Prospectus

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Gender, Race, Intersectionality and Law

Course
2023-2024

Toegangseisen

Admitted to Honours College Law.

Beschrijving

Until now, systematic discussions of gender, race and law have received little attention from Dutch law faculties, especially at the undergraduate teaching level. At the same time, public calls for discussion of these issues increases all the time. The internet has enabled movements against gender-based harassment (#MeToo) and race-based police brutality (#BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName) to the connect on an international scale, while local organizers have continued to call attention to what makes each of these movements unique to a given place. Legal instruments against unequal treatment based on race or gender have existed for decades at both the national and international level, but don’t seem to be sufficient or adequate to address continuing inequalities.

This Honours College Law course provides students the opportunity to explore some of the histories, theories and challenges of seeking equal justice under the law. Concrete examples will focus on gender and race, but discussions and tools will encourage expansive interpretation and allow us to explore the intersections between various aspects of individual identity, national and international legal institutions, politics and law.

Leerdoelen

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) identify and explain the key theoretical aspects of interaction between gender, race, and law & intersectionality;
2) identify and critically evaluate different schools of feminist legal theory as well as critical race theory;
3) conduct research on specific case studies on a related topic of their interest; and
4) work effectively in group projects, present their case studies to the audience, and thereby contribute to the debate.

Onderwijsvormen

The first part of this course consists of five interactive sessions of 3 hours. In these sessions, we will discuss the following subjects/questions:

  • Why shall we study feminist legal theory? Liberal, Radical, and Cultural Feminism

  • Rape law, sexual consent, and carceral feminism

  • Intersectionality, Anti-discrimination and Equality

  • How law constructs race and gender in the Netherlands

  • Postmodern and Postcolonial Feminism: FGM and Child Marriage

In each session, the last hour will be spent for group work. Students will choose a case study and will conduct group research. At the end of this course, the students will present the outcome of their research project on a ‘Conference Day’ – which will take a form of academic conference whereby they listen to each other’s presentations and engage in academic debates, to collectively advance our understandings of the subjects learnt in this course and of the related issues.

More information about the presentations and assignments can be found below; additional information will be posted on Brightspace.

Periode

The meetings will take place on:

  • Monday September 4, 2023

  • Monday September 11, 2023

  • Monday September 18, 2023

  • Monday September 25, 2023

  • Monday October 9, 2023
    The ‘Conference Day’ will be held on October 31.

All meetings are from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

Of course, attendance is mandatory and students are expected to prepare well and participate actively in the meetings. As with all courses of HC Law. This is partly due to the character and structure of HC Law and its courses, which therefore also have the status of ‘practical exercises’.

Toetsing

Group research: 70%
Short written assignments (reading responses): 30%

Group research
At the start of the course students will be asked to name three preferences for a particular topic for the group research project. Working on a specific topic will allow students to have ‘a case study’, in order to delve deeper into the topic, as well as to further reflect on some of the broader themes and theories learned in this course.

The list of topics is as follows:
1. Sexual violence law
2. Reproductive health law
3. Child marriage
4. Law on sexual/gender identity
5. Racial profiling
6. Workplace discrimination

When you have heard from HC Law that you have been admitted to this course: send three preferences in order of your preference to h.horii@law.leidenuniv.nl, by September 1st.

The group research will be evaluated based on the rubric, which will be available on Brightspace.

Reading responses
To guide and stimulate your reading, one week before each lecture, the teacher and/or course coordinator will assign a reading quiz on the forum on Brightspace. This is a quiz in that it will ask you about some key concepts and ideas from the lecture and the reading, and a response in that we will also ask you to reflect on your thoughts on the reading, what confused you, and what you would like to know more about. What is important is not to give “correct” answers – but to exchange ideas with other students and to contribute to the development of academic discussions in a friendly constructive manner. You have to post contributions by 24 hours before the start of the class for which the reading is listed takes place, so that the teacher can respond to your discussions in the class.

You can access the forum on Brightspace by going to “Reading Response” > in “Discussions”. In “Discussions”, there is another forum “Q & A” – where you can post any other questions regarding the course.

Brightspace

More information on this course will be offered on Brightspace.

Literatuur

The list of literature can be found in the syllabus, which will be available on Brightspace.

Aanmelden

Via the administration of Honours College Law: honours@law.leidenuniv.nl in the manner indicated in the Cohort Brightspace page.

Minimum en maximum aantal deelnemers

14-24

Contact

Coordinator: dr. Hoko Horii
Work address: KOG
Contact information: by appointment via email - only for subtantial questions. When it concerns administrative issues, please contact the HC Law coordinators via [honours@law.leidenuniv.nl]
E-mail: h.horii@law.leidenuniv.nl

Institute: Metajuridica
Department: Van Vollenhoven Institute
Opening hours: Monday - Friday 9.00 - 12.30 and 13.30 - 16.00 h.
Telephone number secretary: +31 (0)71 527 7260
Email: vollenhoven@law.leidenuniv.nl