Violence, militarism & (anti)colonialism: Transnational feminist and queer perspectives (L7091S)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

This module explores the connections between gender and violence in contemporary international politics.

War and forms of collective violence seem to be everywhere in world affairs, but it the manifestations of gender are less visible to the realms of high politics. At times aspects of gender violence (such as war rape) seem to enter into academic discussions of war, whilst other questions (such as the inclusion of homosexuals in the military) have relevance for public policy and national culture. But many other issues (such as media representations of gender violence, the continuum between 'peace' and 'war' violence, or the connection between armies and prostitution) are more commonly discussed within sociology, political theory and history. 

In this module, you will examine a broad range of such questions from an interdisciplinary angle, with emphasis on theoretical perspectives and academic-political controversies. Topics will include: 

• gender in war and society
• the intersection of race, class, and gender in collective violence
• military masculinity
• women at war
• wartime sexual violence
• sex industries and violence
• homosexuality and military culture (including queer theory perspectives and recent debates about 'pink-washing' and 'homonationalism')
• feminism, anti-feminism and gender studies in the academy
• gender violence in popular culture.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 36 hours of contact time and about 264 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’re 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’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.