Major structure
Overview
Through your studies, you'll gain a understanding of how concepts and practices of gender and sexuality function in contemporary societies. And develop skills to identify gender and sexuality-related issues within complex, changing social and cultural contexts.
Your course structure
The Bachelor of Arts requires the successful completion of 24 subjects (300-points), including at least one major. Most students study eight subjects each year (usually four subjects in each semester) for three years full-time, or the part-time equivalent.
Most Arts majors require 75 points of study (usually six subjects) for attainment. Arts minors require 50 points of study (usually four subjects) for attainment. This means you have the opportunity to achieve two majors or one major and one minor in your course. You will also complete breadth studies and other complimentary Arts subjects.
Completing your studies
If you are taking Gender Studies as a major, you must complete:
- 12.5 credit points (one subject) of Level 2 major core subject (usually in second year)
- 25 credit points (usually two subjects) of Level 2 major elective subjects (usually in second year)
- One (12.5 credit point) level 3 capstone subject (usually in third year)
- 25 credit points (usually two subjects) of Level 3 major elective subjects (usually in third year)
Please note - Foundation Subjects:
A Major begins at second year. Each discipline has one or more first-year Foundation subjects which provide excellent preparation for the Major. The Capstone subject in this Major requires the completion of a first-year discipline Foundation subject as a pre-requisite - one subject from the list below.
If you are taking Gender Studies as a minor, you must complete:
- 25 credit points (usually 2 subjects) of Level 2 minor elective subjects (usually in second year)
- 25 credit points (usually 2 subjects) of Level 3 minor elective subjects (usually in third year)
Please note – Foundation Subjects:
A Minor begins at second year. Each discipline has one or more first-year Foundation subjects which provide excellent preparation for the Minor. It is recommended students take one foundation subject in the discipline.
Breadth studies
Breadth is a unique feature of the Melbourne curriculum. It gives you the chance to explore subjects outside of arts, developing new perspectives and learning to collaborate with others who have different strengths and interests — just as you will in your future career.
Some of our students use breadth to explore creative interests or topics they have always been curious about. Others used breadth to improve their career prospects by complementing their major with a language, communication skills or business expertise.
Profile
Eleanor Twomey
Eleanor Twomey is studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Gender Studies and Criminology
In my first year of the Bachelor of Arts, my eyes were opened to the issues we face on a local and national level – with gender-based violence being one that I became particularly passionate about. I eventually chose a double major in Gender Studies and Criminology because this issue lies at the intersection of these disciplines.
Through my Gender Studies major I have come to realise how entrenched our socialised expectations of men and women are in society. The gender expectations placed on us from birth restrict our individual choice and lead to future inequalities. Through critiquing the gender binary, as well as heteronormativity in society, I have been able to see the value in deconstructing rigid gender roles and stereotypes, as well as celebrating non-binary identities and sexualities.
Alongside my degree I have volunteered for Chalk Circle, an independent non-for-profit that aims to create conversations around gender literacy to empower the next generation. I started off at Chalk Circle as a workshop facilitator in 2016, and have delivered workshops on gender and its effects to students, teachers, and other professionals. As the Executive Officer of this organisation, my majors give me an expert position on this subject, and allow me to shape our programs, workshops, and campaigns effectively.
I am also involved in the Victorian Government-funded LGBTI Leadership Program, run by Leadership Victoria. This training is focused on personal and professional development as a leader, network-building and looking at specific issues in the LGBTI community. With the combined knowledge from both my majors I am better able to interrogate the social and structural factors that lead to one woman being killed by a partner or former partner per year in Australia, as well as the violence many more women and children face in abusive relationships across the country.
Explore this major
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this major.
Foundation subjects
A Major begins at second year. Each discipline has one or more first-year Foundation subjects which provide excellent preparation for the Major. Please note the Capstone subject in this Major requires the completion of a first-year discipline Foundation subject as a pre-requisite - one subject from the list below.
