Linkoping University – Specialization (2)

2. Gender and Technology

General Description
The course (8 ECTS) is based on intensive reading and group work around specific topics within Gender and Technology. These include: the women and technology vs. women in technology debate; technology and masculinity; ICT & gender; medical technologies of sex & gender; technology and identity. As this course is a specialization course within the ESST MA program, the syllabus also allows for students to focus on specific gender and technology issues that are related to their thesis topic.
On completion of the course, the student shall on an advanced level be able to:
• demonstrate general debates within gender and technology.
• critically analyze and assess the multifaceted roles and contexts of technology in the production of knowledge about gendered identities and bodies.
• competently use conceptual and theoretical models that are central in the field of gender and technology and apply these to the specific field of their thesis study.

This course is also meant to teach and encourage the skills of independent study and research in preparation for the thesis work and future academic activities. Students will therefore also be asked to present material, debates and research using different academic formats.

Theme 1 – The women and technology vs. women in technology debate. Students will be asked to lead the discussion for one of the texts for this seminar.

Theme 2 – Technology and masculinity. Students will be asked to write a review article for one of the readings.

Theme 3 – ICT & gender. Students will be asked to write a debate article about one for themes of the seminar.

Theme 4 – Medical technologies of sex & gender. Students will be asked to present one of the readings as if they were the study’s author at an academic conference.

Theme 5 – Technology and identity. Students will be asked to present one of the readings in poster form for the class.

Schedule of Specialization Course
The specialization itself consists of five weeks of seminars and student exercises (February – March) during which the students will become fully acquainted with core issues of gender and technology. For the remaining time in Linköping, ESST students will work, under the supervision of Linköping University instructors (most likely at Tema Technology and Social Change), on a thesis in a thematic area of their choice within the technology and gender area. Students will have their own supervisor from among the Tema Technology and Social Change staff members who will work with the students on a one-to-one basis to flesh out a thesis project that, in most cases, will involve both empirical work and theoretical reflection.

Students will also have the opportunity to simultaneously take an ‘Essay Course’, which is part of the MA for Sustainable Development at Linköping University. This course is designed to assist in thesis writing and is particularly relevant for students interested in issues of sustainability, broadly defined.

Language of Instruction:
The specialization will be given in English. All literature for the core sessions and the sessions themselves are in English. All Faculty members will use English as the medium of communication with the students throughout this course.

Number of students: minimum of 1 and maximum of6

Core literature:
Cockburn, C. (1983/1991)Brothers: Male Dominance and Technical Change London: Pluto Press.
Davis, Kathy (2003) Surgical Passing or why Michael Jackson’s Nose makes ‘us’ Uneasy. Feminist Theory 4(1):73-92
Epstein, Steven (2007) Inclusion. The Politics of Difference in Medical Research Chicago. Univ of Chicago Press.
Faulkner, Wendy (2000) ‘Dualisms, hierarchies and gender in engineering’, Social Studies of Science, 30(5): 759-92, October
Faulkner, Wendy (2000) ‘Reflections on Gender and Technology Studies: In What State is the Art?’, Social Studies of Science, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2000, pp. 447-464.
Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000) Sexing the Body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality. New York: Basic Books.
Haraway, Donna (1991) “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge).
Kirkup, Gill et al. (Eds.) (2000). The Gendered Cyborg: A Reader. NY: Routledge.
Marshal, Barbara and Katz, Stephen, (2002) Forever Functional: Sexual Fitness and the Ageing Male Body. Body and Society 8(4) pp: 43-70
Martin, Emily (1991) ‘The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male- Female Roles’ Signs, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Spring, 1991), pp. 485–501
Persson, Alma. (2011) An unintended side effect of pepper spray: Gender trouble and “repair work” in an Armed Forces unit. Men and Masculinities.
Wacjman, J. (2006) ‘TechnoCapitalism Meets TechnoFeminism: Women and Technology in a Wireless World’, Labour & Industry, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 7-20.
Wolf, V. 1921. A Room of One’s Own

Examples of past Thesis topics:
van den Hooven, Edith: Menstruation as a Sign of Healthiness, Fertility and Womanhood. A study of views on menstruation among Swedish young women. November 2007

Kovacs, Agnes: Aspects of professional identity of Women Scientists at a Swedish University. November 2007

Okun Macpherson, Felix: Gender and the Social Construction of Information Technologies: the case of the Internet in EDO-State. Nigeria. November 2006

Chukwumaeze Anyanwu, Chindeum: Human Reproduction and the Cyborgic Woman in In-Vitro Fertilization A Nigerian Case. December 2005

Wamala, Caroline: The Information Society: Prospects and challenges facing women’s accessibility in Swaziland. November 2005

Wahab Musah, Abdul: Modernisation, modern technologies and gender in Ghana the case of ICT. September 2004

Hing Ip, Wei: Gender and Power in Engineering Education. A Case Study of Linköping University, Sweden. August 2004

Cruz Soto, Bernadette: Ergonomic Devices for Women in Sweden. August 2004

James Roberto A: A gender perspective on High-tech start-ups in Sweden. November 2002

For for further information contact us here: http://esst.eu/linkoping-university/