Course overview
This course takes an intersectional and decolonial approach to gender, race, and other intersectional categories, exploring how European colonial ideas and practices created many of our current assumptions about race and gender, and how this thinking continues to influence power structures today. Using Lugones concepts of the coloniality of gender and heterosexualism (among others), we will trace the origins of gender, race and racism in colonial discourses, and look at how they have contributed to contemporary heteronormative gender roles for both colonising and colonised societies. Hearing from Black, Indigenous, Third World Feminist, ecofeminist and Islamic feminist scholars, we will take a critical look at how colonial thinking creates overlapping binaries between modern and traditional, rational and natural, liberated and oppressed, and how these dualisms work to justify or obscure ongoing inequality and exploitation. We will look into a range of contemporary global issues and contexts where these dynamics still commonly play out, including in nationalism, economic development, feminist campaigns, Indigenous issues, environmental debates, and global gay rights campaigns. In recognising colonial ways of thinking, we will also attend to alternatives, looking for more ethical ways to practice cross-cultural solidarity, and encountering anti-colonial visions for a more just and relational world.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate understanding of the transnational and cross-cultural variability of gender relations
- Discuss the impact of historical constructions of race and gender on specified contemporary global and local gender issues
- Demonstrate knowledge of competing perspectives on contemporary cross-cultural issues in gender and sexuality
- Critically evaluate contemporary approaches to gender 'scandals' according to suggested criteria of social justice, ethics, and respect for diversity
- Utilise understanding of diversity to communicate more ethically and effectively in cross-cultural and gender-diverse contexts
- Demonstrate interpersonal and teamwork skills in group activities
- Apply given bibliographic research methods to locate and evaluate relevant sources of information on a set topic related to gender and race
- Conduct in-depth research into a set topic relating to gender and race in a particular context
- Use appropriate language and concepts for discussing gender and feminist thought in global contexts
- Construct a clear, coherent and independent argument, which responds to a set question and is supported by appropriate scholarly evidence, within identified timeframes
Fee calculator
To display course fees, please select your status and program below:
We’re updating this Fee Calculator. It currently shows fees for programs only. Please check the relevant program for full fee details.
Study Abroad student tuition fees are available here.
Only some Postgraduate Coursework programs are available as Commonwealth Supported. Please check your program for specific fee information.
The Student Contribution amount displayed below is for students commencing a new program from 2021 onwards. If you are continuing in a program you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, or are commencing an Honours degree relating to an undergraduate degree you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, you may be charged a different Student Contribution amount from the amount displayed below. Please check the Student Contribution bands for continuing students here. If you are an international student, or a domestic student studying in a full fee paying place, and are continuing study that you commenced in 2025 or earlier, your fees will be available here before enrolments open for 2026.