Proseminar: Language and Gender

Differences between men and women have been the object of much discussion inside and outside academia. From a linguistic perspective, a basic question is whether men and women speak differently, and whether this binary distinction even makes sense at all. The field of language and gender deals with a broad range of issues, such as gender stereotypes and gender identities, as well as a wealth of questions related to power and sexuality.

In this course, we will explore how these issues are discussed and investigated in academic research. In addition, we will study recent vocabulary changes in the English language, such as the increased use of they as an epicene pronoun, and the use of gender-neutral occupational terms (e.g. firefighter versus fireman).

Students will write a paper (3000 words) on a topic related to language and gender. This paper can be a literature review, an empirical study or a theoretical paper. Topics can be chosen freely. The assignment can be revised once in the event of an insufficient grade.

BASI and Mobility students who only need 3 credits will have a shorter assignment (1000 words) that consists of a review of a single article.