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Sex, Gender and Culture · 12.5 pts |
The world is gendered - but what is gender? We know gender is fundamental to the way in which we see ourselves and others, and how our communities and institutions are organised, but why? Why do gender norms and stereotypes emerge? What effects do they have on our lives? Drawing on feminist and queer theory, transgender studies, masculinity studies, and a range of disciplines across humanities and social sciences, this subject introduces students to the major concepts in gender studies, including: biological determinism, cultural essentialism, social constructionism, power and inequalities, sexuality, and queering categories of difference. Using a variety of case studies from social media, politics, sport, fashion, film, and music, the course will analyse how sex, gender, age, ethnicity, race, class, politics and social movements intersect to influence our understanding of sex, gender, and culture. |
| Global Intersections:Gender, Race, Class · 12.5 pts |
What is the relationship between gender, globalisation and identity? How do we analyse the numerous structural forces and categories that shape both personal and collective identity politics? This subject investigates the relationship between globalisation and identity formation. It will focus on how categories of difference—especially gender, race, and class—dynamically connect across a range of contemporary events, such as labour migration, refugees, the climate crisis, religious revivalism, global aid, and international development. Attention will also be paid to social movements that address feminist and decolonial concerns. What insights does an explicitly feminist lens bring to these complex formations and transformations? The subject will introduce students to intersectional and decolonial feminism, a range of perspectives of feminists of colour, and critical race and critical development studies. |
Major core subject
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Feminist Futures: Theory and Activism · 12.5 pts |
How do gender and feminism operate in the world today, and what are their possible futures? Indeed, do these concepts have a future? This subject examines feminist theory and activism and presents perspectives on sex and gender that focus on inequalities across key sites, such as the family, work, religion, cultural representation and rights. It traces two competing traditions in feminist visions of the future of sex and gender – reform and revolution. From anarchist activism and sex and gender ‘wars’, to Islamic feminism, ‘girl boss’ and lean-in feminisms, we highlight the range of feminist theories and tactics alongside important ongoing tensions between universalism and difference in gendered experience. Covering the first to fourth feminist ‘waves’ as well as key debates between liberal, radical, queer, Indigenous and decolonial feminisms, this subject explores feminist efforts to organise and to develop visions of an equal future across everyday practices of genders and of sexualities. |
Major elective subjects
-
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Genders and Desires in Asia · 12.5 pts |
How are genders and desires imagined, performed, reproduced and contested in the diversity of societies and cultures of the Asian region? How does mobility and sociocultural change influence, or impact on everyday notions of gender within Asia, and in discourses about Asia? What is the influence of histories, religions, languages and media on gender and sexualities in the Asian region and Asian diasporas? This subject critically engages with gender and desire in relation to the Asian region by drawing on contemporary gender theories and a diversity of perspectives from the humanities and social sciences. Topics will cover the Asian region and diasporas, with a focus on languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese. |
| Queering Europe · 12.5 pts |
Queering Europe investigates the social and linguistic contexts, cultural production, and representation of LGBTIQA+ communities in Europe. A key objective of the subject is to explore the diverse ways in which queer and trans issues are brought to light in European culture. The subject familiarises students with contemporary LGBTIQA+ debates and Europe’s long queer history through a range of case studies. The subject engages students with cultural activism by LGBTIQA+ writers, film makers and artists and the ways in which they provoked readers/viewers in and outside their communities through new and complex cultural expressions. By exploring representations of queer and trans desire, sexuality, and gender diversity through European history, the subject showcases how the arts have given LGBTIQA+ communities an imaginary site of resistance and exchange. |
| Screening Genders, Bodies, Sexualities · 12.5 pts |
Genders, bodies and sexualities are at the heart of many contemporary social, cultural and political debates. This subject examines the representation of genders, bodies and sexualities onscreen, with a special focus on feminist, queer, trans and decolonial approaches to visual media. Weekly film screenings will introduce students to a wide range of film movements and political perspectives which cohere around the body. We will examine both popular and subterranean examples across a range of national contexts, canvassing key movements and genres. Contemporary research in gender and sexuality studies, critical disability studies, trans studies and critical studies of coloniality, race and whiteness will be employed to analyse visual depictions of bodies, desires and gendered identities. |
