This seminar seeks to highlight some of the key debates on gender and development. In the first portion of the semester, this course will provide a brief overview of the history of gender in development and key concepts. The second portion semester will focus on contemporary issues, such as intra-household decision-making, land rights, family planning, social protection, microcredit, and factory labor. The third portion will critically examine policy-based approaches to gender and development, including concepts such as mainstreaming gender; gender-neutral policies; and various measures of empowerment. The course will focus on building critical writing, analytical and presentation skills as well as developing a broad understanding of the key issues and challenges at the intersection of gender and development today.
Student progress will be evaluated on the basis of performance along four criteria: (1) class participation, (2) leading a class discussion or debate, (3) completing three short writing assignments, and (4) a 15-page final research paper or research proposal on a topic of the student’s choice. Interested students will have the opportunity to work on quantitative data for a final project. Readings will include 4-6 journal articles or book chapters each week.