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Study information

Gender, Sexuality and Violence in Palestine/Israel

Module titleGender, Sexuality and Violence in Palestine/Israel
Module codeARAM230
Academic year2024/5
Credits15
Module staff

Professor Laleh Khalili (Lecturer)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

10

Module description

This module takes an innovative approach to the study of ‘conflict’ in Palestine/Israel by focusing on the relationship between gender and political violence in the region. We will first problematise the dominant frames of ‘conflict’ and ‘occupation’, looking instead to the model of settler colonialism as a gendered and sexualised practice. We will then explore key themes including nationalism, space, embodiment, everyday life, feminism, queer politics and resistance, which illustrate how gender relations are central to violence in Palestine/Israel. Through engaging with gender as a political and analytical category you will investigate the range of mechanisms that sustain political violence, as well as how individuals and communities practise resistance and imagination.

The course mixes lectures, tutorials and seminars, with teaching and learning shifting to dialogical and workshop formats as the term progresses

No prior knowledge of the subject is required; the module is suitable for interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to provide you with the skills of critical gender analysis, which will allow you to explore how settler colonialism and political violence are sustained and subverted in Palestine/Israel. You will learn to analyse how gender roles, relations, codes and norms become central to the production of violence, as well as how women and men experience, understand and resist this violence on individual and collective levels. You are expected to take an active role in creating and leading our learning community. The module encourages politically active learning through discussion of topical events and project-based learning.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Discern the various ways in which gender roles, codes, norms and relations shape – and are shaped by – political violence in Palestine/Israel.
  • 2. Develop an in-depth understanding of the relationship between gender, sexuality and settler colonialism in Palestine/Israel.
  • 3. Evaluate how gender and sexuality intersect with diverse modes of resistance in Palestine/Israel.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 4. Analyse and assess academic texts and prevailing discursive frames (i.e., ‘conflict’ or ‘occupation’) critically.
  • 5. Distinguish between a range of methodological approaches as well as variety of genres, i.e. anthropological and sociological texts, (auto)biographical writings and fiction.
  • 6. Demonstrate awareness of, and be sensitised to, the various processes by which gender (i.e., femaleness and maleness) is socially constructed and impacts politics.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 7. Engage in independent study and group work, including the presentation of material for group discussion
  • 8. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment.
  • 9. Critically examine and review existing literature.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

  • Violent epistemologies: Representing 'conflict' in Palestine/Israel
  • Gender, sexuality & settler colonialism
  • Approaching violence
  • Bodies, borders, space & place
  • Power, control & resistance
  • Memory, emotion & futurity
  • Workshop: Activism & transformation
  • Workshop: Decolonisation as praxis
  • Reflection & restoration
  • Critical pedagogies & project-based learning

 

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity2211 x 2hour lecture and tutorial, OR seminars
Guided Independent Study55Weekly reading (5 hours per week)
Guided Independent Study15Class/seminar preparation (including researching and posting news forums links)
Guided Independent Study29Project (19 hours researching/coordinating, 10 hours writing/preparing presentation)
Guided Independent Study29Reflective diary (19 hours reading, 10 hours writing)

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Class discussions & workshopsWeekly1-7Verbal feedback
Project proposal500 words1-6, 8-9Written & verbal feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
News article posts (3)103 x online links to existing news articles, posted to our class forum4-6, 8Verbal feedback in seminar discussion
Reflective Diary451,500 words1-9Written feedback
Summative Project (group or individual)45Written submission of 1,750 words OR 15 minute presentation. Submissions will vary in format [e.g., film or exhibition review, op-ed article, short film, podcast, performance, video or photo essay, poetry, sculpture or other material artefact, play script, Instagram page, blog, etc.]. This list is not exhaustive. 1-9Written feedback; verbal feedback (if required)
0
0
0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
News article posts (3)3 x online links relevant to topics from our course4-6, 8August/September reassessment period
Reflective diaryReflective diary (1,500 words)1-9August/September reassessment period
ProjectWritten submission of 1,750 words OR 15-minute pre-recorded presentation. 1-9August/September reassessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Abdo, N., Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women’s Anti-Colonial Struggle within the Israeli Prison System, 2014.

Abdo, N. and Yuval-Davis, N., Unsettling Settler Societies: Articulations of Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Class, 1995.

Abdo, N. and Masalha, N. (eds.), An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba, 2018.

Arvin, M., Tuck, E. and Morrill, A., ‘Decolonising Feminism: Challenging Connections between Settler Colonialism and Heteropatriarchy’, Feminist Formations, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 8-34, 2013.

Fanon, F., ‘Concerning Violence’ in The Wretched of the Earth, 1968.

Icaza, R. and de Jong, S. (eds.) Decolonization and Feminisms in Global Teaching and Learning, 2019.

Lentin, R., Thinking Palestine, 2008.

Morgensen, S., ‘Theorising Gender, Sexuality and Settler Colonialism: An Introduction’, Settler Colonial Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 2-22, 2012.

Natanel, K., Sustaining Conflict: Apathy and Domination in Israel/Palestine, 2016.

Puar, J., Terrorist Assemblages: homonationalism in queer times, 2007.

Said, E., ‘Permission to Narrate’, Settler Colonial Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 27-48, 1984.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, N., Militarization and Violence against Women in Conflict Zones in the Middle East: A Palestinian Case Study, 2009.

Sharoni, S., Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women’s Resistance, 1995.

Wolfe, P., ‘Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native’, Journal of Genocide Research, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 387-409, 2006.

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Videos/films, TV programmes, online materials (news sites, blogs, social media), images, podcasts, play scripts, music, memoirs.

Key words search

Gender, sexuality, violence, Palestine, Israel, Middle East

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

7

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

23/12/2016

Last revision date

01/06/2023