Dear Women's and Gender Studies Steering Committee,
The course Men and Masculinities (SOC 410) is an ideal addition to the list of electives offered for the Women's and Gender Studies minor at IUP.
The course material and outline is based on the study of men and masculinity in the sub-discipline of sociology of gender. This sub-discipline integrates the use of feminist and critical perspectives as central and essential guiding force for the types of research questions it explores and development of discussion from its scientific findings. Lectures, group discussion, activities, and assignments will focus on critically analyzing the social expectations, performances, and structural advantages and disadvantages of men-as-gendered-beings, drawing heavily on critical-race and feminist perspective.
The texts, readings, and course materials for this course will be drawn heavily from the sub-discipline of sociology of gender, but will also utilize resources from other fields germane to the critical study of men. A major focus of the course will be on how structural and cultural gender inequalities function to benefit men, but also result in negative and unintended consequences to their psychological and physical health as well as their social wellbeing. The use of the “masculinities” perspective in this course will provide readings, assignments, and other materials that will examine intersectional issues of race, class, and sexuality.
By the end of the course, students will be able to better understand how masculinity is both a performative and structural social phenomenon. They will be able to reflect on how issues that stem from the construction and reinforcement of the norms and structures of masculinity impact their daily lives and the world around them.
In relation to other elective courses in the Women's and Gender Studies minor, Men and Masculinities (SOC 410) will be the first to be offered that exclusively focuses on men-as-gendered-beings from a critical and feminist perspective. It will make an excellent addition to the program while continuing to honor its stated goals and objectives!
Sincerely,
Christian Vaccaro, Sociology