The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

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 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

In connection with the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods students can take extra assignment. Students work with qualitative data that they gather, or have previously gathered in the course  STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Based on that students analyse and interpret the data according to the methods introduced in the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Students are trained in evaluating methodological accounts based on existing research chosen in collaboration with the instructor. Based on that students draft their own methodological chapter, describing their methods and methodology. Finally, the students get training in presenting their results in an appropriate manner.

Qualitative Methods provides students with an introduction to some of the most commonly used qualitative methods and methodological tools in political science. The main focus in the course is on case studies (including process tracing) and various tools and techniques used within case studies, e.g., qualitative content analysis, interviewing, and focus groups. One part of the course is also dedicated to discourse analysis. The course begins with a very brief introduction to philosophy of science and outlines basic ontological, epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences. The remainder of the course is dedicated to the methods and tools/techniques listed above. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings, assumptions and ambitions of the different methods, but they will also gain practical experience as to the design and execution of research within the different traditions.

The course is designed in a highly interactive way and emphasizes active student participation. It is expected that students have done at least the required reading assigned for the given day and are ready to participate in group work and discussions in class. There are two types of classes in this course: lecture & discussion classes and workshops. Each lecture & discussion class will be divided into three parts: a short agenda-setting lecture by the lecturer (40 minutes), group work (40 minutes), and a concluding general discussion (40 minutes). This design is highly effective with regard to achieving the course’s learning outcomes, but it also requires that students have familiarized themselves with the assigned reading for the day. In the workshops, the class will be divided into two groups (A and B).

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.

The course provides practical preparation for jobs in management, public administration, training, education, media, and other specialized fields. The objective of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts of practical work for gender equality and provide them with practical training in the field. The course covers the history and meaning of the concept of gender equality, with a special emphasis on gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting. It addresses the representation of gender and the importance of gender responsiveness in social discourse and policy. It also introduces ideas on diversity mainstreaming and intersectionality. Modern societies make ever increasing demands for knowledge on gender equality. Iceland is party to numerous international agreements on gender equality, and the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men calls for gender mainstreaming in policymaking and public decision making at all levels. That kind of mainstreaming requires knowledge of gender equality, and the Act calls for education in that field at all levels of education. 

The course provides the student with an understanding of the scientific method and the basic skills of data analysis. Concepts such as causality, reliability, and validity will be covered. The course covers descriptive and inferential statistics, including topic such as variables, values, standard deviations, samples, significance, and hypothesis testing

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

The purpose of the course is to introduce students in graduate studies in the Faculty of Politcal Science to research methods of social sciences. At the end of the course students are expected to have sufficient methodological knowledge to do a masters dissertation. The course includes discussion on methodological assumptions and choices, research design, how to formulate a research topic, methods for literature review and how to write a research proposal.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The main subject of the course is quantitative methods and statistics used in social sciences. The focus will be on research design, sample methods and designing questionnaires. The statistical part will cover descriptive and inferential statistics. Special emphasis will be on factorial ANOVA and multiple regression. Students will get practical training in data analysis using jamovi. Students can use their own data.

The course’s objective is to introduce students to the diverse, academic criteria of qualitative research in social sciences and secondly that student’s gain experience in using qualitative methods. Furthermore, the course is practical in nature where each student works on an independent research assignment, which consists of designing and preparing a research project, collecting and analyzing data, and writing the main findings with guidance from the teacher. Research preparation, the creation of a research plan, data collection and analysis along with academic writing will be extensively covered during the course.

Taught in August 2022

An investigation into the role of apparel in the formation of cultural boundaries and national identity in Iceland during the long 19th century (c.1790-1920). Clothing-practices, male and female, are considered in terms of defining a visible Icelandic identity in response to international fashions and style-trends. Special emphasis is placed on female costume. Theories on the development of cultural boundaries are introduced, as well as an approach toward investigating and interpreting primary sources in a cultural investigation. Travelogues and correspondences as well as historical journals and newspapers will be looked at to consider the dialogue across –and the development of— cultural boundaries in the conscious establishment of a national identity. Students will utilize the sources presented in a final written exam to illustrate evaluate and explain the effect and use of apparel by groups and individuals in the formation and establishment of cultural boundaries.

Instructor:  Dr. Karl Aspelund, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island.

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.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

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.

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.

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?

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

This course focuses on the historical development of theories and perspectives on disability. Emphasis will be on ideologies that have influenced policies, services and disabled people everyday lives and social participation (i.e. normalization, independent living and human rights conventions). Considerable time will be devoted to exploring the new discipline Disability Studies, its origins, main characteristics and relations to other scholarship. Different theoretical perspectives on disability will be examined and the influence of particular theoretical approaches on the development of disability theory. Theoretical discussion will be connected to the disabled people's movements, human rights (including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), national and international policies, law and the social situation of disabled people.

This course addresses the concept of relational autonomy in the life of people who need intensive support and how to use it to increase autonomy in daily life. It also addresses the issue of gender and sexuality in relation to disability and the lived experiences of disabled people. In the module, the feminist idea of relational autonomy will be regarded as a key element for personal autonomy to flourish. Different perspectives of autonomy will be explored, e.g. how to increase respect for personal characteristics, independency, sexuality, and gender roles. The module explores how disabled people have been simultaneously viewed as asexual, eternal children or sexual predators. These contradicting stereotypes have hindered access to adult roles. The Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will also be under discussion and its relevance in the concept of autonomy, sexuality, diversity, and gender.

The course introduces what is gender studies and how key concepts – such as equality, gender, gender roles, gender identity, intersectionality, queer studies, stereotypes, gender based violence, sex education, femininity, and masculinity – are useful to understand and organize schools. The course also focuses on the legislation about gender equality and gender equality education. The connections between gender equality and other types of equality are also dealt with, in accordance with the national curriculum for pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary schools.  Emphasis is placed on that the students in the course can analyze learning environments, methods, and materials from a gender perspective. Also that they can analyze the choice of play in preschools as well as in breaks and school sport.

