Teaching

Teaching

This academic year Marie-Louise Janssen is teaching the courses:

• The Local and Global Complexity of Prostitution, (Sept-Dec 2011)

This course examines the historical evolution, different policy approaches, and political, cultural and feminist discourses concerning prostitution used to approach the subject, and intends to engage the students in efforts to articulate their own position concerning the issue of sexwork. It gives insights into the complexity of the subject and contests the myths and prejudices concerning prostitution by replacing them with a culturally specific analysis that can account for change overtime as well developmental and regional differences. A range of subjects will be treated in the course,including the different histories of prostitution in different regions of the world, female, male, transgender and child prostitution, human trafficking, clientsand sextourism. Guest speakers representing key Dutch organizations will provide informative sessions on several of the issues.

• Experiencing Differences (Feb.- June 2012) 

This course consists of a series of lectures and seminars on ethnic minorities, women, gays & lesbians in a Dutch context. The first block focuses on identity and the politics of difference, the second block on intersectionality, and the third on the dilemmas of identity politics. The lectures will discuss the following issues: the construction/social formation of identities and communities; cultural and political mobilization; social relations between majorities and minorities; discrimination; the production and denial of differences; strategies on integration, assimilation, and opposition. 

• Introduction to Gender & Sexuality (Feb-Jun 2012)

This course introduces the key themes and theories in the field of gender and sexuality studies. Its first part is devoted to the historical development of the social meaning of gender and sexuality and how it differs from natural – or essentialist – explanations. We will examine the political critique of inequalities as articulated by social movements, like feminists and gays, and assess how it has contributed to the emergence of gender and sexuality studies. On the basis of classic and contemporary texts it introduces students to the main concepts, theories and debates in an interdisciplinary perspective.