LAW-30091 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

This module will introduce you to issues relating to gender, sexuality and law. There is particular research strength in this field of scholarship within the School. The module will approach questions of gender and sexuality from historical, theoretical and law reform perspectives. Feminist and Queer theories as well as a journey back in time to consider the legal regulation of sexuality in ancient Greece will provide you with critical tools to make sense of contemporary law. What do we mean as a culture and as a legal system when we use words like sex, gender, and sexuality? How many sexes, genders and sexualities do you think there are? The module will challenge the notion that there are only two: male/female (sex); masculine/feminine (gender); heterosexual/homosexual (sexuality). In the process, you will learn something about the role law plays in the production, regulation and erasure of particular sexed, gendered and sexual identities. The module will consider a number of concrete examples of social and legal struggle around issues of gender and sexuality. Thus you will examine the medico-legal regulation of transgender people; lesbian, gay and queer legal struggles; genital cutting in the context of intersex children; intimate violence against women in the context of forced marriage and more generally, transgender people and prison regulation AND the legal regulation of sex trafficking.

1. to introduce students to the concepts of gender and sexuality.
2. to enable students to develop a critical perspective on the relationship between gender, sexuality and the law.

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically analyse the role law plays in the regulation of gender and sexuality: 1
apply theoretical knowledge to a series of 'concrete' socio-legal issues: 1
develop independent research and writing skills through completion of a research essay: 1
demonstrate a critical and evaluative understanding of sexual and gender dimensions of law/legal studies: 1

Study hours

10 x 2 hours seminars = 20 hours
seminar prep = 40 hours
Independent research (reading, preparation & writing) = 90 hours
Total: 150 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment