AMU3018 · Gender, family and migration

Overview

In this capstone unit, you will examine the intersections of gender, family, and migration through feminist and sociological perspectives. You will explore how migration - whether voluntary, forced, or situated in between - reshapes family life, care arrangements, and social relations across countries of origin and destination, while critically engaging with how power relations such as gender, class, nationality, and generation shape migratory experiences. You will explore six key themes: background contexts, theoretical perspectives, gendered migration processes, contemporary debates, methodological issues, and policy advocacy. Beginning with tracing the historical development of migration studies prior to the incorporation of gender perspectives, followed by an exploration of feminist approaches and key theoretical frameworks, including transnationalism, mobility, and intersectionality. You will then examine gender across diverse migratory contexts, including women’s migration, family-related migration, and movements involving children, youth, and refugees. The unit also engages with recent developments such as queer approaches to migration and the re-examination of masculinities. In addition, you will consider methodological approaches to studying gender and migration, and the role of research in informing policy and advocacy. Through class participation, you will develop critical analytical skills and engage with empirical case studies in regional and transnational contexts. As a capstone unit, it integrates your prior learning and prepares you for honours-level study and careers in policy, advocacy, social services, and international development.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. explain key theories and concepts in gender, family, and migration studies;
2. analyse how migration reshapes family structures, care arrangements, and social relations across diverse contexts;
3. apply intersectional feminist and interdisciplinary perspectives to migration processes and case studies;
4. evaluate scholarly and policy-related sources, including their implications for migration and inequality;
5. conduct critical analysis of gendered migration using appropriate theoretical and empirical approaches;
6. communicate well-supported analyses in written and oral forms, including policy-oriented contexts.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.