New Frontiers in Teaching Politics, Gender and Sexuality

16 January 2020, Muntpunt Library, Brussels

Hosted by Vrije Universiteit Brussel, our Standing Group on Gender and Politics has organised a one-day workshop on New Frontiers in Teaching Politics, Gender and Sexuality in collaboration with our Standing Group on Teaching and Learning Politics. The workshop seeks Papers on two broad themes:

Theme 1: Innovative Teaching in Politics, Gender and Sexuality

Becoming more inclusive and innovating teaching methods in politics and gender has become a growing task in universities. Yet, addressing structural barriers for a more equal and diverse profession, integrating gender perspectives and their findings into ‘mainstream’ political science curricula and changing teaching methods themselves remains a major challenge. Against this background, the workshop examines structural issues (gendered syllabi etc) and processes (how to be inclusive and teach students to be inclusive). How to mainstream gender and diversity in curricula in new (and old) teaching methods? How to integrate and foster equality in the classroom and how to build on diversity as an opportunity for improvements?

Theme 2: Teaching Gender and Sexuality in Politicised Settings

At the same time, gender and sexuality studies have become increasingly politicised in a number of countries across Europe and beyond: they almost disappeared from Polish and Russian curricula, were banned in Hungary, and are scrutinised and/or resources cut back in other countries – not only by populist or right-wing parties. Here, our workshop asks what these new political and academic contexts mean for gender and politics programmes in Europe or elsewhere. What are the precise challenges faced by political science and how to eventually overcome them? How do scholars, either as individuals or as part of a scholarly community, cope with adverse political environments?

The ECPR is committed to promoting gender equality in the profession.