- Eğitmen: Rahime Süleymanoğlu Kürüm
- Dersin Verildiği Okul: Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi
- Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi Ders Kodu: POL 2332
Course Objectives
This course aims at providing a comprehensive exploration of the role of gender in international development. It equips students with a detailed analysis of human development theories and their interaction and contradiction with neoliberal policies. This course is organized around two parts. First part deals with the human development and feminist theories to international development, actors and institutions that promote and challenge gender equality. The second part offers a thematic analysis of gender equality policies and their link to human development. The course will be thought with flipped learning technique. In addition to the weekly readings assigned below, lecturer will share weekly videos to summarize the content for each week. Weekly sessions will involve student participation and interactive discussions. Students are required to make active use of mind mapping technique for running effective discussions.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Comment on current debates on gender equality and development
- Grasp different perceptions and approaches towards women’s development.
- Analyze comparatively the effect of international actors on the formation of universal gender
- Comprehend the importance of gender equality in building a democratic society and discuss it in the context of human development theories.
Course Structure
The course will be thought online in 2 plus 1 format. There will be 2 hours of online synchronic lectures and an additional 1 hour of asynchronised course materials will be provided by the lecturer through Itslearning platform. Students are responsible to check Itslearning every week and follow the resources shared by the lecturer.
Office Hours
To book a reservation for Teams call outside the virtual classroom meeting, please contact me before 24 hours via [email protected] or Its learning message.
Course Policy
Communication Channels and Methods
Ideal means of communication is Itslearning platform. Students can choose e-mail to communicate with me during the course. Students are required to use a formal language rather than chat format.
Usage of Digital Tools
Mobile Technologies: Mobile technologies such as mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers can only be used for teaching purposes. Students are required to turn off the volume of electronic devices.
Assignments and Project Deadline
- All coursework will be sent via Itslearning course site via Bahcesehir Ugur Education Institutions.
- Students are required to send assignments Itslearning.
- Sufficient time has been calculated and given by the instructor to complete assignments. If students are unable to do the assignments on time they are required to contact the instructor to report the situation. And refrain from reporting excuses on the final day.
- Assignments and projects are due one day before the lesson as described in the weekly schedule below.
- For late submissions, the grade will be reduced by 10% (per day)!
Attendance
- Students must attend the theory part of the course at least 11 weeks full. Participation in online lessons (virtual classrooms) is essential as this course is activity-based and will be run through intensive participation of students in breakdown sessions. Students are required to read and follow the sources shared through Itslearning. There will be virtual discussions through Itslearning. Students are required to actively participate in these discussions.
- In case of absence instructor needs to be informed beforehand through Itslearning.
Disabled Student Support
Disabled students are asked to contact the instructor directly regarding the issues that may be an obstacle to follow the courses (vision, hearing, etc.). Disabled Student Unit can be contacted regarding disability.
Oral and Written Communication Ethics
Students are required to express themselves respectfully in their communication with friends and the instructor as well as for discussions, homework and correspondence on the online platform.
Privacy and Copyright
In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law, the courses will be recorded on the online platform within the scope of your approval and knowledge. In addition, it is strictly forbidden to register the participants (students and instructors) during the course.
Evaluation and Grading
- Mid-term (20%)
Online midterm exam (through Itslearning) covering the topics of the first 6 weeks (Week1-Week6) of the course.
- Assignment 1: Media Analysis of Gender Discourse and Media Report (15%)
Students are expected to choose a media content and prepare an 800-1000 words long written assignment discussing it from the perspective of gender capabilities and human development perspectives. This assignment will be conducted by each student individually and presented in class. of the grade is to be given from research and the other half from presentation and discussion in class. Students should be prepared to trigger class discussion on their selected media content. This is an individual project. Students are expected to prepare their assignment individually.
Guideline for Assignment 1
Analyze a commercial / advertisement video from a feminist theoretical lens (see the readings of the first four weeks). Here are some guiding questions to respond. Reports should be between 500 and 750 words.
- Analyze the advertisement in terms of target group and aims of the commercial:
- What does this commercial aim to market?
- Who is the target audience?
- How does the commercial manipulate the audience?
- What is the argument of the commercial?
- What sort of a life does the commercial aim to impose?
- What sort of values does the commercial aim to indoctrinate?
- What sort of economic and political structures does the commercial promote?
- What sort of a message does the commercial aim to deliver?
- If a 10-year-old child (boy or girl) is watching this commercial, what would be the message they get?
- Analyze the commercial in terms of gender roles and construction of femininity and masculinity.
- What are the issues that this commercial aim to highlight? What sort of techniques have they used for this?
- How do gender roles are defined in this commercial?
- What kind of a messages does the commercial send out regarding the women and men?
- What is the cultural code being promoted through this commercial?
- What is your feminist stance in relation to this commercial?