| Feminist Futures: Theory and Activism · 12.5 pts |
How do gender and feminism operate in the world today, and what are their possible futures? Indeed, do these concepts have a future? This subject examines feminist theory and activism and presents perspectives on sex and gender that focus on inequalities across key sites, such as the family, work, religion, cultural representation and rights. It traces two competing traditions in feminist visions of the future of sex and gender – reform and revolution. From anarchist activism and sex and gender ‘wars’, to Islamic feminism, ‘girl boss’ and lean-in feminisms, we highlight the range of feminist theories and tactics alongside important ongoing tensions between universalism and difference in gendered experience. Covering the first to fourth feminist ‘waves’ as well as key debates between liberal, radical, queer, Indigenous and decolonial feminisms, this subject explores feminist efforts to organise and to develop visions of an equal future across everyday practices of genders and of sexualities. |
| Technologies of Sex · 12.5 pts |
This subject explores how sex, gender and sexuality are entangled with science and technology. How are our understandings of sex and sexuality informed by a history of scientific investigation? How do gender and location shape the production of scientific knowledge? How is science mobilised in claims that binary sex and gender have a natural and biological basis? And how can we use science and technology in the pursuit of feminist and queer goals? This subject examines these questions from the perspective of feminist, queer and decolonial theories of science and technology. Introducing students to the rich interdisciplinary field of feminist and queer technoscience, the subject offers a critical inquiry into the scientific construction of sexuality, and the history of scholarly efforts to challenge the nature/culture binary and rethink our beliefs in science as objective and value-free. Key topics include: feminist objectivity; the false binary of nature vs nurture; the construction of biological sex; postcolonial science studies; reproductive technologies; and feminist and queer interfaces with biomedicalisation. |
| Sexual Revolutions · 12.5 pts |
Human sexuality is often represented as being “natural” and static, yet sexual norms and sexual cultures have experienced significant shifts over time. With a focus on historical and contemporary moments and movements of change – revolutions in sex and sexuality – this subject invites students to consider how systems of power, cultural formations, gender relations, economic contexts and medico-scientific discourses contribute to shaping our sexual lives. By analysing a range of case studies and examples across diverse cultural contexts, this subject will equip students with the conceptual and theoretical tools to understand human sexuality as a contingent and dynamic social phenomenon in our world. Case studies may include (but are not limited to): utopian communities, the English sodomy trials, socialist sexual cultures, sex in the 1960s, sex in the women’s liberation movement, Stonewall and gay and lesbian rights movements, sexualities on the internet, sex during and “after” the AIDS crisis, and the commodification of sexuality. |
| Gender, Care and Everyday Life · 12.5 pts |
How do we care for ourselves, others and our environment? What are the dynamics of gender, race, sexuality, class, ability, and citizenship in relation to care? What are the limitations and failures of care, and how might they relate to normative understandings of embodiment and relationality? This subject offers an in-depth study of feminist, queer, and trans theories and practices of care. We will explore the intersections between mental health, well-being, and spirituality to consider how concepts of care and caring relationships have changed over time, with a focus on contemporary movements toward decolonisation of care. We will look at different sites, forms and representations of care through a range of case studies, including yoga, meditation, dance, somatic experiencing, and esotericism among others. |
Capstone subject
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Feminist and Queer Praxis · 12.5 pts |
This subject examines the relationship between feminist and queer theories and the practical contexts in which they are enacted. It will provide Gender Studies students with the opportunity to reflect on, expand and synthesise the rich skills base from the Humanities and Social Sciences which they have cultivated during their studies. It explores how critical concepts such as intersectionality, performativity, embodiment, and resistance inform lived experiences, social movements, cultural practices, and political struggles. Students will investigate how feminist and queer praxis challenges dominant power structures, interrogates norms of gender and sexuality, and creates possibilities for more just and inclusive futures. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship, case studies, and activist traditions, the subject considers the tensions and synergies between feminist and queer approaches, as well as their diverse applications across global and local contexts. Students will be encouraged to reflect critically on their own positionality and the ethical dimensions of applying theory to practice. |
Major elective subjects
-
