Introduction to Gender Studies (KYN106G)

The course addresses the main issues in gender studies through the lens of diversity in modern societies. The gender perspective is applied to provide an overview of the status and condition of men and women. The origins and development of the fight for women’s rights and gender studies as an academic field. The main concepts of gender studies are introduced, including sex, gender, essentialism and social constructivism. Finally, the course looks into how gender necessarily intersects with other social factors.

Teaching Arrangement: The course is based on flipped learning, which means that all lectures will be available on Canvas. On-campus and distance students attend weekly discussion sessions at the university or on Teams, and online students participate in weekly discussions on Canvas.

Gender Studies in a Flux: Current Issues in Theorising Gender (KYN304G)

The objective of the course is to introduce students to new research within gender studies, so that they gain insight into the wide scope of issues gender studies deal with, and understand the importance of theoretical debates within the field. The course is based on active participation and projects conducted in conjunction with conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures in the field of gender studies and equality over the course of a semester, at the University of Iceland or elsewhere.

Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication (HMM301M)

"The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

Anthropology of gender (MAN353G)

In this course, the key concepts of gendered culture; sex, gender, and sexual orientation will be contextualized through anthropological research and knowledge. The goal is for students to gain a solid understanding of these concepts, how they are continuously reshaped, and how they shape societies and cultures everywhere. The course will explore how anthropological research in the early 20th century was influenced by dominating gender norms and examine the impact of feminist movements over the past half-century on the emergence and evolution of diverse anthropological studies. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing the characteristics of contemporary feminist and queer research, and students will engage with these topics through selected ethnographies, field texts, and review articles on gendered culture.

Education, Social Mobility and Social Stratification (FÉL501M)

The apple does not fall far from the tree? This course explores how a person’s social background affect the social position they ultimately attain in life and how inequality is reproduced from one generation to the next. The course addresses how social mobility has changed over time and across countries and which role education plays for the process of social mobility. We will discuss the main theories used to explain inequality in education and social mobility and (potential) changes over time. The course will focus on individuals’ social background (social class of origin, parental education or parental socio-economic status) but gender and ethnic inequalities will also be considered in the last meetings. In the seminar, we will read a mix of classic readings and more recent literature. Furthermore, special emphasis will be paid on discussing readings and findings from other countries with respect to the Icelandic country case.

Iceland: Anthropological Past, Present and Future (MAN438G)

The course focuses on a number of key areas of Icelandic society and culture from an anthropological perspective. The course will build upon a set of themes that have a long tradition within the anthropology of Iceland, but a particular emphasis will be placed upon the contemporary context and emergent issues that are confronting Icelandic society.  The instruction will be in English in order to make the course accessible to non-Icelandic speaking students, but also to strengthen the English academic writing skills of non-native speakers of English.

Wonder Tales and Society (ÞJÓ334G)

In this course, a number of  wonder tales will be read and analysed, especially from the viewpoint of what they have to say about society. Emphasis will be placed on the folk tale tradition, the performances of storytellers, the way they regularly recreate stories, and then the various motifs that they use in this process. The wonder tales will also be analysed from the viewpoint of the variety of raw material that was available for use in such recreation, and with regard to the range of variants and story types that were known, different motifs being compared in the process. Following this, attempts will be made to consider the "meaning" of different wonder tales. They will also be examined with regard to their social meaning and context, especially with regard to the nature of the society that helped shape them, and then how they are now reused and recreated in different media.

All that glitters is not gold: gender, equality and sustainability in Iceland (KYN314G)

Iceland’s reputation as an international frontrunner in gender equality and queer issues has been taking shape during the last decades following top ranking in gender equality indices and queer measurements. In addition, Iceland's environmental quality has been considered priceworthy according to environmental performance ranking. This course looks beneath the surface of this image through an interdisciplinary lens. It addresses the main topics of gender equality, queer issues, sustainability and environmentalism from a diversity and intersectional perspective taking into account power relations in terms gender, class, ethnicity and globalization. A special emphasis is on how equality and sustainability issues are related to Icelandic politics and society.

