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LAW-30091 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2023/24 Last Updated: 13 February 2024

LAW-30091 - Gender, Sexuality & Law
Coordinator: Martha Gayoye Tel: 07543724306
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733218

Programme/Approved Electives for 2023/24

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

LAW-10039 Legal Essentials

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2023/24

This module will introduce you to issues relating to gender, sexuality and law. There is particular research strength in this field of scholarship within the School. The module will approach questions of gender and sexuality from historical, theoretical and law reform perspectives. Feminist and Queer theories as well as a journey back in time to consider the legal regulation of sexuality in ancient Greece will provide you with critical tools to make sense of contemporary law. What do we mean as a culture and as a legal system when we use words like sex, gender, and sexuality? How many sexes, genders and sexualities do you think there are? The module will challenge the notion that there are only two: male/female (sex); masculine/feminine (gender); heterosexual/homosexual (sexuality). In the process, you will learn something about the role law plays in the production, regulation and erasure of particular sexed, gendered and sexual identities. The module will consider a number of concrete examples of social and legal struggle around issues of gender and sexuality. Thus you will examine the medico-legal regulation of transgender people; lesbian, gay and queer legal struggles; the medico-legal regulation of intersex bodies; transgender people and prison regulation, sexual assault, AND domestic violence.

Aims
1. to introduce students to the concepts of gender and sexuality.
2. to enable students to develop a critical perspective on the relationship between gender, sexuality and the law.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/law-30091/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically analyse the role law plays in the regulation of gender and sexuality: 1,2
apply theoretical knowledge to a series of 'concrete' socio-legal issues: 1,2
develop independent research and writing skills through completion of a research essay: 2
demonstrate a critical and evaluative understanding of sexual and gender dimensions of law/legal studies: 1,2
develop independent critical reflective practice in learning through reflective writing portfolios: 1
acquire real life authentic skills involving communicating with wider audiences and showcasing assessment outputs to future real employment situations beyond university: 2

Study hours

11 x 2 hours seminars, and 22x2 hours asynchronous learning and seminar preparation = 66 hours
Independent study hours (reading research and writing) = 84 hours
Total: 150 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Portfolio weighted 30%
Reflective portfolio
These reflective portfolios are geared at weekly seminar preparation to aid in the students' engagement prior to the seminars (hence submission by the mornings of the seminars), and to foster independent critical reflective practice. The portfolios will be assessed in blocks of three to four weeks (weeks one to three; weeks four to six, and then weeks 7 to 10), each comprising 10% of the overall mark of the assessment, making up 30% of the overall mark of the assessment. Students will be required to compile the three reflections into one document of not more than 1000 words and submit it on KLE at a set deadline during the assessment period, alongside the research essay (assessment 2).

2: Essay weighted 70%
Research-based essay
A choice of different essay topics will be provided for students to choose from. Students will be given an opportunity to submit essay plans for feedback and approval before they embark on writing the essay. Students will be required to engage critically with the course materials and to conduct independent research. Word limit: 2,000 words (excluding footnotes).

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 13 February 2024