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Gender and Crime · 12.5 pts |
Virtually all aspects of crime and criminal justice are gendered. For instance, patterns of both offending and victimization follow heavily gendered patterns, while the criminal justice system is itself a traditionally ‘masculine’ institution. Likewise, both offending and victimization are implicated in the performance of gender identity. In this subject, students will be invited to critically interrogate ways in which gender shapes experiences of crime, victimisation and the operation of the criminal justice system, drawing on contemporary theory, research and applied case studies. This subject will also support students in developing the skills to communicate key theories, concepts, research and debates on gender and crime to a range of different audiences, utilising diverse mediums. |
| Thinking Sex · 12.5 pts |
How do we come to experience ourselves as having a gender and a sexual orientation? How do social constructions of gender relate to understandings of sexuality? How have categories like masculinity and femininity; heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality transformed over time? This subject approaches gender and sexuality as historically and culturally contingent rather than as natural expressions of a private self. It provides the historical and theoretical frameworks for understanding the rise of specific genders and sexualities in relation to available medical, psychoanalytic, philosophical, political and popular discourses. Drawing from recent formations in both feminism and queer studies, this subject engages with a diverse range of cultural texts from the proceedings of court cases to personal advertisements, from celebrity gossip columns to popular film. On completion of this subject students should be able to explicate the complex imbrications of gender and sexuality and to analyse the representation of gendered and sexual identities and desires in selected cultural texts, which may include television, film, Internet and print media. |
| Gender Diversity in the Workplace · 12.5 pts |
This subject examines diversity, equality and inclusion in relation to gender, sexuality, and race in contemporary contexts, with a focus on how inequalities emerge, persist, are measured, and addressed within organisations and institutions. Students will develop the skills to critically analyse current social issues and devise strategies for meaningful change. Drawing on case studies from diverse fields—including the creative industries, government and public policy, activism, education, and health—the subject combines theory and practice. Using insights from feminist, queer, transgender, and masculinity studies, students will learn to translate complex ideas into practical outcomes. Through engagement with writing, activist, policy documents, and cultural texts such as film, they will strengthen their critical thinking and communication skills. The knowledge gained will prepare students to lead change in their future workplaces, creative practices, and broader society. |
| Trauma, Memory, Bodies · 12.5 pts |
How is trauma felt, remembered, and narrated? What are the dynamics of gender, race, sexuality, class, and citizenship in relation to cultural politics of memory and trauma. What are the corporeal manifestations of trauma and memory? Whose memories are valued, believed and commemorated and whose memories have been repressed? What challenges do traumatic events present for those who want to represent and heal them? This subject approaches concepts of trauma and memory as historically and culturally contingent, asking what counts as trauma, for whom and under what circumstances. The subject will open by tracing history of the concept of trauma in psychoanalysis and medicine, followed by critical perspectives from feminist, queer, transgender, critical race, and body studies perspectives. In the second part of the subject we will look at different sites, forms and representations of trauma in literature, films, art, oral narratives, memoirs, photographs, and social movements. |
| Trans Studies: Cultures and Communities · 12.5 pts |
This subject charts the emergence of transgender studies, situating gender and sex in conceptual frameworks that have contributed to the development of this dynamic academic field. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we will ask questions such as: What does the term ‘trans’ mean? Is it an identity, a methodology, or both? How has the development of trans studies reconceptualised feminist and queer understandings of gender, sex, and power? Throughout the subject, we will examine a wide range of issues related to trans and non-binary subjectivities, including representation, recognition, pathologisation, and visibility, and will analyse how gender is controlled, confined, and policed by structural institutions (e.g., the legal system, the medical establishment, the prison industrial complex). In focusing on the experiences and lived realities of trans and gender-diverse communities, we will keep in mind the intersectional nature of identity and will be attentive to how race, class, age, nationality, and dis/ability structure and inform understandings of sex and gender. Attention will also be paid to movement of transgender subjectivities across transnational spaces. Throughout the semester, we will also interrogate what is at stake in including ‘T’ in LGBT as well as critical trans scholarship’s relationship to queer theory and feminism. |