Genders & Cultures: Comparative Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity (GEND2001)

Course overview

This course aims to provide insights about the complexities of gender, sexuality, class, race and ethnicity, and culture in the context of gender studies. The focus is on the implications of emancipatory discourses such as feminism(s), decoloniality, Indigenous standpoint theory and epistemologies as ways of re-imagining our intersectional bodies and the worlds in which we live. The readings and assessment items foreground critical perspectives, personal narratives, non-Western and Indigenous voices to enable students to work back and forth between the personal and the political, and consider how such forms of inquiry can be used to enact visions of social justice and new critical spaces for understanding.

Welcome to GEND2001! This interdisciplinary course engages with current questions and debates in gender studies around the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class—particularly in relation to issues of Indigeneity, ethnicity, and colonialism. The course is loosely structured to explore local and global contexts of gendered intersectional experience and considers how these experiences play out in various times and places. In weekly lectures and tutorials, we explore the writings of feminist and gender theorists, thinkers, and philosophers together in conversation to consider the ways that our experience of gender, race, sexuality, class, and culture operate within and against movements towards gender justice. We will also consider the ways in which the personal becomes political, and the kinds of theoretical and practical moves that have been made relating to combating inequality and injustice.

Course requirements

Assumed background

GEND1010 in particular, and other Courses in the GS Minor are desirable preparation. If you have not done any of these, pleaseﾠdiscuss with the Course Coordinatorﾠwhether what you have done will equip you adequately. You will need some knowledge of GS theory/methodologies to do well in the Course.

Recommended prerequisites

We recommend completing the following courses before enrolling in this one:

GEND1000 or GEND1010, 6 units of Arts or Social Science courses

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Weekly classes will consist of a lecture (2 hours) and a discussion based tutorial (1 hour). Attendance to lectures/tutorials is expected and important for successful completion of your assessments.

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to provide you with a deeper understanding of the complexities of gender, sexuality, class, race and ethnicity,ﾠand culture in the context of gender studies. The weekly seminars focus on the implications of emancipatory discourses such as feminism(s), postcolonialism and decoloniality, Indigenous standpoint theory and epistemologiesﾠas ways of re-imagining our intersectional bodies and the worlds in which we live. The readings and assessment items foreground critical theory, personal narratives, non-Western and Indigenous voices to enable us to work back and forth between the personal and the political, and consider how such critical forms of inquiry can be used to enact visions of social justice andﾠfreedom from exploitation and oppression. In doing so, we hope to disrupt traditional forms of inquiry to imagine a new and critical space for understanding.

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Critical Reflections

• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Reflection

Weight

20% 8 Critical Reflections worth 2.5% each

Due date

6/08/2025 - 22/10/2025

Critical Reflections will be completed in class in Weeks 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Task description

Submission guidelines

A worksheet will be provided each week in class.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.

A medical certificate or reference to your SAP will be required if you miss class and fail to submit a Critical Reflection

Podcast Episode

Mode

Oral, Written

Category

Presentation

Weight

40% 10-minute Podcast Episode

Due date

26/09/2025 2:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit via Turnitin on Blackboard (Assessment Folder).

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Exam

• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

40%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Apply online through My.UQ.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

ASSESSMENT MARKING CRITERIA

Tutorial Journal Assessment Criteria

Criteria:

1. Ability to produce a succinct response to a directed question.
2. Knowledge of key themes or ideas.
3. Ability to employ relevant terminology, as required.
4. Clear and concise written expression, well presented.

To achieve a grade of 7 (High Distinction, 85-100%), your journal should demonstrate  exceptional levels of understanding and comprehension of the stated question, should locate it precisely and comprehensively in the relevant context, should be highly persuasive and clear in its critique. It should also demonstrate exceptional levels of insight and originality. Your answers will be very well written, clear and concise,

To achieve a grade of 6 (Distinction, 75-84%), your journal should demonstrate very high levels of understanding and comprehension of the stated question, should perceptively and capably locate it in the relevant context, should be persuasive and clear in its critique. It should also demonstrate advanced levels of insight and originality. Your answers will be well written, clear and concise.

To achieve a grade of 5 (Credit, 65 – 74%), your journal should demonstrate a fundamental understanding and comprehension of the stated question, should locate it proficiently in the relevant context and should offer a clear critique. It should also demonstrate good insight and originality. Your written expression will be clear and effective.

To achieve a grade of 4 (Pass, 50 – 64%), your journal should demonstrate a basic level of understanding and comprehension of the stated question, should be able to identify at least the relevant context to which it belongs, and should offer a functional and coherent critique. It should also demonstrate a basic level of insight and originality. Your written expression will be appropriate.

To achieve a grade of 3 (Marginal Fail, 45 – 49%), your journal will demonstrate that you have a superficial level of understanding and comprehension of the stated question. Your answer, while underdeveloped, will show your emerging ability to apply basic knowledge and skills. Your work will demonstrate only a superficial understanding of the relevant context to which it belongs; offer a basic but flawed critique, marred by poor insight and lack of originality. Your written expression will be adequate or poor.

