Gender, Sexuality And Global Health

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Gender, Sexuality and Global Health

GH 590R (4624)

PROVISIONAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

Fall Semester 2007

Instructor: Kate Winskell, PhD

Visiting Assistant Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health

Assistant Director, Center for Health, Culture and Society

RSPH, Room 710

Phone: 404 727 5286

Time: Wed. 10-11.50 am

Location: TBC

Credits: 2

Office hours: Wed 1-3

Overview

In this seminar, students will master some of the theoretical literature on gender and sexuality, debate how gender and sexuality are shaped by social and cultural influences, learn the importance of these theoretical concepts for public health policy and interventions, and become acquainted with current programmatic and research perspectives.

Part I of the class looks at the factors that contribute to the social and cultural variability of gender and sexuality. Part II of the class looks more explicitly at the relationships between gender, sexuality and public health programs – that is, we explore how a critical consciousness of the social construction of gender and sexuality can be useful in shaping more effective public health programs.

Learning Goals

At the conclusion of this course, students will:

1. Understand what it means to say that gender and sexuality are socially constructed and historically variable, and be familiar with the range of social, cultural, political and economic factors that influence sexuality and gender;

2. Have developed a critical awareness of the relationship between theoretical perspectives on gender and sexuality and research and intervention strategies.

3. Be familiar with current programmatic and research perspectives related to gender and sexuality.

Readings

All the assigned readings will be posted on the Blackboard site in PDF format or at HTML links. We will also use the Blackboard site for posting questions on the week’s readings in advance of each class, for extended discussion of topics introduced in class and for posting news articles, useful websites, key documents, etc. I reserve the right to make changes to the readings for non-student-led sessions at least one week in advance in order to respond to emerging student needs.

PLEASE BRING ASSIGNED READINGS FOR THE DAY TO EACH SESSION.

Evaluation

The course grade is based on a writing exercise, an exam and on participation in class discussions.

Discussion leader 20%

Class participation 20%

1 readers’ report 20%

1 final exam (take home) 40%

Class Participation: The process is the goal

A seminar is a group approach to teaching and learning. I have chosen the seminar format for this class because the best way for you to master these new ways of thinking about gender and sexuality is for you to read closely and then to discuss actively the readings with others. My role as instructor is to be your coach or guide as we work together to explore the readings, but it is not to ‘give you the answer’, because it is through the process of arriving at these answers collectively that you will develop the analytic skills you need to be able to do this sort of critical thinking on your own as a researcher and a professional. In order for the seminar to succeed as a place where we can achieve our individual and collective goals, you must also hold up your end of the bargain, which means participating in the discussion, asking hard questions, listening to each other, and working together to explore the questions that bring us together.

After the first five weeks of class (around fall break) you will receive written evaluations of your participation and a grade based on participation to date. The final grade for class participation will be based on the level of participation throughout the semester.

Students are expected to participate actively and thoughtfully in class discussions by asking pertinent questions and making cogent comments that demonstrate a thorough reading and synthesis of the material. To make room for everyone’s voices and questions, we will incorporate two key practices into our weekly meetings:

1. Submission of written questions: each student will be responsible for posting a written question on the electronic bulletin board before class. The question-submission mechanism has proven to be useful for helping students develop critical reading skills. The questions can also help your classmates focus on the main points of the reading. Don’t ask “what is the main point of the article?” – ask things like, “what does Farmer mean when he talks about conflating structural violence and cultural difference?” The questions can also be ways of linking the texts to public health practice – i.e., “what are the implications of the concept of structural violence for HIV interventions?” Please read the questions others have posted before posting yours, and try not to duplicate. Questions should be signed. Please post your questions each week by Tuesday at 12 noon. Your questions will be assessed as part of the Class Participation component of your grade.

2. Each student will serve as the discussion group leader at least once during the semester. Students should choose one of the sessions marked by an asterisk on the syllabus. As the discussion leader, your responsibilities will include:

• giving your classmates an overview of the key questions and points of the readings. If the reading is a book, you should say a sentence or two in summary of each chapter. If it is several articles, you should give a bit on each article and then tie them together. The summary portion of the presentation, however, should be quite limited, as everyone will have done the reading, and so the summary might just briefly review the key points that the author(s) makes and the kinds of data used to make the argument. If there are important jargon/technical terms in the reading, it will also be your job to become comfortable enough with these terms that you can explain them to your classmates. This role should serve to get everyone’s brain limbered up for a good discussion.

• critiquing the readings with respect to theory and/or methodology, conclusions and recommendations. Your critique should include:

• thinking about how that readings relate to the overall ‘big picture’ of the class (see learning goals, above). As the semester develops, we will refer to certain themes repeatedly in our discussions, so your job is to articulate how the reading speaks to those themes.

• thinking about methods (where appropriate) used in the research described in the paper.

• being a public health pragmatist, and exploring how the reading relates to public health practice and program development.

• based on the critique, posing a set of questions to stimulate class discussion.

The discussion leaders will meet with the course instructor at least one week before leading the discussion.

In order to prepare for class, moving your eyes over every page and noting the author’s substantive points is just the beginning. You should spend time thinking about it, making notes on the questions it raises, the way it relates to the learning objectives of that section of the course, flaws in the arguments, methodological problems, differences from and similarities to other readings, and other issues that bear discussion.

Reader’s report

By fall break, you will submit by e-mail a reader’s report. This report, not to exceed two pages, double spaced (600 words), should articulate the relevance of one of the readings to the broader themes and goals of the course and raise questions for discussion. The report can incorporate your own subjective perspectives: why did this article speak to you particularly?