The fundamental perspective of the national curriculum that gender equality education should involve critical examination of hegemonic ideas in society and its institutions, in order to teach children and youth to analyze the circumstances that lead to discrimination of some and privileges for others, is a base for the course.

Required attendance to introduce own final assignment in the course.

In this course, discourses about the parental role will be examined. The focus will be on the societal context of the demands placed on parents, including individualization of parenting and intensive mothering. The requirements placed on parents today, such as managing school choices, after-school activities, communication between home and school/after-school programs, homework assistance, nutrition, screen time management, breastfeeding, and the demand to be an informed and conscious parent, will be explored. The origins of these requirements, their impact on parents, and their connection to contemporary ideologies such as neoliberalism, commodification, and expert discourses will be examined in a critical light. Dominant educational trends maintain that parents should act as consumers in the "education market," making school choice and participation in educational settings growing areas of research in educational and parenting studies. International and Icelandic research on parenting and how privileges and marginalization shape parents' ability to meet these demands will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on examining specific groups of people who have been classified as "privileged" and "disadvantaged" parents, connecting to theories about gender, class, origin, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Students will gain insight into parental research in the fields of critical sociology, social psychology, educational science, and theories of power and marginalization.

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.

New theories and studies on globalization and global processes are presented in the class. The course aims at giving a general overview of important themes related to globalization processes. Studies that shed light on the diverse economic, social and political aspects of global processes are furthermore examined. A critical examination of main concepts is an important aspect of the course but studies that show how people are agents/victims in globalized world are also presented.

The teaching consists of lecture and class discussions. 

 The course is taught in English.

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.

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.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

Over the past years, public discussion on how to address cases of sexual violence has been heated, particularly in the aftermath of the #MeToo Movement. Research shows that only a small percentage of such cases are reported to the police and only a small number of those cases lead to a conviction. This has been called a justice gap. Increasingly, we see victim-survivors of sexual violence tell their stories on social media, or in the media, and in some cases alleged offenders are named publicly which has evoked different responses amongst the public and had various consequences.

In this course, these societal developments will be explored from the perspective of sociology of law. Sociology of law uses theories and methods from the social sciences to examine the law, legal institutions, and legal behaviours, in the effort to analyse legal phenomena in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. To shed further light on the treatment of sexual violence cases, this course will also include readings from criminology, victimology, gender studies and the health sciences.

The course will seek answers to the following questions and more: Who commits sexual violence and why? How are men’s experiences of being subjected to sexual violence different from women’s experiences? Why is the legal status and rights of defendants different from that of victims? How is law in the books different from law in practice? How has the criminal justice system developed historically? What characterises legal education and the legal profession? What is the difference between legal consciousness and legal culture? How does legal justice differ from social justice? What are the advantages and disadvantages to non-traditional justice systems in comparison to traditional justice systems?

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.

Students learn about selected concepts and research from social psychology, behavioral economics, judgment and decision making that can be used for the design, evaluation and implementation of public policy. Theories on rationality and bounded rationality of human thought will be compared and contrasted. Students will gain understanding of how people make decisions and evaluate risk, the influence of incentives on decisions, and how to influence attitudes and behavior. The course will also cover intergroup relations and negotiations. Finally, will we discuss the relationship between public policy and well-being.

The aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of the human rights of disabled people, especially as these are articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and national legislation. The course will examine the social and cultural understanding of disability developed within disability studies as well as discussing the ideology behind the CRPD. Special emphasis will be on equality and non-discrimination on the basis of disability in the CRPD, the EU directive on equal treatment and non-discrimination in employment, and Icelandic legislation.

This course connects sociological and transdisciplinary theories and research on youth, youth culture, transitions and education. The concept of youth refers to a diverse age group and is dependant on societies and historical context, but in our post-modern times refers to the ages 16-25. Youth and their circumstances will be studied from various sociological and related academic perspectives; an emphasis will be placed on a transdiciplinary educational view. The term transition to adulthood referred, until the 1990‘s, to youth moving from the educational systems into the workplace, but has since taken a broader view to include among other things family context,  social engagement and inclusion.

In this course the focus is on recent research on youth transitions in different societies and by socio-cultural backgrounds, emphasizing research on  Icelandic and Nordic youth. The division between the public and the private is getting more and more blurry and the transition in the private life is no less important for future well-being in the marketized and globalized digital world. Youth transition is therefore explored through three main systems;  a) The education system of secondary and higher  education, b) participation in the labour force and c) the system of sexuality.

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. 

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.

This course offers students the opportunity to recognize the need to develop inclusive work environments that operate on equity principles as well as value, support and engage all employees. Students learn to identify social justice/exclusion issues related to nondominated culture cohorts associated with race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and other aspects of diversity in organizations and apply their knowledge to analyzing and implementing inclusion initiatives in organizations. Students are engaged in the study of recent scholarly research in the field in order to develop their critical thinking on topics such as identity, diverse teams, (un)conscious bias, and equality of opportunity in organizations and how they relate to the value of diversity in organizations.

The course is taught in English

The individual reading course consists of the preparation of a self-selected syllabus of 400 pages approved by the supervisor and a reading diary. The reading list relates to a topic that is of special interest and relates to the student's MA studies. The student critically analyses the reading material and hands in a reading diary four times during the semester, appr. 5000 words.

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.

Long before contemporary analyses of human-induced environmental degradation, Indigenous and feminist authors wrote stories that resisted hierarchies of the human over other lifeworlds. This course will use the themes, "feminism" and "environment" to study the works of women writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, bell hooks, Willa Cather, Maria Lugones and Muriel Rukeyser whose writings deepen and problematize both terms. 

Together we will ask, how have colonial histories impacted which authors are seen as "environmental" or "feminist"?  How does environmental protection materialize in the works of these authors? Further, what does environmental literature mean and how could debates in feminist theory help us answer such questions?

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.

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

This course is scheduled to be taught in the spring of 2026.

