Law, Gender and Sexuality (Aut) (M3017)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll study how the law affects and regulates gender and sexuality. You’ll explore:

  • the idea of gender
  • the idea of sexuality
  • how these ideas are shaped in today’s society, based on their histories.

You’ll consider big themes, such as: 

  • equality, including differences in sex and sexual orientation
  • privacy and the line between public and private life 
  • how fundamental rights relate to gender and sexuality.

You’ll also reflect on areas of law where gender and sexuality distinctions have significant consequences, including:

  • family law, such as marriage and laws about conceiving and raising children
  • employment law, including equal pay, parental leave and discrimination
  • laws around public or commercial services, such as medical treatment and hotel accommodation.

You’ll study how gender, sexuality and the law shape each other. While the focus is on traditional legal sources like court cases, laws and legal writings, you’ll also consider gender and sexuality politics, and feminist and queer theory.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Written assessment (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: