Gender Studies is a relatively new research discipline that uses gender as a category for the analysis of society and culture in various historical, cultural or political contexts. Gender refers to the social and cultural construction of sex, role concepts and norms. Since gender as a social category never stands alone, but is always related to other categories such as ethnicity, body or age, students learn to perceive gender-hierarchical realities from an intersectional perspective, to critically question social developments with regard to gender relations and to know methods and instruments for creating equal opportunities. Fields of research such as Masculinities Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Disability Studies, Critical Whiteness Studies and Queer Studies will also be examined.
The key content of the study programmes for Gender Studies offered by RUB includes the following:
Work, institutions, cultural practices
Cultural and media representations
Identities, positions, differences
The analysis of the comprehensive transformation processes, which can be seen from a historical and current perspective, in work, institutions and cultural practices in the national and international context.
The analysis of cultural constructions and representations of gender, and in particular those of media and literature.
Analysis of processes of social positioning by people or groups of people between the conflicting priorities of social categories and identity formation.
At RUB, the core teaching of Gender Studies consists of the courses offered by the three faculties of Social Sciences, Philology (especially Media Studies and Romance Studies) and Historical Science. The Marie-Jahoda Fellowship offers events which add to this programme, as do varying the programme with other subjects such as Protestant and Catholic Theology, Sports Science and Psychology.
The courses:
1. Gender Studies – Culture, Communication, Society (2-subject Masters)
As a 2-subject Masters, Gender Studies is combined with another subject
of your choice, on an equal standing. The standard duration of the programme of
study is 4 semesters and comprises 120 CP (credit points). The 2-subject
Masters programme requires a BA degree of at least 6 semesters in humanities,
cultural sciences, social sciences or philology. Masters or diploma degrees may
be recognised as equivalent. In the case of external applicants and graduates
from other subjects, an equivalence test will be carried out using the
documents submitted for the application. Successful completion of a Master of
Arts (MA) also qualifies you to study for a doctorate. Completing an internship
during the Masters programme is not obligatory, but is recommended (6 weeks or
240 hours respectively). A study visit abroad is also not obligatory, but can
be integrated into the curriculum.
The Masters programme Joint Degree Gender Studies is a joint programme
of the Ruhr University Bochum and the Karl-Franzens University of Graz
(Austria). The standard duration of the programme of study is 4 semesters and
comprises 120 CP (credit points). The prerequisite for admission is having
completed a BA degree in Gender Studies with a minimum of 180 CP (ECTS
credits). Other equivalent degrees in humanities and cultural studies, social
sciences and economics, law, theology, psychology, health sciences and nursing
sciences may be recognised as equivalent provided they include at least 30 CP
in one or more of the following areas:
Gender issues in cultural studies and social sciences
theory development in the fields of culture, media and society
methods of cultural, humanities and social science empiricism.
The Joint Degree Gender Studies comprises an obligatory internship (4
weeks or 160 hours) and at least one semester abroad at 30 CP level at the
partner university in Graz. The Master of Arts (MA) is recognised as a full
course of academic study in the countries of the partner universities and
qualifies students to continue to study for a doctorate.
Both courses of study, 2-subject and 1-subject Masters, have restricted admission.
Gender knowledge, and competence in gender and diversity are required in
many occupational fields. For the first time, Gender Studies offers the
possibility of a well-founded and interdisciplinary study of equal
opportunities, social inequality, heterogeneous society and inclusion.
How these skills are put into practice in the workplace can be tested,
for example, in internships. An internship does not just help you to gain your
first professional experience and to work out specific career aspirations, it
also makes it easier to start your career after graduation, as practical
experience is an important criterion on your CV. In addition to this, the
Gender Knowledge in Practical Application workshop, which is held regularly and
which is an integral part of both study programmes, offers the opportunity to
exchange ideas with experts from various professional fields and to listen to
individual reports from the RUB Gender Studies alumi on the start to their
careers.
In the past, speakers have been recruited from areas and companies including the following:
Gleichstellungsstelle der Stadt Heppenheim
Gleichstellungsstelle der Universitäten Paderborn, Dortmund und Bochum
Gleichstellungsstelle der Stadt Bochum
Gleichstellungsstelle der Stadt Essen
Gleichstellungsstelle der Metropole Ruhr
Fachstelle Gender NRW FUMA e. V. Essen
analogTheater Köln
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Deutsche BP AG
t-velopment
Henkel
Deutsche Telekom
genanet e.V.