The objective of this course is to gain methodological knowledge, understanding and practical skills to analyze images and visual data (photographs, films, drawings, advertisements, online media, etc.). We will discuss various methods of analysis of the visual content, consider visual databases and how to work with them. Students receive practical training in visual methodological studies and how to evaluate them. The course is based on practical assignments, where students prepare and design research proposals, collect data and how to analyze. The course is interdisciplinary and is suitable for students of humanities and social sciences, and other related fields.

This course focuses on the variety of approaches and methods found within  research. Five qualitative approaches to inquiry are mainly in focus, namely; case study, narrative research, ethnography, phenomenology and grounded theory. Students gain a deeper experiences in data collection and in use of different methods for analyzing their qualitative data. They also gain experience in presenting their findings in written form. Additionally, students have the opportunity to reflect on their own research practices and on themselves as qualitative researchers.

Human mobility and multicultural societies are often seen as the main characteristics of the contemporary world. In the course, we look at main theories approaching mobility and multicultural society, critically addressing them and analyzing their utility. The concept of multiculturalism and related concepts such as culture, assimilation and integration are critically evaluated, as well as mobility in the past and the relationship between mobility and multiculturalism. Different approaches in the social sciences are introduced and main research themes in anthropology in particular and social sciences in general will be examined.

The teaching methods are lectures and discussions.

The students of this course will acquire knowledge and understanding of a) two types of reasoning in public debate referred to as the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness, and b) two types of theories in the study of public policy, explanatory and analytic theories, and get an opportunity to apply these theories on real world experiences. First, the students will look at theories developed to explain major public policy change, i.e. agenda-setting theories. Secondly, the students will examine an analytic framework use to define and understand governance networks in public policy and public administration and identify the elements of innovation in public policy and administration following the challenges involved in the implementation of new public management. The students will learn how these theories relate to principal agent theory, democratic accountability and the various tools of government. The focus of the course is on the public policy process and thus the policy actors, and the policy context in which decisions are made and public policies happen, and how mechanisms of democratic accountability operate in policy formulation and implementation.

Stéphanie Genz and Benjamin A. Brabon have described postfeminism as a “concept fraught with contradictions. Loathed by some and celebrated by others“. In this course postfeminism will be analyzed as a response to second wave feminism, as a part of postmodernist consumer culture which is influenced by neo-liberal market theories, and in terms of its expressive sexuality. The students will read central theoretical texts on postfeminism and consumer culture, and works by some of the best known chick lit writers, such as Helen Fielding, Candace Bushnell, and Sophie Kinsella, as well as Icelandic counterparts. Chick culture will be analyzed in general through television series such as Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) and Sex and the City (1998–2004), through films, talk shows for women, the music industry, glamour magazines and self-help books. We will also ask whether some central narrative structures, motifs and characters, can be traced back to classic writers such as Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Edith Wharton. Students will be encouraged to approach postfeminism in a critical manner without engaging in the derogatory language which so often characterizes the debate.

Moral panics are pervasive cultural narratives that have influenced Western politics for decades. From the Satanic Panic and Stranger Danger, to child sex trafficking and trans athletes, moral panics pervade the Western media landscape. These perceived dangers are overblown or non-existent, and are often symptomatic of underlying societal anxieties that are projected onto minorities. This course will serve as an introduction to the most foundational moral panics that have shaped the West, and the methodologies that are used to identify and dissect them. With a special focus on contemporary moral panics like Cancel Culture and the reactionary backlash to #MeToo movement, this course will address the role of the internet in disseminating and creating current moral panics, and how these narratives make their way into mainstream media and politics.

The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

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 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

In connection with the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods students can take extra assignment. Students work with qualitative data that they gather, or have previously gathered in the course  STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Based on that students analyse and interpret the data according to the methods introduced in the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Students are trained in evaluating methodological accounts based on existing research chosen in collaboration with the instructor. Based on that students draft their own methodological chapter, describing their methods and methodology. Finally, the students get training in presenting their results in an appropriate manner.

Qualitative Methods provides students with an introduction to some of the most commonly used qualitative methods and methodological tools in political science. The main focus in the course is on case studies (including process tracing) and various tools and techniques used within case studies, e.g., qualitative content analysis, interviewing, and focus groups. One part of the course is also dedicated to discourse analysis. The course begins with a very brief introduction to philosophy of science and outlines basic ontological, epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences. The remainder of the course is dedicated to the methods and tools/techniques listed above. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings, assumptions and ambitions of the different methods, but they will also gain practical experience as to the design and execution of research within the different traditions.

The course is designed in a highly interactive way and emphasizes active student participation. It is expected that students have done at least the required reading assigned for the given day and are ready to participate in group work and discussions in class. There are two types of classes in this course: lecture & discussion classes and workshops. Each lecture & discussion class will be divided into three parts: a short agenda-setting lecture by the lecturer (40 minutes), group work (40 minutes), and a concluding general discussion (40 minutes). This design is highly effective with regard to achieving the course’s learning outcomes, but it also requires that students have familiarized themselves with the assigned reading for the day. In the workshops, the class will be divided into two groups (A and B).

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.

The course provides practical preparation for jobs in management, public administration, training, education, media, and other specialized fields. The objective of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts of practical work for gender equality and provide them with practical training in the field. The course covers the history and meaning of the concept of gender equality, with a special emphasis on gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting. It addresses the representation of gender and the importance of gender responsiveness in social discourse and policy. It also introduces ideas on diversity mainstreaming and intersectionality. Modern societies make ever increasing demands for knowledge on gender equality. Iceland is party to numerous international agreements on gender equality, and the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men calls for gender mainstreaming in policymaking and public decision making at all levels. That kind of mainstreaming requires knowledge of gender equality, and the Act calls for education in that field at all levels of education. 