Ethics of nature (HSP722M)

The course deals with the connection between Man and Nature from the viewpoint of Moral Philosophy. It discusses the main proponents of and theories within Environmental Ethics and describes the roots of differing views of Nature, as well as different ethical orientations, i.e. anthropocentric, ecocentric, and biocentric positions. The course also deals with the integration of environmental and developmental issues, and with the connection between environmentalism and democracy. Amongst central issues discussed are the following: Can Ethics provide guidance in the solution of environmental problems?, What type of beings are worthy of moral considerability?, Can natural phenomena possess intrinsic value?, Do animals have rights?, Is there any fundanmental difference in men's and women's relations to Nature?, and, What is the ethical basis of sustainable development?

Body and culture: Appearance, conduct, healthiness (ÞJÓ325G)

The course explores the human body from an ethnological and cultural historical perspective. Different attitudes to the body are studied as they appear in ideas about the relations between mind and body, attitudes towards cleanliness and body care, physical appearance, moral conduct etc. To what extent are ideas on physical beauty and health determined by society? How has emerging knowledge and practice in life and health sciences influenced the ways in which the body is perceived? How is bodily conduct dependant on rules and norms of society? Special emphasis is placed on exploring the human body as a cultural phenomenon in context of Icelandic society form the nineteenth century till the present.

Questions are asked on how differing trends in physical training has bearings on people’s bodily experience; how meaning is read into physical appearance and personal conduct; how sense of decency and customs delimit physical behaviour; and how the relation between body and culture is expressed in e.g. national costumes and swimsuits, food diets and table manners, sanitary regulations and bathing habits, eugenics and beauty contests or pacemakers and breast implants.

Men and Masculinity (FÉL209G)

The aim of the course is to introduce the students to the main topics in masculinity theory and research. Three main approaches in this century will be discussed, psychoanalysis, social psychology ("role" theory) and recent development centring on the masculinities will be discussed and how their creation and destruction is linked to other social structures. Specific attention will be paid to the participation of males in child care and domestic work and an Icelandic survey on males and family relations will be discussed.

Sexualities and bodies:Pleasure and pain (FÉL326G)

The course focuses on several aspects of sexualities, changes and development since the beginning of the 20th century and particularly development within Iceland. We will discuss research that has been conducted from the book by Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis (1886) and up to recent studies in Nordic countries. We will particularly focus on changes in the social situation of homo- and bisexuals and we will discuss the BDSM-community and fetishism. We will also look at the commodification of sex from advertisements and sports to pornography and prostitution. Influences from religious beliefs, the school system, families and workplaces will be discussed as well as reproduction and sexual health. Finally we will address sexual violence, rape, force and harassment and development in the last few years where the demand for gender equality increasingly has focused on the body as can be seen in movements such as #freethenipple og #metoo.

Evaluation will take the form of a project/essay and a written examination.

The Life Span, Self and Society (FFR302M)

The conditions and experiences of disabled people will be a central focus of this course with emphasis on the lifespan and main areas of everyday life such as family, education, employment and housing/homes. New Icelandic and international disability research will be explored as well as the forces which influence the identity formation of disabled children, youth and adults. Different theoretical approaches will be used to examine policy, law, services, the welfare system and disabled people's status and social situation in contemporary societies.

Feminist Philosophy (HSP415G)

This course offers an introduction into main approaches and topics of feminist philosophy and philosophy of diversity. The status of women philosophers in the history of philosophy as well as critical discussions about canons of Western philosophy will be discussed.

Feminist and diversity philosophy shed a critical light on malecentrism in traditional ideas about practical rationality, the epistemic knower and ideas about the self. The goal of this criticism is to uncover resources for rethinking basic concepts of philosophy so that they yield a richer understanding and better reflect the diverse reality out of which they emerge.

Term Paper: Gender Studies in a Flux: Current Issues in Theorising Gender (KYN302G)

In connection with the course KYN304G Gender Studies in a Flux: Current Issues in Theorising Gender, students can write an extra paper on a topic chosen in agreement with the teacher of the course.

Violent Crime from Women's Rights Perspective (LÖG104F)

Legal rules regarding the following categories of crime, including general principles of criminal liability and penalties: Rape and other offences involving sexual intercourse, sexual abuse against children, prostitution and domestic violence. Legal rules governing a few aspects of criminal procedure, i.e. the burden of proof and the victim's legal status. The topics will be analyzed from the perspective of women's rights. The course aims at providing students with a solid knowledge of the nature and subject of gender based violence and making them capable of solving legal problems in the field as well.

