LFU:online

A study of feminist political thought, and of women's political movements, political issues, and political behavior and attitudes in the United States and in other countries.

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with a broad range of issues involving gender and politics – the political participation of women; the history of women’s movements; explications of gender inequality and what we mean when we refer to “women’s issues.“

This class will study the nature of power and how gender, class, and race intersect to impact the power and opportunities available to women. The class is on examining politics through the lens of gender hierarchy. Emphasis will be given on how constructions of masculinity and femininity shape and are shaped by interacting economic, political, and ideological practices. By examining power relations – politics - as gendered, the course illuminates 1) how the personal is political; 2) how we participate individually and collectively in the production, reproduction, and legitimation of power relations (social hierarchies); 3) how social hierarchies (of race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) are interrelated; and 4) how critical analyses are essential for achieving nonhierarchical social relations.

Using the perspectives of contemporary women's studies and feminist scholarship, this course will focus on the constructed nature of gender roles, the effects of these constructions on the lives of women, and the possibilities for change and individual empowerment that a critical awareness can create.

It will give students an ability to use the critical methodologies of women's studies and feminist scholarship to analyze how gender constructions shape the realities of women's lives, particularly in contemporary Western societies, including their own lives as women.

The University of New Orleans International Summer School program has a mandatory class attendance policy. All students are required to attend class for all morning classes and any required afternoon and/or weekend fields trips and lectures. No unexcused absences are allowed. However, LFU students who have to miss a UNO class due to LFU examinations in the first two weeks of our program, can receive one excused absence for this. Any further unexcused absences will result in an academic penalty. Each faculty member determines the penalty for missed classes. Most professors deduct a letter grade for each additional missed class day. For details, please refer to your course syllabi, which will be distributed on the first day of class. Mail: Center-New-Orleans@uibk.ac.at

Die Anrechnung der Kurse der UNO-IBK International Summer School muss von den Studierenden selbst vorab mit den zuständigen StudiendekanInnen geklärt werden. Diese allein entscheiden über die Anerkennung der belegten Kurse für das jeweilige Studienfach. Es wird empfohlen, sich einen Vorabbescheid über die Anerkennung der Kurse ausstellen zu lassen.