The University of the West Indies
at Mona, Jamaica
Teaching
Major in Gender and Development Studies in Collaboration with Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work
During the 2006/2007 Academic year, the Board of Undergraduate Studies approved the Centre’s first Major in Gender and Development which is being offered in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work. This course is consistent with the Mission Statement of the CGDS, responds to needs articulated by students and represents a further development in the range of teaching programmes currently offered by the Centre.
The Mission Statement of the CGDS is to ‘Develop an integrated, interdisciplinary programme of gender studies within the university at both the undergraduate and graduate levels’. The new Major expands the CGDS programme which includes teaching, research and outreach. The teaching programme at the Mona Campus previously included:
- a non-degree Diploma programme (30 credits) offered via the distance mode through the Regional Coordinating Unit;
- an undergraduate face-to-face Minor (15 credits) offered through the Faculties of Humanities and Education and Social Sciences by the Mona Unit;
- a taught face-to-face M.Sc in Gender and Development Studies (30 credits);
- face-to-face M.Phil/PhD degrees with various qualifying courses as required (e.g. at Mona 15 to 20 credits).
The Major promotes greater articulation between courses at different levels which had previously been developed independently of each other with no explicit attempt to ensure articulation among the different offerings. It now enables students enrolled in a programme at a lower level to be used to satisfy requirements for entry to a higher level.
Persons accessing programmes offered by the CGDS, particularly the non-degree Diploma and undergraduate Minor can now move seamlessly through programmes in Gender and Development Studies from the Diploma to the PhD level.
This Major in Gender and Development which is being offered in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Psychology, is the first of several Majors that the Centre will offer in partnership with other Departments.. The Major in Gender and Development also builds a stronger foundation for the graduate level programme, and is expected to increase the number of students registering for the M.Sc. graduate programme. In will also assist UWI graduates to acquire knowledge and skills in gender analysis for the workplace.
Overall Aims
The overall aims of the Major in Gender and Development are to enable students to acquire a stronger foundation for the graduate level programme, be better equipped to conduct research and to move seamlessly from undergraduate to graduate offerings. The Major will also equip graduates to gain employment or provide specialist expertise in the applied field of gender and development across various disciplines.
Programme Objectives
The main objectives of the Major are to enable students to:
- Apply gender and development theory to improve their understanding of Caribbean cultures and societies;
- Acquire knowledge of feminist theories, theories of masculinities, women’s/men’s studies and the philosophy of gender and use this knowledge to critique and provide solutions to gender and development issues in the Caribbean.
- Acquire knowledge and skills in quantitative and qualitative research methods and statistics and apply them to research projects in the field of gender and development;
- Understand the core principles of Sociology and apply these to an analysis of development of Caribbean societies and Caribbean problems.
- Acquire skills in gender analysis and gender planning tools.
Major in Gender and Development
The Major in Gender and Development requires 30 Credits from Levels 11 and 111 in the area of specialisation as indicated below:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| GS10A (GEND 1001) | Research Methods & Interactive Skills (Diploma) |
| GS11C (GEND 1103) | Basic Theoretical Concepts & Sources of Knowledge (St. Augustine) |
| GS12A (GEND 1201) | Cultural Represenatations & the Construction of Masculinity/Femininity (Diploma) |
| SY14H (SOCI 1005) | Introductory Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences |
| OR | |
| EC16A (ECON 1005) | Introductory Statistics |
| AND | |
| SY14G (SOCI 1002) | Sociology for the Caribbean |
| OR | |
| SY14H (SOCI 1003) | Sociology and Development |
| AND | |
| FD10A (FOUN 1001) | English for Academic Purposes |
| FD11A (FOUN 1101) | Caribbean Civilization |
| FD12A (FOUN 1201) | Science, Medicine and Technology in Society |
| AND TWO Level 1 Free Electives | |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Semester 1 | |
| AR20A (GEND 2001) | Gender in Caribbean Culture I |
| OR | |
| AR21A (GEND 2101) | Introduction to Women’s Studies I |
| AND | |
| GS20C (GEND 2003) | Feminist Theorizing: The Connection Between Theory and Practice (Diploma) |
| AND THREE Level II Free Electives | |
| Semester 2 | |
| AR20B (GEND 2002) | Gender in Caribbean Culture II |
| OR | |
| AR21B (GEND 2102) | Introduction to Women’s Studies II |
| OR | |
| GEND 2110 | Gender and Caribbean Economic Relations (Cave Hill) |
| AND | |
| AR20M (GEND 2013) | Caribbean Men and Masculinities |
| SY25C (SOCI 2016) | Gender and Development in Caribbean Society |
| AND ONE Elective from the following | |
| SY22C (SOCI 2006) | Qualitative Research Methods |
| OR | |
| SY22G (SOCI 2008) | Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences |
| OR | |
| SY22D (SOCI 2007) | Survey Design |
| OR | |
| SY26D (SOCI 2019) | Social and Cultural Anthropology |
| OR | |
| Any other approved Level II Free Elective | |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Semester 1 | |
| SY37G (SOCI 2016) | Sex, Gender and Society |
| GS35A (GEND 3501) | The Philosophy of Gender |
| AND THREE Level III Free Electives | |
| Semester 2 | |
| GEND 3703 | Gender Analysis and Theories of Development: Implications for Policy and Planning |
| AND | |
| GS35A (GEND 3502) | Philosophy of Gender in Caribbean Thought |
| AND THREE Level III Free Electives | |
Programme Structure and Delivery
The mode of delivery of the Major is blended and will include both face-to-face and distance education modes. All courses offered in the Major have already been approved by AQAC and are being taught in the Centre and the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work. Two Level 1 and one Level 11 courses are offered in Distance mode via UWIDEC using existing Lecturers. The course GS11C (GEND 1103) Basic Theoretical Concepts & Sources of Knowledge is available to be taught at Mona having been developed by the Centre and is currently being taught at both St. Augustine and Cave Hill Campuses.
Similarly, the Level 2 Course (GEND 2110) Gender and Caribbean Economic Relations and the Level 3 Course (GEND 3703) Gender Analysis and Theories of Development: Implications for Policy and Planning are also courses that could be taught as part of the Major. These have been developed by CGDS Cave Hill Unit and have been approved.
The Major requires at least 30 credits including 10 courses at Levels 11 and 111 from the related discipline. Students can pursue: six (6) Level 11 gender courses and four (4) Level 111 gender courses. These courses include SY37G which was developed and is taught by the CGDS and two new courses developed by the CGDS and approved by AQAC in the last academic year: the Philosophy of Gender (GS35A) and the Philosophy of Gender in Caribbean Thought (GS35B).
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | S | F | E | G | S | E | G | S | E | |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 30 courses |
| 9 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 90 credits |
Legend: G=Gender; S=Sociology; E=Electives; F=Foundation
Resources for Delivery of the Major
The courses for the Major offered by the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work and the Centre and already being taught and have been repackaged to make them available for the Major in Gender and Development.
This new programme has been the result of a proposal developed by Professor Barbara Bailey, and revised in partnership with CGDS staff and Gender Board of Studies members on the three campuses as well as the Dean and staff of the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work and members of the Board, Faculty of Social Sciences. It now offers students considerable flexibility in pursuing a wide range of courses that can improve their employment possibilities.
Revised August 2007