The course provides the student with an understanding of the scientific method and the basic skills of data analysis. Concepts such as causality, reliability, and validity will be covered. The course covers descriptive and inferential statistics, including topic such as variables, values, standard deviations, samples, significance, and hypothesis testing

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

The purpose of the course is to introduce students in graduate studies in the Faculty of Politcal Science to research methods of social sciences. At the end of the course students are expected to have sufficient methodological knowledge to do a masters dissertation. The course includes discussion on methodological assumptions and choices, research design, how to formulate a research topic, methods for literature review and how to write a research proposal.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The main subject of the course is quantitative methods and statistics used in social sciences. The focus will be on research design, sample methods and designing questionnaires. The statistical part will cover descriptive and inferential statistics. Special emphasis will be on factorial ANOVA and multiple regression. Students will get practical training in data analysis using jamovi. Students can use their own data.

The course’s objective is to introduce students to the diverse, academic criteria of qualitative research in social sciences and secondly that student’s gain experience in using qualitative methods. Furthermore, the course is practical in nature where each student works on an independent research assignment, which consists of designing and preparing a research project, collecting and analyzing data, and writing the main findings with guidance from the teacher. Research preparation, the creation of a research plan, data collection and analysis along with academic writing will be extensively covered during the course.

Taught in August 2022

An investigation into the role of apparel in the formation of cultural boundaries and national identity in Iceland during the long 19th century (c.1790-1920). Clothing-practices, male and female, are considered in terms of defining a visible Icelandic identity in response to international fashions and style-trends. Special emphasis is placed on female costume. Theories on the development of cultural boundaries are introduced, as well as an approach toward investigating and interpreting primary sources in a cultural investigation. Travelogues and correspondences as well as historical journals and newspapers will be looked at to consider the dialogue across –and the development of— cultural boundaries in the conscious establishment of a national identity. Students will utilize the sources presented in a final written exam to illustrate evaluate and explain the effect and use of apparel by groups and individuals in the formation and establishment of cultural boundaries.

Instructor:  Dr. Karl Aspelund, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island.

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.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

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.

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.

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?

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

This course focuses on the historical development of theories and perspectives on disability. Emphasis will be on ideologies that have influenced policies, services and disabled people everyday lives and social participation (i.e. normalization, independent living and human rights conventions). Considerable time will be devoted to exploring the new discipline Disability Studies, its origins, main characteristics and relations to other scholarship. Different theoretical perspectives on disability will be examined and the influence of particular theoretical approaches on the development of disability theory. Theoretical discussion will be connected to the disabled people's movements, human rights (including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), national and international policies, law and the social situation of disabled people.

This course addresses the concept of relational autonomy in the life of people who need intensive support and how to use it to increase autonomy in daily life. It also addresses the issue of gender and sexuality in relation to disability and the lived experiences of disabled people. In the module, the feminist idea of relational autonomy will be regarded as a key element for personal autonomy to flourish. Different perspectives of autonomy will be explored, e.g. how to increase respect for personal characteristics, independency, sexuality, and gender roles. The module explores how disabled people have been simultaneously viewed as asexual, eternal children or sexual predators. These contradicting stereotypes have hindered access to adult roles. The Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will also be under discussion and its relevance in the concept of autonomy, sexuality, diversity, and gender.

The course introduces what is gender studies and how key concepts – such as equality, gender, gender roles, gender identity, intersectionality, queer studies, stereotypes, gender based violence, sex education, femininity, and masculinity – are useful to understand and organize schools. The course also focuses on the legislation about gender equality and gender equality education. The connections between gender equality and other types of equality are also dealt with, in accordance with the national curriculum for pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary schools.  Emphasis is placed on that the students in the course can analyze learning environments, methods, and materials from a gender perspective. Also that they can analyze the choice of play in preschools as well as in breaks and school sport.

The fundamental perspective of the national curriculum that gender equality education should involve critical examination of hegemonic ideas in society and its institutions, in order to teach children and youth to analyze the circumstances that lead to discrimination of some and privileges for others, is a base for the course.

Required attendance to introduce own final assignment in the course.

In this course, discourses about the parental role will be examined. The focus will be on the societal context of the demands placed on parents, including individualization of parenting and intensive mothering. The requirements placed on parents today, such as managing school choices, after-school activities, communication between home and school/after-school programs, homework assistance, nutrition, screen time management, breastfeeding, and the demand to be an informed and conscious parent, will be explored. The origins of these requirements, their impact on parents, and their connection to contemporary ideologies such as neoliberalism, commodification, and expert discourses will be examined in a critical light. Dominant educational trends maintain that parents should act as consumers in the "education market," making school choice and participation in educational settings growing areas of research in educational and parenting studies. International and Icelandic research on parenting and how privileges and marginalization shape parents' ability to meet these demands will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on examining specific groups of people who have been classified as "privileged" and "disadvantaged" parents, connecting to theories about gender, class, origin, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Students will gain insight into parental research in the fields of critical sociology, social psychology, educational science, and theories of power and marginalization.

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.

New theories and studies on globalization and global processes are presented in the class. The course aims at giving a general overview of important themes related to globalization processes. Studies that shed light on the diverse economic, social and political aspects of global processes are furthermore examined. A critical examination of main concepts is an important aspect of the course but studies that show how people are agents/victims in globalized world are also presented.

The teaching consists of lecture and class discussions. 

 The course is taught in English.

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.

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.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

Over the past years, public discussion on how to address cases of sexual violence has been heated, particularly in the aftermath of the #MeToo Movement. Research shows that only a small percentage of such cases are reported to the police and only a small number of those cases lead to a conviction. This has been called a justice gap. Increasingly, we see victim-survivors of sexual violence tell their stories on social media, or in the media, and in some cases alleged offenders are named publicly which has evoked different responses amongst the public and had various consequences.

In this course, these societal developments will be explored from the perspective of sociology of law. Sociology of law uses theories and methods from the social sciences to examine the law, legal institutions, and legal behaviours, in the effort to analyse legal phenomena in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. To shed further light on the treatment of sexual violence cases, this course will also include readings from criminology, victimology, gender studies and the health sciences.