- Assignment 2: Participatory Action Research (PAR) (Video Production and Report) (25%)
Students are expected to identify a gender and development concern and produce a short video of 3-5 minutes expressing their messages to the public and policymakers. Instructor will be sharing examples of participatory videos and detailed guideline in virtual classrooms and on Itslearning. Students should pay attention to the conditions of Covid-19 pandemic and produce their videos using online tools or videoconferencing. This assignment will be a group project of 2-3 students. It will incorporate both a video and a written report of 1500-2000 words which allows students to express and explain their own learning process from producing the videos. Videos will be screened in virtual classrooms and discussed.
Guideline for Participant Video Co-Production and Reporting
As part of this assessment, create a short video of 3-5 minutes on a gender inequality issue and its link to development in order to deliver an effective message to the public and policymakers. In doing so, please pay attention to the conditions of Covid-19 pandemic and produce your videos by using online tools and via videoconferencing. You can use application such as Whereby, Whatsapp, Facetime, Zoom or any other videoconferencing tool that is convenient and accessible for you.
This assignment will be a group Project of 2-3 students. You should pair up among yourselves. Decide on your topic, design your video, and produce it. Videos will be screened in virtual classrooms and discussed.
Following your video production, you are required to write a collective report of 1500-2000 words describing your own learning process and the message you wanted to deliver. While this report will be written by groups of students, they should be submitted individually. In other words, group members will submit the same report individually on Itslearning by acknowledging the name of other group members.
Be sure to answer the following question in your Participatory Video Report which will be 25% of your overall grade.
- Which topic did you choose?
- How it is linked to development? Why is it important in Turkey? Why is it important for international community?
- Why did you choose this topic? What are your experiences that influenced your choice of this topic? Do you think you can make a difference by overing this topic and publicizing?
- By focusing on this topic, what message do you aim to convey to people (the public), your friends and policy makers respectively?
- Do you think there is enough awareness in society about this issue? Discuss!
- What kind of video did you intend to make (interview, story, documentary, social experiment, interview with experts in the field, etc.) Why did you want this kind of video shot?
- What kind of knowledge did you experience in this process of building and producing knowledge other than the existing knowledge and your own experiences?
- What kind of change have you experienced in yourself in the process so far? How has your thoughts on this subject changed since you first started the project until now?
- What was the most challenging issue for you in this process?
- Is there any international response to this issue? i.e. from the UN, the EU, Council of Europe or others?
- What kind of an action could be taken to tackle this issue?
Important note: Please do not write your report in the question-and-answer format. You are required to it in the essay format with proper introduction, paragraphing and conclusions.
- Final Exam (40%):
Final exam comprises of 10 true-false questions (10%), 10 multiple choice questions (20%) and 2 open essay questions (70%)
Course Outline and Reading
Week 1: Introduction of the Syllabus and Mind Mapping Technique (no reading)
Week 2: Main Concepts: Gender and Development
- Scott, J. W. (1986). Gender: a useful category of historical analysis. The American historical review, 91(5), 1053-1075.
- Anand, S., & Sen, A. (1995). Gender Inequality in Human Development: Theories and Measurement.
- Elson, D. (2002). Gender justice, human rights, and neo-liberal economic policies. Gender justice, development and rights, 78-114.
Week 3: Gender and International Development (Human Development Theories, GDP, Utilitarian Approach)
- Nussbaum, M. (2000) Feminism and International Development, In Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- Further Readings
- Momsen, J. (2019). Gender and development. Routledge. Chapter 1 Young, Z. P. (2016). Gender and development. In Handbook on Gender in World Politics. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Week 4: Gender and International Development (Resources-based approach, human rights approach and capabilities approach)
- Nussbaum, M. (2000) Introduction Feminism and International Development, and In Defense of Universal Values. In Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- Further Readings
- Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bardhan, K., & Klasen, S. (2000). On UNDP's revisions to the gender-related development index.
Week 5: Gender Policies in the making: actors, formal and informal institutions
- Cold-Ravnkilde, S. M., Engberg-Pedersen, L., & Fejerskov, A. M. (2018). global norms and heterogeneous development organizations: Introduction to special issue on new actors, old donors and gender equality norms in International Development Cooperation.Progress in Development Studies 18, 2 (2018) pp. 77–94.
- Waylen, G. (2014). Informal institutions, institutional change, and gender equality. Political Research Quarterly, 67(1), 212-223.
- Further Readings
- Lombardo, E., Meier, P., & Verloo, M. (2009). Stretching and bending gender equality: A discursive politics approach. In The discursive politics of gender equality (pp. 21-38). Routledge.
- Ahrens, P. (2018). Actors, institutions, and the making of EU gender equality programs. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Week 6: Equal Opportunities in Education and Employment: Applications of Resource-based and capabilities approaches)
- DeJaeghere, J. (2012). Public debate and dialogue from a capabilities approach: Can it foster gender justice in education?. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 13(3), 353-371.
- Gagnon, S., & Cornelius, N. (2000). Re‐examining workplace equality: the capabilities approach. Human Resource Management Journal, 10(4), 68-87.