Gender, Diversity and Multiculturalism (KYN201G)

This course addresses the main topics of gender and diversity studies in the light of critical multiculturalism and the diversity of modern societies. It explores the way in which social variables such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, disability, age and class differently affects people’s conditions and opportunities. It presents the main ideas of gender and diversity studies, such as gender, essentialism and social constructivism, and explores how social variables are interwoven into people’s lives. The emphasis is on how issues such as gender, multiculturalism, and diversity are related to Icelandic politics and society.

Queer Studies (KYN415G)

This is an introductory course that sheds light on the history of LGBTQI people in Iceland, their experiences, movement, and culture. The history is placed in an international context and the main milestones in their fight for human rights are addressed, as are their legal rights. Important aspects of socialization are addressed, such as the forming of one’s identity and the development of visibility, relationships with families of origin and the search for one’s own family of choice. The difference between lesbian and gay studies and queer studies is addressed and theories on the shaping of sex, gender, and gender trouble are reviewed. The discourse between LGBTQ people and social institutions are covered, as is their condition and quality of life. The role of sexuality in cultural representations is examined, exemplified in how the reality of LGBTQI appears in arts and culture. 

Gender Studies Theories (KYN202G)

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

Teaching Arrangement: The course is based on flipped learning, which means that all lectures will be available on Canvas. On-campus and distance students attend weekly discussion sessions at the university or on Teams, and online students participate in weekly discussions on Canvas.

Imagined Communities and Folk Culture: Nations, Images and Traditions (ÞJÓ439G)

The course looks at how identities and images of Icelanders and other nations have been shaped and they use traditions in each case. We examine Icelandic experiences and images in relation to neighbouring countries and how narratives, traditions and material culture shape nations, from national museums to midwinter festivals in London, from a wee dram of whiskey (in Scotland) to Viking sagas (in Scandinavia), with a quick stop at Up Helly Aa (in the Shetland Islands) and Olavsvaka (in the Faroe Islands); we look at a fashion show in Nuuk Center (Greenland), Nordic settlements in the New World and then we’ll post it all on social media.

We explore films and music, festivals, games and political spectacles. In particular we will analyse how national images unite and divide different groups of people. In that context we look at men and women, rural and urban communities, mobile people, racism and gender. We’ll study these images as dynamics and ideals, resources and matters of dispute, that are used for various purposes by different people in different places, by demagogues and greens, government institutions and banks, scholars and students.

Inequality: Social status, gender and minority groups (FÉL264G)

Inequality has long been among the major concepts of sociology, as the focus of the discipline is often on how resources are divided in society with what consequences. Iceland was often considered a relatively equal society, but historical reconsiderations have shown that inequality was greater than we wanted to acknowledge. What is perhaps more important is that income inequality has varied over time, and the last decade has been characterized of great fluctuations in income, wealth, and economic hardship. Sociology offers a broad perspective on societal inequality, for example based on gender, age, nationality, race and sexuality. 

In this course, we will look at the major theories and research in sociology about inequality and put them into an Icelandic context. We will consider what kind of inequality exists in society and whether certain types of inequality will matter more in the future, for example due to changes in societal and population structures. In addition, we will look at the consequences of inequality on individual lives, for example regarding health, power, income and societal participation.

Forced migration: Causes, reactions and consequences (STJ447G)

The course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of forced migration, tackling historical, political, and gendered aspects of the issue. Causes for why people flee their homes, such as societal collapse, wars, persecutions and an unstable economic situation, will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to refugees in Europe since the Second World War. The course will also study states’ responsibilities vis-à-vis refugees, taking into account international laws and regulations, as well responses and capabilities of European states to handle the current flow of refugees. The course will examine the concept of border control and its development in Europe, the Schengen cooperation, and Iceland’s membership of Schengen. Iceland’s policy on refugee matters will also be debated from a historical and social perspective, exploring future prospects of its development. The origin of the term refugee will be studied as well as international laws on the rights of refugees. Different roles that states, international organisations and NGO’s play are examined. The course will also explore the largest groups of refugees in the world today, e.g. women in Latin America, Muslim Rohingya people in SE-Asia and Syrians. Different causes underlying forced migration in these different parts of the world are discussed and put into perspective.

Kitchen passions, dieting, and food shows (ÞJÓ609M)

NOTE: This is an intensive course taught in one block from 10-14 May 2021 (the week after the end of final exams in the spring semester), for six class hours each day (total of 30 class hours). Students must read all the course literature before the first day of classes. They do field research and present preliminary results in a seminar during this week and then write up a final paper after the course ends.