The course will seek answers to the following questions and more: Who commits sexual violence and why? How are men’s experiences of being subjected to sexual violence different from women’s experiences? Why is the legal status and rights of defendants different from that of victims? How is law in the books different from law in practice? How has the criminal justice system developed historically? What characterises legal education and the legal profession? What is the difference between legal consciousness and legal culture? How does legal justice differ from social justice? What are the advantages and disadvantages to non-traditional justice systems in comparison to traditional justice systems?

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.

Students learn about selected concepts and research from social psychology, behavioral economics, judgment and decision making that can be used for the design, evaluation and implementation of public policy. Theories on rationality and bounded rationality of human thought will be compared and contrasted. Students will gain understanding of how people make decisions and evaluate risk, the influence of incentives on decisions, and how to influence attitudes and behavior. The course will also cover intergroup relations and negotiations. Finally, will we discuss the relationship between public policy and well-being.

The aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of the human rights of disabled people, especially as these are articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and national legislation. The course will examine the social and cultural understanding of disability developed within disability studies as well as discussing the ideology behind the CRPD. Special emphasis will be on equality and non-discrimination on the basis of disability in the CRPD, the EU directive on equal treatment and non-discrimination in employment, and Icelandic legislation.

This course connects sociological and transdisciplinary theories and research on youth, youth culture, transitions and education. The concept of youth refers to a diverse age group and is dependant on societies and historical context, but in our post-modern times refers to the ages 16-25. Youth and their circumstances will be studied from various sociological and related academic perspectives; an emphasis will be placed on a transdiciplinary educational view. The term transition to adulthood referred, until the 1990‘s, to youth moving from the educational systems into the workplace, but has since taken a broader view to include among other things family context,  social engagement and inclusion.

In this course the focus is on recent research on youth transitions in different societies and by socio-cultural backgrounds, emphasizing research on  Icelandic and Nordic youth. The division between the public and the private is getting more and more blurry and the transition in the private life is no less important for future well-being in the marketized and globalized digital world. Youth transition is therefore explored through three main systems;  a) The education system of secondary and higher  education, b) participation in the labour force and c) the system of sexuality.

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. 

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.

This course offers students the opportunity to recognize the need to develop inclusive work environments that operate on equity principles as well as value, support and engage all employees. Students learn to identify social justice/exclusion issues related to nondominated culture cohorts associated with race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and other aspects of diversity in organizations and apply their knowledge to analyzing and implementing inclusion initiatives in organizations. Students are engaged in the study of recent scholarly research in the field in order to develop their critical thinking on topics such as identity, diverse teams, (un)conscious bias, and equality of opportunity in organizations and how they relate to the value of diversity in organizations.

The course is taught in English

The individual reading course consists of the preparation of a self-selected syllabus of 400 pages approved by the supervisor and a reading diary. The reading list relates to a topic that is of special interest and relates to the student's MA studies. The student critically analyses the reading material and hands in a reading diary four times during the semester, appr. 5000 words.

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.

Long before contemporary analyses of human-induced environmental degradation, Indigenous and feminist authors wrote stories that resisted hierarchies of the human over other lifeworlds. This course will use the themes, "feminism" and "environment" to study the works of women writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, bell hooks, Willa Cather, Maria Lugones and Muriel Rukeyser whose writings deepen and problematize both terms. 

Together we will ask, how have colonial histories impacted which authors are seen as "environmental" or "feminist"?  How does environmental protection materialize in the works of these authors? Further, what does environmental literature mean and how could debates in feminist theory help us answer such questions?

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.

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

This course is scheduled to be taught in the spring of 2026.

The objective of this course is to gain methodological knowledge, understanding and practical skills to analyze images and visual data (photographs, films, drawings, advertisements, online media, etc.). We will discuss various methods of analysis of the visual content, consider visual databases and how to work with them. Students receive practical training in visual methodological studies and how to evaluate them. The course is based on practical assignments, where students prepare and design research proposals, collect data and how to analyze. The course is interdisciplinary and is suitable for students of humanities and social sciences, and other related fields.

This course focuses on the variety of approaches and methods found within  research. Five qualitative approaches to inquiry are mainly in focus, namely; case study, narrative research, ethnography, phenomenology and grounded theory. Students gain a deeper experiences in data collection and in use of different methods for analyzing their qualitative data. They also gain experience in presenting their findings in written form. Additionally, students have the opportunity to reflect on their own research practices and on themselves as qualitative researchers.

Human mobility and multicultural societies are often seen as the main characteristics of the contemporary world. In the course, we look at main theories approaching mobility and multicultural society, critically addressing them and analyzing their utility. The concept of multiculturalism and related concepts such as culture, assimilation and integration are critically evaluated, as well as mobility in the past and the relationship between mobility and multiculturalism. Different approaches in the social sciences are introduced and main research themes in anthropology in particular and social sciences in general will be examined.

The teaching methods are lectures and discussions.

The students of this course will acquire knowledge and understanding of a) two types of reasoning in public debate referred to as the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness, and b) two types of theories in the study of public policy, explanatory and analytic theories, and get an opportunity to apply these theories on real world experiences. First, the students will look at theories developed to explain major public policy change, i.e. agenda-setting theories. Secondly, the students will examine an analytic framework use to define and understand governance networks in public policy and public administration and identify the elements of innovation in public policy and administration following the challenges involved in the implementation of new public management. The students will learn how these theories relate to principal agent theory, democratic accountability and the various tools of government. The focus of the course is on the public policy process and thus the policy actors, and the policy context in which decisions are made and public policies happen, and how mechanisms of democratic accountability operate in policy formulation and implementation.

Stéphanie Genz and Benjamin A. Brabon have described postfeminism as a “concept fraught with contradictions. Loathed by some and celebrated by others“. In this course postfeminism will be analyzed as a response to second wave feminism, as a part of postmodernist consumer culture which is influenced by neo-liberal market theories, and in terms of its expressive sexuality. The students will read central theoretical texts on postfeminism and consumer culture, and works by some of the best known chick lit writers, such as Helen Fielding, Candace Bushnell, and Sophie Kinsella, as well as Icelandic counterparts. Chick culture will be analyzed in general through television series such as Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) and Sex and the City (1998–2004), through films, talk shows for women, the music industry, glamour magazines and self-help books. We will also ask whether some central narrative structures, motifs and characters, can be traced back to classic writers such as Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Edith Wharton. Students will be encouraged to approach postfeminism in a critical manner without engaging in the derogatory language which so often characterizes the debate.

