Focus: Religious Studies
By drawing on insights from the study of the Biblical Hermeneutical process the module aims at creating a dynamic and interactive critical reflection space where students can engage in the complex process of negotiation, interrogation, and knowledge production when encountering issues of Gender and Sexuality as it intersects with religious thought, doctrine, and practice. The module privileges the position of women and Queer people when exploring the negotiation of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) within the African context and as it intersects with Religion in order to offer resources for interventions and engagments in the Global South.
The thematic focus area of the module is Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Homophobic Hate Crimes and is deeply informed by the South African contextual reality. The module aims to guide students through reflecting on definitions and terminology, prevalence, causality, and action pertaining to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. The module’s arc will develop from an intersectional contextual analysis, through the engagement with faith sources and resources to stimulate impactful and survivor-centered strategies for change. After investing a substantial amount of time in the build-up of the module to contextual understandings of Gender Based Violence and how religion and culture inform this reality, the focus will shift in the second part of the module to contextual engagements of the Bible in the context of Gender Based Violence in order to assist students to reflect on how they could appropriate the Bible in the fight for liberation. The module will draw from insights and learnings developed in the South African context and will offer these as a starting point to stimulate cross-cultural Global South reflections and engagements.
Professors: André Sidnei Musskopf (UFJF), Charlene van der Walt (University of KwaZulu-Natal – South Africa)
Language: English
Place: Humanities Institute, Room A-II-03
Courseload: 30h
Date&Time: July 17-27, from 2pm to 6pm
Target audience: undergraduate and graduate students
Spots available: 15
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): 5, 16