Nigella licks her finger in slow motion on her TV show after dipping it in gravy. She makes a sensual sound, as she looks into the camera and beckons us to enjoy it with her. Flip the channel, and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey shouts relentlessly at other chefs who are fighting to save their restaurants. Many of them shed tears while he scolds them.

Sensuality, anger, stress, excitement, chauvinism, femininity, cream, dieting, healthy eating, food blogs, bake-offs and the fight for better and more righteous foodways all reflect the current popularity of food as entertainment and as an instrument for making people and society better. How can we explain this current tremendous interest, obsession even, with food and nutrition?

In this course we will investigate some select ingredients that have been turned into desirable cultural forms and focus in particular on how imaginations of gender and lifestyle take shape in such phenomena as television food shows, cookbooks, cooking competitions, and food blogs.

Lice Combs, Chamber Pots and Sex: Customs, Traditions and Daily Life in the Earlier Rural Society of Iceland (ÞJÓ447G)

This course deals with customs and daily life that existed in the rural society of Iceland in earlier centuries (both in the countryside and by the sea). Discussion is made of research methodologies used at home and abroad with regard to material culture and folk customs. Students will come into contact with a wide range of ethnological research, and learn to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different types of source material. Emphasis is placed on assessing the mind set behind popular culture, as students examine the course of life of those individuals who grew up within this society. At the same time, attention will be paid to which methods serve best as a means of researching the customs of these people. Among other things, students will work with unpublished personal sources such as answers to ethnological questionnaires, and diaries.

Gender and Folklore (ÞJÓ021M)

The field of Folklore, emerging out of the phenomena collectively referred to as  Modernity, has a complicated and problematic relationship with gender, both in the material that circulates and the subsequent academic treatment of that material. This seminar combines theoretical perspectives from Gender Studies and Folkloristics to better understand the interconnectedness of popular cultural forms, analyses, and the operations of power, specifically gender relations. Beginning with a feminist critique of Folkloristics from within (a historical reference point), we will examine more recent work on the relationship between gender and genre, between the empowering acts of ordinary rituals (so-called women‘s genres), and how the old, debunked Nature/Culture divide, in which women‘s genres were debased and denigrated, may, looked at from a different perspective, suggest alternate approaches to some contemporary global issues.

Teacher of the course: JoAnn Conrad

Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century (SAG412M)

This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

Power and marginalisation: utilisation of sociological theories (ÞRS214G, ÞRS003M, SFG004M)

The aim of the course is that students learn to know and use different sociological theories related to physical and mental attainment. Concept related to power, such as stigma, power, microaggression, and ableism, will be explored and students can use to analyse how norms are maintained and how societal definitions of norms come about. The theories that will be taught should be useful to students to understand how the marginalization of groups is maintained in the community and how discipline of the body takes place.

Internalised oppression (ÞRS214G, ÞRS003M, SFG004M)

The oppression of marginalised groups is an issue that social science have researched in the past decades; however, the psychological effect of oppression is a more recent subject. These effects can for example turn into the internalisation of oppression. In this course students get to know critical theories based on postcolonial psychology. Subject of the course will look at how the internalisation appears and how it affects different groups, for example, disabled people, immigrants, black people, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) and queer people. It is important that society has knowledge about the psychological effects of internalisation on marginalised groups, both to know how to react accordingly and to be able to decrease the negative effects of internalisation.

Queer pedagogy (ÞRS214G, ÞRS003M, SFG004M)

Objective: The objective of the course is that students learn about concepts, theories and research in queer pedagogy. Furthermore, they will receive good insight into queer theory. Students will acquire critical view of schools and education and gain insight intof the reality of queer youth.

Topics include the concepts of gender, sexuality, intersectionality, masculinity, femininity, gender binary, heteronormativity and cisnormativity. Students gain insight into the main subject matters of queer pedagogy and the ways in which this field can shed light on education, pedagogy, leisure, and and society. The approach will be in the spirit of queer theory and social constructivist perspective, which will be employed to explain different views on gender, gender identity and queer sexuality. The course examines how the Icelandic school system directly and indirectly maintains a wide variety of discrimination and sustains institutionlized heternormativity and cisnormativity. New research, domestic and international, will be read, related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, the course focuses on the training of future professionals working with children and teenagers in establishing a queer friendly atmosphere and incorporate queer realities into their work.

