Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity [WiSe 2021/22]

The certificate course in Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity (GSD) provides students with knowledge and skills needed to recognize diversity and promote inclusion in the university context and beyond. The certificate’s coursework illustrates how gender and sexuality have to be considered from an intersectional perspective if persistent forms of social injustice and inequality are to be overcome, and it equips students with the practical tools to do so. Gender is understood as a central category of identity that affects how we present and express ourselves and how we are perceived by others. The ways in which we are constituted as feminine or masculine, as cis, non-binary, or trans determine how we move about in the world and how we are treated there. Since the 1990s, gender has been the subject of critical analysis in Gender Studies, and laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender have become commonplace, even as they remain highly contested. Yet gender can never be seen in isolation. Rather, it is attached to other aspects of identity such as sexual behavior and sexual orientation, as well as to ethnicity, race, dis/ability, age, physical appearance, migration status, and class as well as religion. To understand gender is to look at how overlaps between gender and national origin, skin color, access to health care, and socioeconomic status influence how equally or unequally people are treated in public spaces, in training and educational contexts, in workplaces, and in their private lives. As the lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw pointed out in 1989: “the sum of racism and sexism” is always greater than its parts.
The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted persistent areas of systemic inequality that are inscribed in social-cultural structures. Protests surrounding BlackLivesMatter around the world and gender-related activities, such as Women’s March and #MeToo, have led to demands for greater diversity and inclusion in businesses as well as all other areas of society. This certificate aims to give students the tools for understanding how gender and sexuality intersect with other areas of identity and social experience so as to recognize and combat continued forms of inequality in work and in their private lives. Aiming to promote respect, tolerance and culture-sensitive communication, the certificate adds a valuable extra qualification for those wishing to work in organizations and businesses committed to diversity. Getting Started & Course Offerings The certificate can be acquired by any student at the JLU. The certificate consists of three modules with a total of 20 credit points, and it needs to be concluded with a final report. The certificate course will be offered in the Winter Semester of 2021/22 for the first time. To acquire the certificate, students need to take additional courses to the required courses in their respective degree programs. In your first semester you will need to attend and achieve graded credit for one of the two introductory courses that will be taught by Prof. Dr. Greta Olson (Faculty 05) and Dr. Veronika Zablotsky (Faculty 03): Title: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity Studies Lecturer: Prof. Greta Olson Schedule: Mo. 6 - 8 p.m. [Stud.IP] Title: Feminist Critical Race & Ethnic Studies (FB 03) Lecturer: Dr. Veronika Zablotsky Schedule: Mo. 4 - 6 p.m. [Stud.IP] Additionally, students must also participate in one of the following seminars: Title: Beyond Bostock: Sexual Orientation, the Supreme Court, and the US Constitution (FB 05) Lecturer: Laura Borchert Schedule: Tue. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. [Stud.IP] Title: Politik, Medien und Gender (FB 03) Lecturer: Ina Daßbach Schedule: Mon. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. [Stud.IP] Title: Homosexualität im ostmittel- und osteuropäischen Film (FB 05) Lecturer: Dr. Franz Schindler Schedule: Tue. 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. [Stud.IP] Title: Transnational Feminism(s) and Social Justice (FB 03) Lecturer: Dr. Veronika Zablotsky Schedule: Tue. 12 a.m. - 2 p.m. [Stud.IP] Title: Feministische und Postkoloniale Perspektiven in Theorie und Praxis (FB 03) Lecturer: Dr. Veronika Zablotsky Schedule: Tue. 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. [Stud.IP] In order to register for one of the courses, please contact the Head of the English Department’s student assistants at: hiwis.geschaeftsfuehrunganglistik@anglistik.uni-giessen.de. Of course, you may also e-mail the assistants for any general inquiries regarding the certificate.
You can find our current module table here.

The certificate course in Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity (GSD) provides students with knowledge and skills needed to recognize diversity and promote inclusion in the university context and beyond. The certificate’s coursework illustrates how gender and sexuality have to be considered from an intersectional perspective if persistent forms of social injustice and inequality are to be overcome, and it equips students with the practical tools to do so.

Gender is understood as a central category of identity that affects how we present and express ourselves and how we are perceived by others. The ways in which we are constituted as feminine or masculine, as cis, non-binary, or trans determine how we move about in the world and how we are treated there. Since the 1990s, gender has been the subject of critical analysis in Gender Studies, and laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender have become commonplace, even as they remain highly contested. Yet gender can never be seen in isolation. Rather, it is attached to other aspects of identity such as sexual behavior and sexual orientation, as well as to ethnicity, race, dis/ability, age, physical appearance, migration status, and class as well as religion. To understand gender is to look at how overlaps between gender and national origin, skin color, access to health care, and socioeconomic status influence how equally or unequally people are treated in public spaces, in training and educational contexts, in workplaces, and in their private lives. As the lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw pointed out in 1989: “the sum of racism and sexism” is always greater than its parts.

The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted persistent areas of systemic inequality that are inscribed in social-cultural structures. Protests surrounding BlackLivesMatter around the world and gender-related activities, such as Women’s March and #MeToo, have led to demands for greater diversity and inclusion in businesses as well as all other areas of society. This certificate aims to give students the tools for understanding how gender and sexuality intersect with other areas of identity and social experience so as to recognize and combat continued forms of inequality in work and in their private lives. Aiming to promote respect, tolerance and culture-sensitive communication, the certificate adds a valuable extra qualification for those wishing to work in organizations and businesses committed to diversity.

Getting Started & Course Offerings

The certificate can be acquired by any student at the JLU. The certificate consists of three modules with a total of 20 credit points, and it needs to be concluded with a final report. The certificate course will be offered in the Winter Semester of 2021/22 for the first time. To acquire the certificate, students need to take additional courses to the required courses in their respective degree programs.

In your first semester you will need to attend and achieve graded credit for one of the two introductory courses that will be taught by Prof. Dr. Greta Olson (Faculty 05) and Dr. Veronika Zablotsky (Faculty 03):

Title: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity Studies

Lecturer: Prof. Greta Olson

Schedule: Mo. 6 - 8 p.m.

[Stud.IP]

Title: Feminist Critical Race & Ethnic Studies (FB 03)

Lecturer: Dr. Veronika Zablotsky

Schedule: Mo. 4 - 6 p.m.

[Stud.IP]

Additionally, students must also participate in one of the following seminars:

Title: Beyond Bostock: Sexual Orientation, the Supreme Court, and the US Constitution (FB 05)

Lecturer: Laura Borchert

Schedule: Tue. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.