Newsletter No. 121

CUHK Newsletter No. 121 19th February 1998 3 Introducing Programmes in Gender Studies 'Our goal is to promote awareness of and sensitivity to gender issues in society. We hope that g o v e r nme n t policies will tend to the needs and concerns of both genders and a more productive and harmonious worldwill be c r ea t ed , ' said Profs, Catherine Tang and Gordon Mathews, proposers of the Gender StudiesP r o g r amme ,the first tertiary programme in gender studies in the t e r r i t o r y . P rof. Mathews is the chair, and Prof. Tang the co-chair, ofthe Committee on Gender Studies formed under the Board of the Department of Anthropology. Open to students from all faculties, the undergraduate minor programme in gender studies was launched in September 1997. It serves as a prelude to the initiation of an M.Phil, programme in gender studies in the 1998- 99 academic year. Both programmes are administratively housed in the Department of Anthropology. The Undergraduate Programme The undergraduate minor programme requires students to take the course 'Gender and Culture' at the Department of Anthropology, and four elective courses from the pool of 20 existing gender-related courses offered by different departments at the University. This means that students may find themselves looking at the women's movement in Hong Kong in 'Gender Issues in Hong Kong Society', discussing Emily Bronte's representations of women in 'Gender and Literature', or deconstructing the phenomena of AIDS and pornography in 'Sexuality and Culture', to quote a few examples. The Postgraduate Programme Prof. Tang pointed out that the purpose of launching the M.Phil, programme is to cultivate scholars who are knowledgeable in their own areas as well as gender issues in those areas. In other words, the programme's students will need to be grounded also in the discipline fromwhich they study gender studies, and their certificates will read 'M.Phil. in sociology or engineering or psychology.../gender studies', rather than 'gender studies' alone. The postgraduate programme will entail the creation of two new courses which will be taught as modules, meaning, teachers from different departments will take turns to teach the courses. Academic and Social Background Understanding something as inherent in our being as gender is of course important, but what motivated Profs. Tang and Mathews to propose the programme? Prof. Tang explained that their motivation came from both academia and society: There is aGender R e s e a r ch Programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies wherein staff from different departments, drawn by their common interest in gender issues, work together on research projects, make social commentary, and hold conferences on gender issues. The programme has been in existence for about 10 years, so a core of staff who are knowledgeable and experienced in the area has been built up. In the past each discipline at the University dealt with the teaching of gender courses individually, if they did at all. Some staff members have expressed the interest and need to organize knowledge and research methodology related to gender into a formal programme of study in a distinctive discipline. There has also been a steady increase in the number of undergraduate and graduate students wishing to do research in the area. 'At the societal level, awareness of gender issues in the family and the work place is growing. In legislature, the Sexual Discrimination Ordinance has been passed and the Equal Opportunities Commission set up. You can see the whole social climate indicates the necessity to attend to gender issues.' 'Gender studies is an established discipline in the US, Europe, and Japan,' added Prof. Mathews. 'It's time Hong Kong had its own. Gender studies examines specifically how we're conditioned as men and women, how we're moulded by culture, and how our gender roles shape the way we see the world.' Individual differences notwithstanding, gender and culture indeed influence the way we see and react to the world, as evidenced, incidentally, by the two interviewees themselves. When asked why no new courses have been created for the undergraduate minor programme, Prof. Mathews's answer was quick: 'No money. Everyone is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.' On the other hand, Prof. Tang said, carefully weighing her words, 'Let's put it this way. As a start we are coordinating all the existing courses into a programme of study. But with more students joining the programme and more support from the University, there will be a greater awareness of the need for studying gender issues, and then, perhaps, new courses will be proposed by teachers. One of our goals is to stimulate interest among staff and students, so that new courses in gender issues at the undergraduate level will be put forward in the future. But to start with, we're making the best use of the existing resources.' Source of Students Do students from certain faculties tend to be more interested in gender issues than others? 'It's too early to say at this point, but my hunch is that they'll come from the social sciences, and the arts and humanities, and there'll probably be more females than males,' said Prof. Tang. Yet don't science and engineering students, perhaps more so than their counterparts in faculties which study the human mind in social, cultural, and other contexts, need to know more about gender issues? 'Yes,' she said, 'engineering is a male-dominant field. The whole discipline is male-oriented. Machines are designed with male users in mind and for that reason they're often not user-friendly for us. Engineers should learn how to see and design things from a female perspective. Women are a big consumer market. Don't forget halfthe world's population is female.' Stepping Up Publicity Enrolment in the minor programme for this academic year is low, the proposers admitted, but prospects are promising. Prof. Mathews attributed the low number to the lack of time for promotion. 'The programme was formally endorsed last April. At the time I didn't realize that students could only sign up for a minor between 3rd and 21 st July. I thought that like most academic institutions I know of, students can choose to become a minor any time they want. So I didn't do any advertising for the programme as I would have had I known this. As a result not too many students even knew the programme existed.' Prof. Tang also believes that the lack of publicity was the problem, but interprets the low number as a positive sign: 'Most students were gone from the campus after their final exams, so even if we had done any publicity, it probably would not have got to them. I think the first year is not the best gauge of how the programme is received. The coming year will be a better barometer. Also bear in mind that students can choose their minor during any year before graduation. It's possible for them to take up a minor in their final year. I would not take the enrolment number at hand as a reflection of inadequate interest. I f anything, it shows that some students are keen enough about gender studies to know of the programme before any publicity is made.' At this point, however, Prof. Mathews is pleased to announce that the undergraduate gender courses are 'quite full of students' and the M.Phil, programme, 'well underway with many enquiries from students'. To publicize the M.Phil. programme, information sheets have been distributed to students and flyers and posters sent to other local tertiary institutions. Prof. Mathews has also gone to gender classes to convey the information. Last November, the programme was given publicity at a general education exhibition on women's studies as well as at a three- day international conference entitled 'Gender and Development in Asia' organized by the Gender Research Programme. Things are indeed looking promising for the Gender Studies Programme. Piera Chen Prof. Gordon Mathews Prof. Catherine Tang