Final exam (take home)

The exam will cover all of the readings and discussion during the entire semester.

ASSESSMENT OF THE COURSE: As with all courses at Rollins School of Public Health, students are asked to complete the on-line course evaluation at the end of the semester. In addition, because I would like feedback on the class while there is still time to improve it so that current students can benefit, I will post a brief qualitative evaluation on the Blackboard site at fall break. I encourage students to download a copy of the form and fill it in anonymously; I will use this information to tweak the course as it is in process.

Gender, Sexuality and Global Health - GH 590R (4624)

Fall Semester 2007

SCHEDULE AND READING LIST

PART I: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

1. September 5

INTRODUCTION AND CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

Recommended:

1. Geeta Rao Gupta, “Gender, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS: The What, the Why, and the How” plenary address at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2000.

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2. September 12

RESEARCH ON SEXUALITY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Required Readings:

1. WHO, Defining Sexual Health. Report of a technical consultation on sexual health, 28-31 January 2002, Geneva

2. Richard G. Parker, “Editorial: Sexuality, Health and Human Rights,” AJPH, June 2007, 97: 972-973

3. Richard Parker et al., Introduction, in: Parker et al. (eds), Framing the Sexual Subject: The Politics of Gender, Sexuality and Power, University of California Press, 2000, pp.1-25

4. R.W. Connell and Gary W. Dowsett, “’The unclean motion of the generative parts’: Frameworks in Western thought on sexuality,” in: Parker and Aggleton (eds), Culture, Society and Sexuality: A Reader (2nd Edition), Abingdon: 2007, pp.188-206

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3. September 19

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Required Readings:

1. Anne Fausto-Sterling, “The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough,” in: Williams and Stein (eds.), Sexuality and Gender, Blackwell: 2002, pp.468-473 (first published 1993).

2. Will H. Courtenay, “Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men’s well-being: a theory of gender and health,” Social Science and Medicine 50 (2000), 1385-1401.

3. Simon W, Gagnon JH. Sexual Scripts. Society. November/December, 1984.

4. Stacy Leigh Pigg, “Globalizing the Facts of Life,” in: Vincanne Adams and Stacy Leigh Pigg (eds), Sex in Development: Science, Sexuality, and Morality in Global Perspective, Duke University Press: 2005, pp.39-65

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4. September 26

POWER, STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND CULTURE

Required Readings:

1. Paul Farmer, Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues, University of California Press: 1999, pp.8-9 and pp.127-183

2. Richard Parker, “Sexuality, Culture, and Power in HIV/AIDS Research,” Annual Review of Anthropology 2001, 30: 163-79.

3. Brooke Grundfest Schoepf, “Culture, Sex Research and AIDS Prevention in Africa,” Chapter in: ten Brummelhuis and Herdt (eds.) Culture and Sexual Risk: Anthropological Perspectives on AIDS, Luxembourg, 1995

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5. October 3

RESEARCH PRIORITIES AND METHODS

Required Readings:

1. Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer, “Reframing Research on Sexual Behavior and HIV,” Studies in Family Planning, Volume 36, Number 1, March 2005, pp.1-12.

2. Mohamed M. Ali and John Cleland, “Uses and abuses of surveys on the sexual behavior of young people,” in: Roger Ingham and Peter Aggleton, Promoting Young People’s Sexual Health: International Perspectives, Routledge: 2006

3. Leclerc-Madlala S. Youth, HIV/AIDS and the Importance of Sexual Culture and Context. Cape Town, South Africa: Centre for Social Science Research, AIDS and Society Research Unit, University of Cape Town; 2002.

4. Chi-Chi Undie and Kabwe Benaya, “The State of Knowledge on Sexuality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Synthesis of Literature,” Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies, Issue 8 (2006), http://www.jendajournal.com/issue8/undie-benaya.html

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Reader’s Report due in October 3.

FALL BREAK – no class October 10.

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PART II: GENDER, SEXUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS

6. October 17

THE INEVITABILITY OF INFIDELITY

Guest instructor: Jennifer Hirsch, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Required readings:

1. Jennifer S. Hirsch et al., “The Inevitability of Infidelity: Sexual Reputation, Social Geographies, and Marital HIV Risk in Rural Mexico,” AJPH, June 2007, vol. 97, no.6, pp.986-996.

2. Daniel Jordan Smith, “Modern Marriage, Men’s Extramarital Sex, and HIV Risk in Southeastern Nigeria,” AJPH, June 2007, vol. 97, no.6, pp.997-1005.

3. Holly Wardlow, “Men’s Extramarital Sexuality in Rural Papua New Guinea,” AJPH, June 2007, vol. 97, no.6, pp.1006-1014.

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7. October 24

* BRIDGING THE TRADITIONAL AND THE MODERN: VIRGINITY TESTING, MALE CIRCUMCISION AND FEMALE-INITIATED METHODS

Required Readings:

1. Joanne E. Mantell, et al., “The promises and limitations of female-initiated methods of HIV/STI protection,” Social Science and Medicine 63 (2006), 1998-2009.

2. Louise Vincent, “Virginity testing in South Africa: Re-traditioning the postcolony,” Culture, Health and Sexuality, January-February 2006, 8 (1): 17-30.

3. Sawires, Sharif R., et al., “Male circumcision and HIV/AIDS: challenges and opportunities,” Lancet 369 (9562): 708-713 Feb 24 2007

4. Westercamp, N. and Bailey, R. C., “Acceptability of male circumcision for prevention of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: A review,” AIDS and Behavior, 11 (3): 341-355 May 2007