Module Identifier IPM6430  
Module Title WOMEN AND WARFARE  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Jennifer G Mathers  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   1 x 2 hour seminars per week  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam3 Hours  50%
Semester Assessment Essay: 2,000 words  25%
Semester Assessment Essay: 2,000 words  25%
Supplementary Exam Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics. 

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:

- Discuss debates in International Relations literature about the gendered nature of militaries and warfare
- Examine the extent and impact of the integration of women on the armed forces of different countries
- Explore continuity and change in women's experience of warfare using a series of historical and contemporary case studies
- Compare the differing expectations and consequences of Western and non-Western women's participation in war

Brief description

This module provides an opportunity to analyse conceptual frameworks and empirical case studies of wome'ss involvement in militaries and in warfare with a focus on the period since 1914.

Aims

The aim of this module is to examine theoretical, historical and contemporary debates concerning the relationship between women, militaries and war.

Content

This module begins by considering the major debates in International Relations literature about the gendered nature of militaries and warfare, and by examining the ways that different schools of thought have viewed women's participation in armed forces and warfare. After identifying a series of important issues through their examination of theoretical literature, students will discuss those issues in relations to a number of historical and contemporary case studies, including the First and Second World War, the Vietnam War and the 1990-91 Gulf War. Emphasis will be placed upon exploring continuity and change in women's experience of warfare since 1914 and on comparing the different expectations and consequences of Western and non-Western women's participation in war. Students will also consider the extent and impact of the integration of women on the armed forces of different countries, and assess the likely impact of significant changes in the nature of war (for example, the greater emphasis on the peacekeeping role on the part of Western armies) on women's involvement in war.

Transferable skills

Students will have the opportunity to develop and practice a wide range of transferable skills. In preparation for seminars students will develop their reading, notetaking and analytical skills. In seminars students will be asked to give brief, informal presentations to the rest of the group to develop their presentation skills. On some occasions these presentations will be done as a team, and so encouraging the development of teamwork skills. In addition seminar discussions will help students to develop their listening, explaining and debating skills. The essays which the students will write will encourage them to develop their independent research, writing and IT skills. The examination will test the students' analytical and writing skills under time constraints.

15 ECTS credits

Reading Lists

Books
Gerard DeGroot and Corinna Peniston-Bird A Solider and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military
Jean Bethke Elshtain Women, Militarism and War

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7