Course / Introduction to critical gender and race theory (Uvod u kritičke teorije roda i rase)
Status of the course / elective
Year / II (undergraduate) / Semester / 3
ECTS credits
Teacher / Associate Professor Senka Božić-Vrbančić
e-mail / ;
consultation hours / Office: 1413 (English department) (by appointment)
Associate / assistant
Consultation hours
Place of teaching / 157
Teaching methods / Lectures, seminars
Teaching workload
Lectures + Seminars + Exercises / 2+1
Examination methods / Attendance and participation in class discussions (10%)
Weekly assignment (30%)
Final paper (60%)
Attendance and participation in class discussions (10%)
Students should come every week ready to discuss the readings.
Weekly assignment (30%). Each week students will do homework. Homework questions are in each lesson assignment.
Final paper (60%). (essay 40% + oral presentation of proposal 20%).
Essay (approx. 3000 words). In addition to the essay, you need to submit an abstract of your project (roughly 1 page). Presentation should last 20 minutes. It will be graded on (1) the originality of the topic and its interpretation in connection with one or more theories assigned for this course (2) the organization of the presentation and the quality of the delivery (i.e., maintaining good eye contact with the audience, talking rather than reading off of a paper, using power point…).
Students must complete all the major assignments to pass the course.
Start date / End date
Colloquia / 1. term / 2. term / 3. term / 4. term
Examination period / 1. term / 2. term / 3. term / 4. term
Learning outcomes /
- The ability to discuss issues of race and gender in the context of literary and cultural studies
- The ability to explore, challenge and examine gendered and racialised knowledge production in literature, film, theatre and performace.
- The ability to analyse performative acts and race/gender constitution
- To understand the intersectionalities of gender and race
- The ability to share ideas with peers
- The ability to present ideas clearly in speaking and writing
- Familiarity with the basics of analytical writing, including argumentation and MLA style.
Enrolment prerequisites / Students should be enrolled in the 3rd semester
Course subject / This course offers an introduction to critical race and gender theory, an interdisciplinary academic field that explores critical questions about the meaning of race and gender in society. The primary goal of the course is to train students in the art of critical and analytical reading and thinking about race and gender.
This course is interdisciplinary and students will have opportunity to work on areas of their own choosing(film, literature, theatre, performance, TV shows...).
Required reading /
- Audre Lorde. Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.
- Butler, Judith. "Imitation and Gender Insubordination." InThe Critical Tradition, pp. 1707-18.
- Dyer, Richard. White. Visual Culture: the Reader. London: Sage. 2005, pp. 457-466.
- Foucault, Michel. "The History of Sexuality." InThe Critical Tradition, pp. 1627-36.
- Lauter, Paul. “Race and Gender in the Shaping of American Literary Canon”. Feminist Studies 9. No. 3.
- McIntosh, Peggy, “White Privilege and Male Privilege”
- Moore “Racism in the English Language”
- Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity. Duke UP, 2003. (selected parts)
Additional reading /
- Audre, Lorde. ‘Power’ The Collected Works of Audre Lorde, 1978,
- Berlant, Lauren. Poor Eliza. American Literature, Vol. 70, No. 3, No More Separate Spheres! Sep., 1998, pp. 635- 668.
- Butler, Judith. "Gender as Performance: An Interview with Judith Butler" (available online)
- Cvetkovich, Ann. An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures, Duke UP, 2003. (selected parts)
- Čale-Feldman, Lada and Ana Tomljenović, Uvod u feminističku književnu kritiku. Leykam International. 2012. (Književnost kao (patrijarhalna) institucija).
- Dolan, Jill. Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theater. Ann Arbor: Univ Michigan Press, 2005. (selected parts)
- Halberstam, Judith. “The Transgender Gaze in Boys Don’t Cry.” In The Visual Culture Reader. Nicholas Mirzoeff, ed. New York: Routledge, 2002: 669-673.
- Hill Collins, Patricia. From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism and Feminism. Philadelphia, 2006., ch. 1.
- McRobbie, Angela. “Top Girls? Young women and the post-feminist sexual contract.” Cultural Studies, Vol. 21, Nos 4–5, July/September 2007, 718–737.
- Stewart, Kathleen. Ordinary Affects. Durham: Duke UP, 2007. (selected parts)
Internet resources /
- Audre, Lorde. ‘Power’ The Collected Works of Audre Lorde, 1978,
- Stuart Hall on racism in media (jocks, stereotypes....)
- Stuart Hall: Race: floating signifier
- Judith Butler: Examined Life
- Public Feelings Salon with Lauren Berlant
- Affect in the end Time – conversation with Lauren Berlant
Quality assurance / Course Evaluation is used to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The feedback from evaluation will help guide changes in future.
Conditions for obtaining signatures / Students should come every week ready to discuss the readings and their homework.
Assignments of the credits for colloquia, seminars, exercises, exams / 1 1/2 ECTS – attendance and participation (lectures) and weekly homework
1 ECTS – final paper
1/2 ECTS – oral presentation
Assignments of the final grade / 10% Attendance and participation in class discussions
30% Homework
40% Essay
20% Oral presentation
Remarks / For those students who wish to read in greater depth about topics covered in this course, a number of books are available and placed in my office.
Teaching topics - lectures
No. / Date / Title / Literature
1. / Introduction
2. / The complexities of identities / Segal, Lynne. Sexualities. Identity and Difference. London, Sage. 1997, pp. 184-235.
Audre Lorde. Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.
3. / Sexual identity and difference / Segal, Lynne. Sexualities. Identity and Difference. London, Sage. 1997, pp. 184-235.
4. / Gender, sex and power / Foucault, Michel. "The History of Sexuality." InThe Critical Tradition, pp. 1627-36.
5. / Whiteness / McIntosh, Peggy, “White Privilege and Male Privilege”
Or
Dyer, Richard. White. Visual Culture: the reader. London: Sage. 2005, pp. 457-466.
6. / Gender and Performativity / Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity. Duke UP, 2003. (selected parts)
7. / The body as a complex and contested domain / Butler, Judith. "Gender as Performance: An Interview with Judith Butler"
8. / Femininity and masculinity: ordinary feelings / Butler, Judith. "Imitation and Gender Insubordination." InThe Critical Tradition, pp. 1707-18.
9. / Reproductive politics: public and private / Berlant,Lauren. Live Sex Acts (Parental Advisory: Explicit Material). The Queen of America goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship. London, Duke University Press. 1997, pp.55-80.
10. / Trans and queer gender
Film: Boys Don’t Cry / Halberstam, Judith. “The Transgender Gaze in Boys Don’t Cry.” In The Visual Culture Reader. Nicholas Mirzoeff, ed. New York: Routledge, 2002: 669-673.
11. / Affect theory / Stewart, Kathleen. Ordinary Affects. Durham: Duke UP, 2007. (selected parts)
12. / Sexualised racial body: ambivalence / Hill Collins, Patricia. From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism and Feminism. Philadelphia, 2006., ch. 1.
Moore “Racism in the English Language”
13. / Intersectionality of Race and Gender / Lauter, Paul. Race and Gender in the Shaping of American Literary Canon.
14. / Intersectionality of Race and Gender / Berlant, Lauren. Poor Eliza. American Literature, Vol. 70, No. 3, No More Separate Spheres! Sep., 1998, pp. 635- 668.
15. / Closing lecture
Seminars (students will be advised at the beginning of the semestar)
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