Moral panics are pervasive cultural narratives that have influenced Western politics for decades. From the Satanic Panic and Stranger Danger, to child sex trafficking and trans athletes, moral panics pervade the Western media landscape. These perceived dangers are overblown or non-existent, and are often symptomatic of underlying societal anxieties that are projected onto minorities. This course will serve as an introduction to the most foundational moral panics that have shaped the West, and the methodologies that are used to identify and dissect them. With a special focus on contemporary moral panics like Cancel Culture and the reactionary backlash to #MeToo movement, this course will address the role of the internet in disseminating and creating current moral panics, and how these narratives make their way into mainstream media and politics.

The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

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 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

In connection with the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods students can take extra assignment. Students work with qualitative data that they gather, or have previously gathered in the course  STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Based on that students analyse and interpret the data according to the methods introduced in the course STJ203F Qualitative Research Methods. Students are trained in evaluating methodological accounts based on existing research chosen in collaboration with the instructor. Based on that students draft their own methodological chapter, describing their methods and methodology. Finally, the students get training in presenting their results in an appropriate manner.

Qualitative Methods provides students with an introduction to some of the most commonly used qualitative methods and methodological tools in political science. The main focus in the course is on case studies (including process tracing) and various tools and techniques used within case studies, e.g., qualitative content analysis, interviewing, and focus groups. One part of the course is also dedicated to discourse analysis. The course begins with a very brief introduction to philosophy of science and outlines basic ontological, epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences. The remainder of the course is dedicated to the methods and tools/techniques listed above. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings, assumptions and ambitions of the different methods, but they will also gain practical experience as to the design and execution of research within the different traditions.

The course is designed in a highly interactive way and emphasizes active student participation. It is expected that students have done at least the required reading assigned for the given day and are ready to participate in group work and discussions in class. There are two types of classes in this course: lecture & discussion classes and workshops. Each lecture & discussion class will be divided into three parts: a short agenda-setting lecture by the lecturer (40 minutes), group work (40 minutes), and a concluding general discussion (40 minutes). This design is highly effective with regard to achieving the course’s learning outcomes, but it also requires that students have familiarized themselves with the assigned reading for the day. In the workshops, the class will be divided into two groups (A and B).

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.

The course provides practical preparation for jobs in management, public administration, training, education, media, and other specialized fields. The objective of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts of practical work for gender equality and provide them with practical training in the field. The course covers the history and meaning of the concept of gender equality, with a special emphasis on gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting. It addresses the representation of gender and the importance of gender responsiveness in social discourse and policy. It also introduces ideas on diversity mainstreaming and intersectionality. Modern societies make ever increasing demands for knowledge on gender equality. Iceland is party to numerous international agreements on gender equality, and the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men calls for gender mainstreaming in policymaking and public decision making at all levels. That kind of mainstreaming requires knowledge of gender equality, and the Act calls for education in that field at all levels of education. 

The course provides the student with an understanding of the scientific method and the basic skills of data analysis. Concepts such as causality, reliability, and validity will be covered. The course covers descriptive and inferential statistics, including topic such as variables, values, standard deviations, samples, significance, and hypothesis testing

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

The aim of the course is to create a community among MA students in Gender Studies. Students introduce and discuss their thesis and receive feedback from their fellow students and supervisors.

The purpose of the course is to introduce students in graduate studies in the Faculty of Politcal Science to research methods of social sciences. At the end of the course students are expected to have sufficient methodological knowledge to do a masters dissertation. The course includes discussion on methodological assumptions and choices, research design, how to formulate a research topic, methods for literature review and how to write a research proposal.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The MA-thesis is an independent research project which the student writes under an academic supervision. The project deals with challenging subject and original application of theories.

The main subject of the course is quantitative methods and statistics used in social sciences. The focus will be on research design, sample methods and designing questionnaires. The statistical part will cover descriptive and inferential statistics. Special emphasis will be on factorial ANOVA and multiple regression. Students will get practical training in data analysis using jamovi. Students can use their own data.

The course’s objective is to introduce students to the diverse, academic criteria of qualitative research in social sciences and secondly that student’s gain experience in using qualitative methods. Furthermore, the course is practical in nature where each student works on an independent research assignment, which consists of designing and preparing a research project, collecting and analyzing data, and writing the main findings with guidance from the teacher. Research preparation, the creation of a research plan, data collection and analysis along with academic writing will be extensively covered during the course.

Taught in August 2022

An investigation into the role of apparel in the formation of cultural boundaries and national identity in Iceland during the long 19th century (c.1790-1920). Clothing-practices, male and female, are considered in terms of defining a visible Icelandic identity in response to international fashions and style-trends. Special emphasis is placed on female costume. Theories on the development of cultural boundaries are introduced, as well as an approach toward investigating and interpreting primary sources in a cultural investigation. Travelogues and correspondences as well as historical journals and newspapers will be looked at to consider the dialogue across –and the development of— cultural boundaries in the conscious establishment of a national identity. Students will utilize the sources presented in a final written exam to illustrate evaluate and explain the effect and use of apparel by groups and individuals in the formation and establishment of cultural boundaries.

Instructor:  Dr. Karl Aspelund, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island.

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.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

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.

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.

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?

Students can have a five week internship in practical equal opportunities work. Apart from routine duties, they are expected to devote their time to special tasks related to their studies. Teachers in the gender studies programme are responsible for arrangements of the internship in cooperation with the office of the Political Science Faculty. 

The arrangement of the internship is as follows: The student is provided with a supervisor at the work place she or he is doing the internship. At the beginning of the internship, the supervisor defines which projects the student will work on.

