Typology of proposal: Cycle of lectures and seminars 

Objectives (specified in relation to research training; suggested year of attendance – I, II, or III)

This interdisciplinary course aims to build an encompassing knowledge of the meaning of gender in research and of a gendered perspective in contemporary societies, by weaving a variety of views: cultural, social, methodological, political, philosophical and economical. Open discussion about gender related topics and methodologies will be encouraged.  Participants sensitive to equality and equal opportunities issues are hence required.

The course is suitable and open to PhD students along the three years of the programme.

Short description of contents

The seminars and lectures  will examine the issue of gender from a plurality of approaches and points of view. 

The first seminar will deal with the concept of gender, its origins and changes in time, as well as its implications in relation to cultural, social and political analysis. Feminist research methods will be presented and discussed throughout the seminar.

The second seminar will insist on the (trans)formative quality of feminist-critical-dialogic pedagogies, and a pedagogy of discomfort/difference, from the point of view of adult education, identity building and a practical theory of learning, both in formal and informal contexts.

The third seminar will examine the development of the legislation in the field of equality between men and women. A specific focus is dedicated to the constitutional principles and to their interpretation in the constitutional jurisprudence and in the case law of the lower courts.

The fourth seminar will provide some sociolinguistic and methodological tools to better understand social media using a gender register.

The fifth seminar will focus on some data showing gender-driven economic inequality, discuss its causes, and remark how this inequality imposes large economic costs, undermines productivity, and weighs on growth.

The last seminar will provide a short introduction to phenomenology and its application to gender; the seminar will show that concepts of “sex” and “gender” can be fruitfully examined and revised in the light of phenomenological concepts – “physical body” and “living body”, “body schema” and “body image”, “ownership and agency”.

At the end of the course, Phd students should be able to approach some controversial issues (e.g. gender balance in decision-making positions and Lgbt civil partnerships), to have an insight on feminist research methods and to understand the limits of the principle of equality and non-discrimination. 

Short list of topics: gender and its meaning, media stereotypes and gender, gender related rights, scientific research and women’s economic empowerment. The course involves the following disciplines: sociology, education, communication, law, economics and philosophy.

Method: Interactive teaching. 

Evaluation: A short essay (1 open question) will be written during the last session (one hour time), then evaluated by the teachers within 4 weeks. This is mandatory to be awarded 2 CFUs.

Participants (min/max): 5-30