- Further Readings
- Cin, M., Gumus, S., & Weiss, F. (2020). Women’s empowerment in the period of the rapid expansion of higher education in Turkey: Developments and paradoxes of gender equality in the labour market. Higher Education.
Week 7: Mobilising against Gender Equality: Forms of Reaction to Gender Equality and Development
- Verloo, M. (Ed.). (2018). Varieties of opposition to gender equality in Europe (Vol. 100). Routledge.Kuhar, R., & Paternotte, D. (Eds.). (2017). Anti-gender campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing against equality. Rowman & Littlefield.
- Kováts, E. (2017). The emergence of powerful anti-gender movements in Europe and the crisis of liberal democracy. In Gender and far right politics in Europe (pp. 175-189). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
- Further Readings
- Peto, A. (2016). How are anti-gender movements changing gender studies as a profession?. Religion and Gender, 6(2), 297-299.
- Korolczuk, E. (2014). The War on Gender” from a transnational perspective–Lessons for feminist strategising. Anti-Gender Movements on the Rise? Strategising for G, 43.
Week 8: Midterm Exam
Week 9: Political Representation of Women: Feminist approaches to international politics
- Beckwith, K. (2007). Numbers and newness: The descriptive and substantive representation of women. Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique, 40(1), 27-49.
- Tripp, A. M. (2010). Creating Collective Capabilities: Women, Agency and the Politics of Representation. Colum. J. Gender & L., 19, 219.
- Further Readings
- Severs, E., Celis, K., & Erzeel, S. (2016). Power, privilege and disadvantage: Intersectionality theory and political representation. Politics, 36(4), 346-354.
- Celis, K. (2013, November). Representativity in times of diversity: The political representation of women. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 41, pp. 179-186).
Week 10: Feminist Critique of the Concept of Security: Critical Analysis of Suffragette Movie
- Pergamon.Hudson, N. F. (2009). Gender, human security and the United Nations: security language as a political framework for women. Routledge.
- Svensson, K. (2007). Human security as inclusive security—gender, epistemology and equality. African Security Studies, 16(2), 1-13.
- Further Readings
- Massaro, V. A., & Williams, J. (2013). Feminist geopolitics. Geography Compass, 7(8), 567-577.
Week 11: Political Representation of Women: Gender and Diplomacy
- Towns, A., & Niklasson, B. (2017). Gender, international status, and ambassador appointments. Foreign Policy Analysis, 13(3), 521-540.
- Aggestam, K., & Towns, A. (2019). The gender turn in diplomacy: a new research agenda. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 21(1), 9-28.
- Further Readings
- McCarthy, H., & Southern, J. (2017). Women, gender, and diplomacy. Gender and Diplomacy, 15.
- Sluga, G., & James, C. (Eds.). (2015). Women, diplomacy and international politics since 1500. Routledge.
- Rumelili, B., & Suleymanoglu-Kurum, R. (2018). Women and Gender in Turkish Diplomacy: Historical Legacies and Current Patterns. In Gendering Diplomacy and International Negotiation (pp. 87-106). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Week 12: Human Security and Human Trafficking
- Shelley, Louise (2012). Human Security and Human Trafficking. In Johnsson, A. (Ed). Human trafficking and human security. Routledge.
- Clark, M. A. (2003). Trafficking in persons: An issue of human security. Journal of Human Development, 4(2), 247-263.
- Further Readings
- Raffaelli, R. (2009). The European approach to the protection of trafficking victims: the Council of Europe Convention, the EU Directive, and the Italian experience. German Law Journal, 10(3), 205-222.
- Crane, A. (2013). Modern slavery as a management practice: Exploring the conditions and capabilities for human exploitation. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), 49-69.
Week 13: Gender Responsive Budgeting
- Elson, D., & Sharp, R. (2010). Gender-responsive budgeting and women's poverty (pp. 522-527). Edward Elgar.
- Marks Rubin, M., & Bartle, J. R. (2005). Integrating gender into government budgets: A new perspective. Public Administration Review, 65(3), 259-272.
- Further Readings
- Costa, M., Sawer, M., & Sharp, R. (2013). Women acting for women: gender-responsive budgeting in Timor-Leste. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 15(3), 333-352.
- Jhamb, B., Mishra, Y., & Sinha, N. (2013). The paradox of gender responsive budgeting. Economic and Political Weekly, 35-38.
Week 14: Presentation of Participatory Videos and Submission of Reports (no reading)
Rahime Süleymanoğlu-Kürüm
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi
Dr. Rahime Süleymanoğlu-Kürüm is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bahçeşehir University. She received her BA in International Relations from Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus in 2005, her LLM in International Law from the University of Nottingham in 2006. She completed her PhD in Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham in 2012. She is also an associate member of the Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP). Her research interests focus on Europeanisation, EU foreign policy, Turkish foreign policy, gendering EU studies, gender and diplomacy and elite sociology.