The projects can be of two different kinds:

At least half of the work time should be spent on one or two major projects. This can be f.ex. collection of data, analysis or elaboration, writing or presentation of data or projects such as writing of reports or memorandum, or other projects. The student formulates the project in accordance with the supervisor's wishes. The project should relate to the courses taught in the study programme and test the knowledge and skills the student has acquired during his/her studies. A supervisory teacher of the course (i.e. the internship) needs to approve a project proposal.

 At the end of the internship the following should be submitted to the supervisory teacher:
A report on the student's main projects at the agency.
Supervisor's verification of the student's attendance and the student's ability to undertake projects.
A diary written by the student during his/her internship. The diary should include a weekly summary entailing weekly projects and time spent on particular projects.

The students do not get a grade for the internship. The course is not completed until the teacher and the supervisor agree on sufficient performance of the student. The teacher turns in a verification to the Faculty office.

This course focuses on the historical development of theories and perspectives on disability. Emphasis will be on ideologies that have influenced policies, services and disabled people everyday lives and social participation (i.e. normalization, independent living and human rights conventions). Considerable time will be devoted to exploring the new discipline Disability Studies, its origins, main characteristics and relations to other scholarship. Different theoretical perspectives on disability will be examined and the influence of particular theoretical approaches on the development of disability theory. Theoretical discussion will be connected to the disabled people's movements, human rights (including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), national and international policies, law and the social situation of disabled people.

This course addresses the concept of relational autonomy in the life of people who need intensive support and how to use it to increase autonomy in daily life. It also addresses the issue of gender and sexuality in relation to disability and the lived experiences of disabled people. In the module, the feminist idea of relational autonomy will be regarded as a key element for personal autonomy to flourish. Different perspectives of autonomy will be explored, e.g. how to increase respect for personal characteristics, independency, sexuality, and gender roles. The module explores how disabled people have been simultaneously viewed as asexual, eternal children or sexual predators. These contradicting stereotypes have hindered access to adult roles. The Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will also be under discussion and its relevance in the concept of autonomy, sexuality, diversity, and gender.

The course introduces what is gender studies and how key concepts – such as equality, gender, gender roles, gender identity, intersectionality, queer studies, stereotypes, gender based violence, sex education, femininity, and masculinity – are useful to understand and organize schools. The course also focuses on the legislation about gender equality and gender equality education. The connections between gender equality and other types of equality are also dealt with, in accordance with the national curriculum for pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary schools.  Emphasis is placed on that the students in the course can analyze learning environments, methods, and materials from a gender perspective. Also that they can analyze the choice of play in preschools as well as in breaks and school sport.

The fundamental perspective of the national curriculum that gender equality education should involve critical examination of hegemonic ideas in society and its institutions, in order to teach children and youth to analyze the circumstances that lead to discrimination of some and privileges for others, is a base for the course.

Required attendance to introduce own final assignment in the course.

In this course, discourses about the parental role will be examined. The focus will be on the societal context of the demands placed on parents, including individualization of parenting and intensive mothering. The requirements placed on parents today, such as managing school choices, after-school activities, communication between home and school/after-school programs, homework assistance, nutrition, screen time management, breastfeeding, and the demand to be an informed and conscious parent, will be explored. The origins of these requirements, their impact on parents, and their connection to contemporary ideologies such as neoliberalism, commodification, and expert discourses will be examined in a critical light. Dominant educational trends maintain that parents should act as consumers in the "education market," making school choice and participation in educational settings growing areas of research in educational and parenting studies. International and Icelandic research on parenting and how privileges and marginalization shape parents' ability to meet these demands will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on examining specific groups of people who have been classified as "privileged" and "disadvantaged" parents, connecting to theories about gender, class, origin, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Students will gain insight into parental research in the fields of critical sociology, social psychology, educational science, and theories of power and marginalization.

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.

New theories and studies on globalization and global processes are presented in the class. The course aims at giving a general overview of important themes related to globalization processes. Studies that shed light on the diverse economic, social and political aspects of global processes are furthermore examined. A critical examination of main concepts is an important aspect of the course but studies that show how people are agents/victims in globalized world are also presented.

The teaching consists of lecture and class discussions. 

 The course is taught in English.

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.

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.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

Over the past years, public discussion on how to address cases of sexual violence has been heated, particularly in the aftermath of the #MeToo Movement. Research shows that only a small percentage of such cases are reported to the police and only a small number of those cases lead to a conviction. This has been called a justice gap. Increasingly, we see victim-survivors of sexual violence tell their stories on social media, or in the media, and in some cases alleged offenders are named publicly which has evoked different responses amongst the public and had various consequences.

In this course, these societal developments will be explored from the perspective of sociology of law. Sociology of law uses theories and methods from the social sciences to examine the law, legal institutions, and legal behaviours, in the effort to analyse legal phenomena in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. To shed further light on the treatment of sexual violence cases, this course will also include readings from criminology, victimology, gender studies and the health sciences.

The course will seek answers to the following questions and more: Who commits sexual violence and why? How are men’s experiences of being subjected to sexual violence different from women’s experiences? Why is the legal status and rights of defendants different from that of victims? How is law in the books different from law in practice? How has the criminal justice system developed historically? What characterises legal education and the legal profession? What is the difference between legal consciousness and legal culture? How does legal justice differ from social justice? What are the advantages and disadvantages to non-traditional justice systems in comparison to traditional justice systems?

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.

Students learn about selected concepts and research from social psychology, behavioral economics, judgment and decision making that can be used for the design, evaluation and implementation of public policy. Theories on rationality and bounded rationality of human thought will be compared and contrasted. Students will gain understanding of how people make decisions and evaluate risk, the influence of incentives on decisions, and how to influence attitudes and behavior. The course will also cover intergroup relations and negotiations. Finally, will we discuss the relationship between public policy and well-being.

The aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of the human rights of disabled people, especially as these are articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and national legislation. The course will examine the social and cultural understanding of disability developed within disability studies as well as discussing the ideology behind the CRPD. Special emphasis will be on equality and non-discrimination on the basis of disability in the CRPD, the EU directive on equal treatment and non-discrimination in employment, and Icelandic legislation.

