Learning objectives
Respect to knowledge and understanding (Descriptor 1 = knowledge and
understanding), at the end of the course the student
must have acquired the fundamental historical knowledge on the cultural and political origins of gender discrimination and on some of the ideas that have connoted the figure of women within the history of Western political thought.
The student must have achieved full knowledge
stereotypes on the female figure that are at the origins of gender discrimination and political ideas through which the female figure has been characterized in the history of Western political thought. The student must have gained knowledge of some of the texts of those authors and
those authors who were among the first to develop a political thought on women's emancipation.
With respect to knowledge and ability to
applied understanding (Descriptor 2 = applying
knowledge and understanding), the student
through an educational path marked on
Lesson method / Socratic heuristic must have acquired the ability to understand and analyze the topics of the lessons. With this ability the student will have to demonstrate that he is able to elaborate his own critical thinking on the topics exposed in class.
With respect to independent judgment (Descriptor 3 =
making judgments) the students
must have acquired at the end of the course the ability to analyze the subjects learned in class in order to know how to relate to them critically.
With respect to communication skills (Descriptor 4 = communication skills) through the methods of
method of the heuristic / Socratic lesson the student must acquire a satisfactory property
expressive both at the terminological and conceptual level.
The student will have to learn to expose the topics of the lesson with autonomy.
Respect to the ability to learn (Descriptor 5
= learning skills) students will have acquired those bibliographic and linguistic-lexical tools as well
conceptual that will allow them to independently develop a critical reflection on the problems dealt with in teaching. The student must also have acquired the ability to
to develop an autonomous thinking based on teaching topics and to express it to the teacher and colleagues.
Prerequisites
Nothing
Course unit content
The course aims to study in depth the socio-cultural origins of gender discrimination in Western culture and the forms of inequality that derive from these in contemporary society.
The course is structured in two parts:
1) the first part will deal with some of the main conceptions and representations of women that have discriminated the female gender starting from the ancient Greek and Roman world; furthermore, the lessons will focus on some of the main political ideas that in the West have for centuries condemned women to a position of inferiority to men.
2) the second part will deal with the study of some of the main cultural, social, political and economic problems that hinder women in achieving gender equality in contemporary society. Particular attention will be paid to forms of violence and discrimination against women.
Full programme
First Part: "SOCIOCULTURAL MODELS OF GENDER INEQUALITY"
1) DISCRIMINATING SOCIOCULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THE GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD:
GREECE
- Forms of exclusion of women in the Greek polis;
- The woman in the Homeric poems;
- Socrates; Plato; Aristotle;
- Medical theories on the female body;
ROME
- Woman in Roman culture;
- The role in the Roman family;
- The woman and the pater familias.
2) THE LEGITIMATION OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN MODERN TIMES:
- Some male models (J.-J. Rousseau, A. Tocqueville, J.G. Fichte, G.W.F. Hegel).
3) PIONEER AGAINST GENDER INEQUALITIES
- Reading of passages chosen by (C. De Pizan; O. de Gouges, M. Wollstonecraft, H. Taylor, S.M. Grimké, A.M. Mozzoni);
Second Part: "GENDER INEQUALITIES IN GLOBAL SOCIETY"
1) THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE GENDER
- Gender and society
- Gender and mass media
- Gender: social transformations of a concept
2) GENDER INEQUALITIES TODAY
- Gender and politics
- Gender and education
- Gender and work
3) GENDER VIOLENCE
- Society and gender-based violence: some data
- Violent loves
- New digital forms of gender-based violence
Bibliography
Books for attending students who follow the lessons in the classroom or in streaming and non-attending students:
- F. Sartori, Differenze e disuguaglianze di genere, il Mulino, Bologna, 2009.
- A. Rossi-Doria, Le donne nella modernità, Pazzini, Villa Verucchio, 2007.
- PAGES CHOSEN FROM THE BOOK E. Cantarella, L'ambiguo malanno. Condizione e immagine della donna nell'antichità greca e romana, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2016, CHOSEN PARAGRAPHS:
Introduzione
Parte prima. La Grecia
Capitolo I Il matriarcato tra preistoria, mito e storia
Paragrafi 2; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8;
Capitolo II L'origine della misoginia occidentale
Paragrafi 1; 2;
Capitolo III Esclusa dalla città
Paragrafi 2; 3; 4; 5;
Capitolo IV I filosofi e le donne
Paragrafi 2; 4; 5; 6
Capitolo V Le donne e la letteratura
Paragrafo 2
Capitolo VI Omosessualità e amore
Paragrafo 4
Capitolo VII L'età ellenistica: nuove immagini e vecchi stereotipi
Paragrafi 1; 2;
Parte seconda. Roma
Capitolo VIII L'ipotesi matriarcale
Paragrafi 1; 2; 4;
Capitolo IX L'età regia e la repubblica
Paragrafi 1; 2; 3; 4; 8; 11; 13
Capitolo X Il principato e l'Impero
Paragrafi 1; 2; 3; 5; 12
Conclusioni.
Recommended elective reading (not mandatory):
- H. Taylor, La liberazione delle donne, a cura di A. Giordano, Genova, il melangolo, 2012;
- S.M. Grimké, Poco meno degli angeli. Lettere sull'uguaglianza dei sessi, a cura di T. Casadei, Roma, Castelvecchi, 2016.
- M. Wollstonecraft, Sui diritti delle donne, Massa, Edizioni Clandestine, 2018;
- S. Bonino, Amori molesti. Natura e cultura nella violenza di coppia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2019.
Teaching methods
The teaching activities will be conducted through the method of the frontal lesson /presentation and the method of the lesson Heuristic/ Socratic; a sequential type of expositive teaching (with steps of knowledge) will be alternated with a hypothetical or heuristic teaching based on questions/ stimulus. This mode of teaching aims to promote in the students the autonomous research of meaning on the topics of the frontal lessons. With the use of the Simulation/Role playing and Cooperative Learning methods, we will try to involve the students actively in the construction of the lesson.
Assessment methods and criteria
For attending students who follow the lessons in the classroom or in streaming, oral interview with questions mainly about the topics covered in the lessons and some about the reference books provided.
For not-attending students, oral interview with specific questions about the reference books provided.
Other information
All students are advised to register on the page dedicated to teaching on the Elly platform.
Synthetic teaching materials will be uploaded and made available to students on the page dedicated to teaching on the Elly platform.