Industriemuseum Cromford
Zentrum Frau in Beruf und Technik
Gesundheits- und Sozialplanung der Kreisverwaltung Ennepe-Ruhr
Dissens e. V.
Stelle Chancengleichheit am Arbeitsmarkt der Arbeitsagentur Bochum
Rosa Strippe e.V.
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
Budrich Verlag
Jugend- und Kulturzentrum Werkstadt Witten
Zentrum für Hochschul- und Qualitätsentwicklung (ZfH) Universität Duisburg-Essen
Bosch Rexroth
UNO
Career Service der RUB
DGB NRW
Rubicon e.V. Köln
Frauenkulturbüro NRW
Frauen.ruhr.geschichte Dortmund
Diversity Management FOM Essen
Neue Westfälische Zeitung
Dezernat Hochschulkommunikation RUB
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
Amadeu-Antonio-Stiftung
Brause Mag
Flüchtlingsrat NRW
Stabsstelle Chancengleichheit, Familie und Vielfalt, TU Dortmund
WALK IN RUHR – Zentrum für sexuelle Gesundheit und Medizin
Gleichstellungstelle für Mann und Frau Stadt Wuppertal
Likewise, on each Gender Knowledge in Practical Application day, a RUB
Gender Studies graduate is invited to speak, to give an insight into the start
to her/his career.
Joint Degree Gender Studies: One course of study at two universities
The 1-subject Joint Masters Degree in Gender Studies is run jointly with the Karl Franzens University of Graz (KFU) (Austria). One exchange semester in Graz is obligatory for all RUB students on this study programme and vice versa.
For students whose main university is Bochum, at least 30 ECTS must be
completed at the KFU.
Erasmus exchange programmes
Below you will find the Erasmus exchange programmes from our three core
teaching faculties of Social Science, Media Studies and History.
In addition to this, Gender Studies cooperates with the University of
Istanbul in the field of Women’s Studies.
German domestic exchange program PONS
PONS offers Gender Studies students the opportunity to study for one semester at a different location in Germany. Students who use PONS can learn new content at the participating locations or develop existing in-depth knowledge. Each location offers different teaching and research emphases in gender research. As such, you can get to know other universities and their structures, and to establish networks that are crucial for your future career.
Involved partners
University of Bielefeld
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt am Main
Gender Studies students are represented by the student representative
committee. The student representatives also serve as advisors to the governing
body/executive board of the Marie Jahoda Center for International Gender
Studies, and in their own blog they provide details of the latest news on
studying at RUB.
Professorships
uzette Kahlert: Key subjects – An Introduction to Fat Studies (SS 2018)
Simon Graf: Masculinity as a Symbolic Power and Common Practice (WS 2017/18)
Katharina Hajek: Family duel. Contemporary Conflicts Concerning Family, Reproductive Work and Gender in Politics and Society (SS 2017)
Nadine Dannenberg: Sex Sells?! – An Introduction to Asexuality Studies (WS 2016/17)
Tatiana Prorokova: “It’s Mercy, Compassion, and Forgiveness I Lack. Not Rationality”: Deconstructing Female Masculinity in Film (SS 2016)
Katrin Ottensmann: Inclusion as a Social Paradigm Shift (WS 2014/15)
Anna Ostrowski: Physical_ness between Norms and Alternatives (SS 2014)
Christine Buchwald: Gender Dimensions in War (winter semester 2013/14)
Annette Raczuhn: Transgender and the (Re)Establishment of Cultural Intelligibility (SS 2013)
Kim Siekierski, Helena Patané: Body, Eating Disorders and Gender (WS 2012/13)
Marcel Wrzesinski: Introduction to the “Queer Theory” (WS 2012/13)
Mithu Sanyal: Cultural History of the Female Genitals (winter semester 2011/12)
Barbara Umrath: Women’s Movements and Feminist Critical Theory (SS 2011)
Ulrike Klöppel: Gender by Design? The Relationship between Intersex Medical Science and Gender Studies (SS 2011)
Maja Figge: Whiteness in the German Cinema after 1945 (WS 2010/2011)
Heinz-Jürgen Voß: Poststructuralist Theories and their Practical Application in the Research of Gender and Queer Studies: Construction, Deconstruction, Discourse, Intersectionality (WS 2010/2011)
Tobias Krüger: Masculinity in Modern Times (SS 2010)
Heinz-Jürgen Voß: Biology of Gender – and its Social Production (SS 2010)
