LW5013 - Gender, Sexuality, and Law

You will learn through lectures, seminars, tutor guided independent learning and student independent learning. The lectures will introduce you to key legal concepts and theories relating to gender, sexuality, and the law.

In preparing for seminars you will undertake tutor guided independent learning which will enable you to come to the seminars with prepared answers for discussion and you will be expected to draw upon appropriate literature, theories and media as appropriate to support your answers and to then engage in subsequent discussion and structured debates.

Student independent learning will allow you to identify and pursue areas of interest in gender, sexuality and law to acquire a deeper/broader knowledge.

You will be supported academically in a number of ways:
• Oral feedback from tutors during small-group discussions and debates in seminars
• Module eLP site which includes media clips as appropriate
• Module eLP discussion board to provide a further semi-structured framework for discussion and debate
• Pro-active use of Twitter to support further discussion and to engage with themes of gender, sexuality and law beyond the classroom, for example the use of a module hashtag and tutor interventions as appropriate.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• You will demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the development, underlying concepts, principles and context of substantive areas of law relating to gender and sexuality, and be able to initiate and undertake critical analysis within those areas.
• You will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts, values, principles and rules of public and private laws within an institutional, national and global context relating to gender and sexuality.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• You will be able to recognise ambiguity and uncertainty in laws relating to gender and sexuality and, where appropriate, identify potential law reforms

Personal Value Attributes
• Develop intellectual independence by being able to ask and answer cogent questions about law and legal systems relating to gender and sexuality, identify gaps in knowledge and acquire new knowledge.

Formative feedback will be provided throughout the module, particularly in relation to seminar tasks.
Marking criteria will be provided from the start of the module to enable you to understand what is expected and how you will be judged on your performance.

Summative assessment will be a single piece of written coursework (maximum 2500 word limit).

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Gender and Sexuality are increasingly regulated in complex and transformational ways. Reproductive rights and relationships recognition rights for example have been at the forefront of global political, social and legal battles in recent years, as much an indication of the nature of a given contemporary society as they are an indication of individual rights. Alongside these changes have come continued criminalization of behaviours relating to pornography and certain forms of illicit sex. This module explores these debates, drawing on a rich and developing seam of theoretical, legal and social research, much of which has been contributed to by members of the module team. This module will enable you to (re)think about these complex themes in a way that enhances future social and employment-based interactions.