Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

•       To provide students with a critical overview of the gendered nature of military, war and conflict.

•       To equip students with knowledge of the gendered nature of military and war within contemporary politics and across different national sites.

•       To engage students in the analysis of the gendered nature of the military at the intersection with other categories like race, ethnicity, class and ableism.

•       To provide students with skills to analyse the gendered power relations that sustain and justify war, violence and conflict.

•       To empower students to think critically about militarism, militarisation and demilitarisation processes.

Informed by feminist critiques of International Relations, this module introduces gender as a category of analysing war and military practices. It is concerned with the gendered power relations that manifest within, and sustain violence and conflict within contemporary politics. The module questions the role of war and military in constructing and sustaining a variety of masculinities and femininities that are used in order to justify violence, militarism and militarisation. It explores the gendered configuration of anti-war and anti-military practices through which militarism and militarisation are questioned and resisted in contemporary politics.

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics covered in the module may include, but will not be limited to, the following:

- Gender and International Relations
- Gender and Nationalism
- Gendering War and the Military
- Militarism, Militarisation and Demilitarisation
- Military Training and War Preparations
- Men, War and the Military
- Women, War and the Military
- Gender-based Violence in War
- Disability and War
- Resisting War and the Military
- Gender and Peacebuilding

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1.       Explain the gendered nature of militaries, war and conflict.

2.       Identify the gendered power relations that sustain and justify war, violence and militarism.

3.       Analyse the diverse ways in which notions and practices of masculinity and femininity are constructed within and through practices of war, militarism and militarisation.

4.       Recognise and critically evaluate militarism, militarisation and demilitarisation practices and discourses within contemporary politics.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the module, students will have gained experience in:

•       Critical analysis, thinking and writing.

•       Essay planning, preparation and writing at the postgraduate level.

•       Ability to apply concepts and theories to real world events.

•       Information gathering, evaluation and synthesis.

•       Initiative, independent thinking and creative problem-solving.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The seminar will be based on students' weekly presentations followed by a group discussion. Students will have the opportunity to engage actively in the conversation based on their weekly readings and their own understanding/interpretation of the subject addressed. The seminar leader will guide the conversation, and provide advice, support and help in identifying, evaluating and understanding the breadth and depth of the subjects addressed.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

This form of assessment will evaluate students' ability to formulate and address a research question in relation to the study of the gendered nature of warfare and military practices. It will assess their ability to engage critically with the topic chosen and to formulate an argument in a cogent manner. It will enable students to show a deep and critical understanding of the concepts and topic addressed by drawing on the relevant literature.

General Notes

N/A