To achieve a grade of 2 (Fail, 25-44%), your journal will demonstrate that you have a fundamentally flawed understanding and comprehension of the stated question and its context. You will have provided minimal critique with poor insight and originality. Your written expression will be poor or inconsistent.

To achieve a grade of 1 (Low Fail, 0-24%), your journal will demonstrate that you have failed to meet the minimum learning requirements and skill acquisition for this assessment task. There will be no evidence of understanding and comprehension of the stated question, or of the context. You will not have provided a coherent critique, used insight or originality. Your written expression will be poor or inappropriate.

Podcast Episode Assessment Criteria

Criteria:

1. Communication of a well-reasoned argument.
2. Demonstration of depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding of the central issues.
3. Clarity of structure.
4. Engagement with academic sources and evidence.
5. Demonstration of insight and creativity into constructing a point of view or argument.
6. Capacity to produce a coherent and clearly-spoken podcast.
7. Appropriate referencing, as per discipline conventions, in an accompanying script.

To achieve a grade of 7 (High Distinction, 85-100%), your podcast should communicate an exceptionally well-reasoned argument, demonstrate a deep understanding of the central issues, be clearly structured, deeply engage with the academic sources and evidence, display great insight and creativity, be extremely coherent and clearly-spoken, and be flawlessly referenced according to discipline conventions.

To achieve a grade of 6 (Distinction, 75-84%) your podcast should communicate a very well-reasoned argument, demonstrate a strong understanding of the central issues, be very well structured, engage with the academic sources and evidence, display good insight and creativity, be highly coherent and clearly-spoken, and be very well referenced according to discipline conventions.

To achieve a grade of 5 (Credit, 65 – 74%), your podcast should communicate a well-reasoned argument, demonstrate an adequate understanding of the central issues, be sufficiently well structured, engage with the academic sources and evidence, display some insight and creativity, be coherent and clearly-spoken, and be well referenced according to discipline conventions.

To achieve a grade of 4 (Pass, 50 – 64%), your podcast should communicate an identifiable argument, demonstrate some understanding of the central issues, have a basic structure, demonstrate a basic level of engagement with the academic sources and evidence, display some insight and creativity, show basic coherency and be clearly-spoken, and be adequately referenced according to discipline conventions.

To achieve a grade of 3 (Marginal Fail, 45 – 49%), your podcast will have communicated a poorly-reasoned argument, have a weak understanding of the central issues, lack structure, demonstrated limited engagement with the academic sources and evidence, shown poor insight and creativity, lacked coherency and clear articulation, and failed to follow the basic discipline conventions on referencing.

To achieve a grade of 2 (Fail, 25-44%), your podcast will have communicated a very weak argument, demonstrated little understanding of the central issues, shown a severe lack of structure, shown little engagement with the academic sources and evidence, displayed little insight or creativity, is incoherent and poorly spoken, and will have major flaws in the referencing based on discipline conventions.

To achieve a grade of 1 (Low Fail, 0-24%), your podcast will have failed to communicate an argument, demonstrated no understanding of the central issues, lacked any structure, shown no engagement with the academic sources and evidence, displayed no insight or creativity, is incoherent and very poorly spoken, and the referencing will have failed to follow the basic disciplinary conventions.

Exam Assessment Criteria

Criteria:

1. Ability to recognize key issues in the question.
2. Ability to structure an argument.
3. Use of evidence.
4. Engagement with academic scholarship and/or debates.
5. Clear and concise written expression, well presented.

Unlike formative assessments undertaken during your course (such as book reviews and essays), exam answers are typically marked on right or wrong basis for multiple choice, single word and short answer questions. Individual exam essays and other exam questions are not awarded grades, but are assessed numerically (such as a mark out of five, or a mark out of ten). The overall grade achieved for an exam is arrived at by totalling the marks for the constituent elements of the exam.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

• Failure to submit all major assessment items (those worth 15% and above) will result in a maximum grade of 2 (Fail).
• By submitting work through Turnitin you are deemed to have accepted the following declaration: ‘I certify that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted, either previously or concurrently, in whole or in part, to this University or any other educational institution, for marking or assessment’.
• All students must ensure that they receive their Turnitin receipt on every submission of assessment items. YOU MUST CHECK THAT THE RECEIPT CONFIRMS THAT SUBMISSION HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
• A valid Turnitin receipt will be the only evidence accepted if assessments are missing. Without evidence, the assessment will receive the standard late penalty, or after ten calendar days, will receive zero. In the case of a Blackboard outage, please contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible so that they can confirm the outage with ITS.
• It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they are submitting assessment items on a device that is capable of the task, and that appropriate internet bandwidth and speed is available. If you cannot be sure that your device or internet will enable you to complete or submit an assessment task, you must come onto campus and use one of the University Computers in the Library or Computer Labs.
• Plagiarism, and asking or paying someone else to do your work is cheating and constitutes academic misconduct. See ECP Section 6.1
• Feedback against the assessment criteria in the form of comments on your script will be provided through Turnitin or on your script directly.
• For information on assessment remarks see: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/manage-my-program/exams-and-assessment/querying-result

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.