This course connects sociological and transdisciplinary theories and research on youth, youth culture, transitions and education. The concept of youth refers to a diverse age group and is dependant on societies and historical context, but in our post-modern times refers to the ages 16-25. Youth and their circumstances will be studied from various sociological and related academic perspectives; an emphasis will be placed on a transdiciplinary educational view. The term transition to adulthood referred, until the 1990‘s, to youth moving from the educational systems into the workplace, but has since taken a broader view to include among other things family context,  social engagement and inclusion.

In this course the focus is on recent research on youth transitions in different societies and by socio-cultural backgrounds, emphasizing research on  Icelandic and Nordic youth. The division between the public and the private is getting more and more blurry and the transition in the private life is no less important for future well-being in the marketized and globalized digital world. Youth transition is therefore explored through three main systems;  a) The education system of secondary and higher  education, b) participation in the labour force and c) the system of sexuality.

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. 

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.

This course offers students the opportunity to recognize the need to develop inclusive work environments that operate on equity principles as well as value, support and engage all employees. Students learn to identify social justice/exclusion issues related to nondominated culture cohorts associated with race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and other aspects of diversity in organizations and apply their knowledge to analyzing and implementing inclusion initiatives in organizations. Students are engaged in the study of recent scholarly research in the field in order to develop their critical thinking on topics such as identity, diverse teams, (un)conscious bias, and equality of opportunity in organizations and how they relate to the value of diversity in organizations.

The course is taught in English

The individual reading course consists of the preparation of a self-selected syllabus of 400 pages approved by the supervisor and a reading diary. The reading list relates to a topic that is of special interest and relates to the student's MA studies. The student critically analyses the reading material and hands in a reading diary four times during the semester, appr. 5000 words.

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.

Long before contemporary analyses of human-induced environmental degradation, Indigenous and feminist authors wrote stories that resisted hierarchies of the human over other lifeworlds. This course will use the themes, "feminism" and "environment" to study the works of women writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, bell hooks, Willa Cather, Maria Lugones and Muriel Rukeyser whose writings deepen and problematize both terms. 

Together we will ask, how have colonial histories impacted which authors are seen as "environmental" or "feminist"?  How does environmental protection materialize in the works of these authors? Further, what does environmental literature mean and how could debates in feminist theory help us answer such questions?

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.

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

This course is scheduled to be taught in the spring of 2026.

The objective of this course is to gain methodological knowledge, understanding and practical skills to analyze images and visual data (photographs, films, drawings, advertisements, online media, etc.). We will discuss various methods of analysis of the visual content, consider visual databases and how to work with them. Students receive practical training in visual methodological studies and how to evaluate them. The course is based on practical assignments, where students prepare and design research proposals, collect data and how to analyze. The course is interdisciplinary and is suitable for students of humanities and social sciences, and other related fields.

This course focuses on the variety of approaches and methods found within  research. Five qualitative approaches to inquiry are mainly in focus, namely; case study, narrative research, ethnography, phenomenology and grounded theory. Students gain a deeper experiences in data collection and in use of different methods for analyzing their qualitative data. They also gain experience in presenting their findings in written form. Additionally, students have the opportunity to reflect on their own research practices and on themselves as qualitative researchers.

Human mobility and multicultural societies are often seen as the main characteristics of the contemporary world. In the course, we look at main theories approaching mobility and multicultural society, critically addressing them and analyzing their utility. The concept of multiculturalism and related concepts such as culture, assimilation and integration are critically evaluated, as well as mobility in the past and the relationship between mobility and multiculturalism. Different approaches in the social sciences are introduced and main research themes in anthropology in particular and social sciences in general will be examined.

The teaching methods are lectures and discussions.

The students of this course will acquire knowledge and understanding of a) two types of reasoning in public debate referred to as the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness, and b) two types of theories in the study of public policy, explanatory and analytic theories, and get an opportunity to apply these theories on real world experiences. First, the students will look at theories developed to explain major public policy change, i.e. agenda-setting theories. Secondly, the students will examine an analytic framework use to define and understand governance networks in public policy and public administration and identify the elements of innovation in public policy and administration following the challenges involved in the implementation of new public management. The students will learn how these theories relate to principal agent theory, democratic accountability and the various tools of government. The focus of the course is on the public policy process and thus the policy actors, and the policy context in which decisions are made and public policies happen, and how mechanisms of democratic accountability operate in policy formulation and implementation.

Stéphanie Genz and Benjamin A. Brabon have described postfeminism as a “concept fraught with contradictions. Loathed by some and celebrated by others“. In this course postfeminism will be analyzed as a response to second wave feminism, as a part of postmodernist consumer culture which is influenced by neo-liberal market theories, and in terms of its expressive sexuality. The students will read central theoretical texts on postfeminism and consumer culture, and works by some of the best known chick lit writers, such as Helen Fielding, Candace Bushnell, and Sophie Kinsella, as well as Icelandic counterparts. Chick culture will be analyzed in general through television series such as Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) and Sex and the City (1998–2004), through films, talk shows for women, the music industry, glamour magazines and self-help books. We will also ask whether some central narrative structures, motifs and characters, can be traced back to classic writers such as Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Edith Wharton. Students will be encouraged to approach postfeminism in a critical manner without engaging in the derogatory language which so often characterizes the debate.

Moral panics are pervasive cultural narratives that have influenced Western politics for decades. From the Satanic Panic and Stranger Danger, to child sex trafficking and trans athletes, moral panics pervade the Western media landscape. These perceived dangers are overblown or non-existent, and are often symptomatic of underlying societal anxieties that are projected onto minorities. This course will serve as an introduction to the most foundational moral panics that have shaped the West, and the methodologies that are used to identify and dissect them. With a special focus on contemporary moral panics like Cancel Culture and the reactionary backlash to #MeToo movement, this course will address the role of the internet in disseminating and creating current moral panics, and how these narratives make their way into mainstream media and politics.