature, websites, articles, audio and visual texts about gender in different settings. Using examples from popular culture, classical literature, and history, this course will teach you how to analyze religious texts and traditions, class divisions, racial inequality, sexualities, and nationalism through a gendered lens.

In the first week the course will explore intersections between gender and religion, including how gendering the concept of god shapes the collective human identity. The second week of the course will look at the implications of gender and class with emphasis on the most influential feminist movements. The third week of the course is dedicated to gender and race. In this week you will examine the gendered construction of black and white bodies in culture and history, and at the concept of orientalism as well as the social impact of racial profiling on men and women. The fourth week of the course will explore concepts about gender and sexuality and ask questions such as: Do we need to reinvent sexuality? The fifth week of the course will be dealing with gender and nationalism taking a deeper look at ideas about racial purity, nostalgia and the so-called ‘culture wars’ from a gendered perspective. In the final week of the course you will explore how gender relates to equality and trace ideas about equality and gender back through history in different cultures and laws.

This course takes approximately six weeks to complete with a weekly dedication of 2-5 hours. The course is available for free to audit. Participants can opt-in for a verified certificate for an extra fee. The course is taught by Dr. Giti Chandra, Senior Researcher and Lecturer with the Gender Equality Studies and Training (GEST) programme and Dr. Thomas Brorsen Smidt, research manager with the GEST programme.