Information about examination, schedule and learning outcome on the course page.
Gender and Sexuality Studies
This course explores issues of gender and sexuality in the contemporary world with a special emphasis on LGBTQ+ issues, prostitution/sexwork and women’s emancipation.
Denmark has often been regarded as a pioneer in gender and sexual rights, being the first country to legalize the distribution of pornography (1969), introduce registered same-sex partnerships (1989), and grant legal gender recognition based solely on self-declaration (2014). The country has also led the way in reproductive rights, granting access to birth control (1966) and legal abortion (1973). These milestones have contributed to Denmark’s international reputation as a progressive society when it comes to gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. While feminist and LGBTQ+ movements have played a crucial role in shaping policy, tensions remain - particularly in debates on migration, racial justice, and bodily autonomy. This raises important questions: How have these legal milestones shaped contemporary understandings of gender and sexuality? Who has been included in Denmark’s vision of equality, and who has been left out? Examining these dynamics allows us to critically engage with both the successes and the ongoing struggles in the field of gender and sexuality.
Through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on feminist, queer, and cultural history, we will explore key topics such as:
- Feminism and feminist Movements: The evolution of feminist politics in Denmark, from the fight for reproductive rights to contemporary debates on gender and equality.
- LGBTQ+ Activism: The role of activism in securing rights for same-sex couples and trans individuals, as well as ongoing struggles for bodily autonomy and healthcare access.
- State Regulation of Sexuality and Reproduction: The history of abortion rights, contraception, and sex education in Denmark.
- Race, Colonialism, and Sexuality: The ways in which Denmark’s colonial history has influenced contemporary debates on gender, race, and national belonging.
By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced understanding of Denmark’s role as a global frontrunner in gender and sexual rights, while also recognizing the complexities and contradictions that shape these narratives. They will be encouraged to critically assess how historical and contemporary struggles over gender and sexuality continue to evolve, and to reflect on the ways in which policy, activism, and cultural discourse intersect in shaping futures for gender and sexual justice.
Course code: HDCB01211U
Credits: 15 ECTS
Duration: 1 semester
Available: Spring and autumn semester.
This course asks: How has history formed the present that we find ourselves in, and can we understand sex, gender and sexuality from the point of view of cultural history? We will explore this through reading, discussing, and visits from activist organizations in Copenhagen.
Denmark was the first country in the world to legalize the distribution of pornography (1969), to legalize same-sex civil unions (1989), to allow two persons of the same sex as legal parents of a child (1999), and to allow trans*persons to legally change their gender based solely on request (2014). In many ways, Denmark has thus been a front-runner for sexual and LGBTQ+ rights.
How has Danish history paved the way for these transformations, and how does history continually shape the way we think about gender equality, sexual rights, and LGBTQ+ liberation? Similarly, women’s emancipation was also brought on by access to birth control (1966) and right to abortion (1973). What has happened with feminism since then in Denmark? And how does Danish feminism stand with a controversial issue, such as sex work or prostitution?
We will both study Denmark as a case, but also broaden our perspective and bring in examples from the US, Sweden and other countries to help us understand how the framing of the past is forming the present situation and the futures we can imagine.
Course code: HDCB01211U
Credits: 15 ECTS
Duration: 1 semester
Available: Spring and autumn semester.
Note: Example – subject to change
| Lecture | Theme |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Introduction: Studying Gender and Sexuality |
| Lecture 2 | The Invention of Heterosexuality: Historicizing the Norm |
| Lecture 3 | The History of Homosexuality |
| Lecture 4 | 20th Century Queer Sexualities / How to Write a Synopsis |
| Lecture 5 | Transgender in Denmark / Midway evaluation |
| Lecture 6 | Women’s Emancipation and Feminism |
| NGO Talk | Sex og Samfund (Danish Family Planning Association) |
| Lecture 7 | Prostitution in Denmark and Sweden |
| Lecture 8 | Final class discussion / How to write research paper |