Disability in Contemporary Culture (FFR102M)

This course explores cultural reactions to disability and disabled people as well as examining the cultural representations and constructions of disability. Special emphasis will be on history, the role of media, popular culture, literature and arts in constructing, defining and representing images of disabled people. Topics also include disability art and culture, identity, femininity and masculinity. The cultural location and context of disability will be examined and how disability can be viewed as one of the aspects creating diversity in contemporary societies. The aim is that students will gain understanding and knowledge of the cultural origins of ideas about disability and will be able to relate them to theoretical perspectives in disability studies, current events and other fields of interest.

The Battle for Gúttó, Anti-fascists and Stonewall: A Global History of Social Movements and Radicals (SAG451G)

The course will explore how social movements have shaped and influenced our contemporary societies. What were the demands put forward by these movements, how were they justified, how did they mobilize and unite people around their demands?

The course is a global history of these social movements, thus historical events in one country are contextualized through transnational and international perspectives. The course will also deal with historiographical aspects, how these movements have been interpreted through theoretical frameworks such as contentious politics and collective memory.

Each week will deal with a different social movement and their history. These are movements that have had important impacts on our societies, such as the labor movement, women’s movement, peace movement, anti-fascists, movements for LGBTIQ and environmentalists.  

Gender and education (UME004M)

The main aim of the course is that students get to know ideas and research on education in view of gender studies and the concept of gender. An overview of how ideas of gender and education have changed historically will be discussed as well as facts and critical viewpoints at all school levels. During the next academic year a special emphasis will be placed on the research and theoretical approach of selected researchers on girls and boys in schools and about the problems in education posed by the changing status of women at the time of globalization. Finally the focus will be on the Icelandic school system: the position, socialization and academic achievement of boys and girls; leaders and administrators; the national and school curriculum and the status of legalized education on gender equality at all school levels.

Cultural Spheres (TÁK204G)

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.

Material Culture and Society: Objects, homes and bodies (ÞJÓ205G)

This course is an introduction to the study of the material culture of everyday life. Students will be get a good glimpse of this multidisciplinary field, with examples drawn from the past as well as the present, and with equal emphasis on the material culture of Iceland and that of other countries. The topics of study will range from clothes and fashion to foodways, from the objects in our daily surroundings to trash and hygiene, from crafts and consumer goods to houses, gardens and the home, and from urban landscapes to museums and exhibits. Along the way, students will gain familiarity with various theoretical concepts and approaches emphasizing for example the human body, gender, consumption, place and space.

Current ethical issues (HSP723M)

The focus of this course is the application of ethics to pressing problems and debates in contemporary society. Possible methods for solving ethical dilemmas, both on an individual and social basis, are discussed. The selection of topics may change from year to year, but possible topics include free speech, the status of refugees, animal rights, poverty and economic inequality, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, environmental issues, and various issues in health care. The relation between theoretical and applied ethics is discussed. While instruction includes lectures, student participation in discussion is greatly emphasized.

Research seminar C: Antagonisms (MFR602M)

In this course students explore the central role of antagonism in shaping  radical democracy. We will begin by exploring the concept of radical democracy, tracing its intellectual roots in cultural criticism and post-Marxist thought. From there, we will examine the manifestations of radical politics in contemporary Western society. Students will critically examine how radical ideas can challenge and disrupt institutional hierarchies and social structures, also  assessing  how such ideas can inadvertently reinforce colonial dynamics and elite power structures. By the end of the course, students will have a sharper insight into the transformative potential—and limitations—of radical democracy in modern society.

Trans children and the society (UME204M)

Aim:

The aim of the course is that students get aquainted with ideas, theories, and research about the experiences of trans people, as well as the main ideas of critical childhood studies. Emphasis is placed on that participants will become conscious about the reality of trans youth and trans children and the discourse in society about the matter.

Issues:

The concepts of gender, gender binaries, non-binary, intersectionality, trans*, (Cis), care, children’s protection, and children’s rights. Main ideas of trans and queer studies are presented as well as how to use them to understand upbringing, education, society, leisure, and sports. The matter will be approached via critical trans and childhood studies as well as constructivist idea. The school system and other institution will be discussed in light of how many types of discrimination have been created and maintained, and how such systems can maintain trans phobic attitudes and (cis)heteronormativity. New Icelandic and international research is presented. Emphases are placed on training candidates education studies, social education, parent education, teaching at all school levels, leisure studies, management and other professional disciplines to create queer and trans friendly atmosphere in the groups they will work with.