• Offered for Year: 2022/23

• Module Leader(s):

• Owning School: Newcastle Law School
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Aims

1) To provide students with knowledge of gender theories and the relationships to law;

2) To increase student’s understanding of law’s situation and operation within social and political contexts;

3) To enable students to critically analyse particular areas of law with regard to, and in light of, gender theories;

4) To enable students to critically evaluate the law using gender theories.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module starts with students gaining and understanding of and an ability to critically interrogate gender theories and the relationship to law. Following this, students will explore a number of areas of substantive law, and critically analyse them in light of relevant gender theories.

1. Theories relating to gender and law (gender, feminist, queer, masculinities, intersectional theories);
2. Transgender people, the law and identity;
3. Rape trials: consent and sexual history evidence;
4. Tort law and gendered harms: wrongful conception;
5. Sex work/prostitution and the law;
6. Gender and the legal profession.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

In person lectures and online materials - lectures and online materials and activities provide students with an overview of each topic, including key principles, concepts and debates.

Seminars enable students to develop and consolidate knowledge and understanding, as well as developing oral, analytical and critical thinking / evaluation skills.

Moderated discussion boards will enable students to share ideas, materials and discuss topical issues and questions, to develop their knowledge and understanding of each topic.

Multiple choice quizzes will support student learning by checking knowledge and understanding of each topic, and assisting with revision for the exam.

The workshop will enable students to work together to consolidate their knowledge and understanding, and to synthesise materials, to draw together themes from across the module, and to collaboratively produce documents which will support exam revision.

Directed research and reading as well as independent study will consist of reading to supplement lectures and seminars, as well as research which is self-directed, and preparing for and undertaking the exam.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The timed off campus assessment examines students’ knowledge, subject-specific skills, and cognitive skills across a range of topics included in the module. Students have access to notes and wide range of sources and materials meaning the examination is less focused on memory recall and more focused on synthesising materials, and analysis and evaluating the law and debates to construct an argument, showing their research skills and engagement with the literature, which is appropriate to stage 3. In addition, these specific skills are more appropriate to this module as this form of assessment enables students to engage in depth critical analysis and evaluation, not limited to one area of the module, demonstrating both broad and deep learning of complex theories and legal and social problems. This was clear from the assessments in May and August 2020, and May 2021, which showed significantly better answers in terms of depth of analysis and evaluation than compared to previous closed book on campus assessments.

Reading Lists

• LAW3041's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• LAW3041's Timetable