Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrolment each term.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course examines the broader debates surrounding the human security paradigm. The first part of the course looks at how the concept of security has evolved since the early 1990s. We analyze the shift from a state-centric perspective, focusing on sovereignty and territorial defense, towards a people-centric approach, including structural poverty, inequality, health, and environmental threats. In particular, we consider the gendered implications of these conceptual and policy debates. The second part of the course explores the gendered dimensions of war. We examine how violence affects women and men differently, and how it is often carried out in a way that reinforces gender norms, practices, and hierarchies. We analyze various themes from a gendered perspective, including displacement and humanitarian assistance, violence and exploitation within armed forces and perpetrated by peacekeepers, and the inclusion of women in peace negotiations and peacebuilding. Throughout the course, we will draw on various case studies to examine these issues in depth. The third part of the course brings these discussions “back home”. We consider the gendered dimensions of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1) Identify the major debates surrounding the human security paradigm
2) Understand the gendered dimensions of security and insecurity
3) Develop gender analysis skills to theory, policy and practice
4) Deepen analytical, research, writing and public speaking skills

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: