Minor in Gender Studies (MDM) – Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Minor in Gender Studies

Overview

Gender Studies is now a widely recognised interdisciplinary field of enquiry in the humanities and social sciences. The reason that this field has become prominent over the past thirty to forty years is closely tied to social changes in industrialised countries.

The Gender Studies Minor Programme aims to develop both conceptual knowledge and key abilities as a foundation for a systematic inquiry into gender-related matters. Conceptually, these courses help students to build up a nuanced understanding from different disciplinary perspectives of the ways in which gender exerts far-reaching impact on everyday encounters and lived realities.

Students who have undergone this programme are expected to be able to critically evaluate the merits of alternative interpretations by building arguments for or against particular explanations.

Academic Convenor

Dr Jennifer Estes

Requirements

All courses read in fulfillment of the minor requirements should be graded. Courses taken on Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis may not be counted towards the minor requirements. (Cohort 2013 and before)
Courses taken on Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis may be counted towards the minor requirements. (Cohort 2014 and after)
Students are allowed to use up to 8 Units to meet the requirements for both the Minor and a Major or another Minor, at the same time; however, the Units for these courses would be counted ONCE. FASS students would still need to fulfill the Units required for the Unrestricted Electives (outside major) requirement.
Students are not allowed to count the new coded GET/GEH/GES/GER/GEQ courses towards both the Major or Minor requirements. (Cohort 2015 onwards)
For students on overseas exchange, Unit transfer of up to 8 Units of relevant courses for the Minor may be accepted. Please refer to the Maximum Number of Unit Transfer for SEP Students for more information. (Applicable to all Cohorts)
Please refer to FASS website for specific guidelines governing Minor Programmes offered by Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Cohort 2019 and after

Students must pass a minimum of five courses (20 Units) from the list of Gender Studies Minor courses, which includes:

SC2220 Gender Studies (compulsory course)
A minimum of one course (4 Units) at level-3000.
A minimum of three courses (12 Units) from the CORE track.
Students are limited to taking up to maximum of three courses from a single department (outside the student’s major).

Cohort 2018 and before

Students must pass a minimum of six courses (24 Units) from the list of Gender Studies Minor courses, which includes:

SC2220 Gender Studies (compulsory course)
A minimum of two courses (8 Units) at level-3000.
A minimum of three courses (12 Units) from the CORE track.
Students are limited to taking up to maximum of three courses from a single department (outside the student’s major).

FASS Level-4000 courses

Starting from Semester 1, AY2023-24, there will be modifications to the course codes of Level-4000 courses offered by FASS:

(a) Course codes with “HM” suffixes will be offered at 5 Units; and
(b) Course codes without the “HM” suffixes will be offered at 4 Units.

Students from Cohort 2020 and before - to read FASS Level-4000 courses with the “HM” suffix at 5 Units
Students from Cohort 2021 onwards - to read FASS Level-4000 courses without the “HM” suffix at 4 Units

Courses Offered

List of Gender Studies Minor Courses Offered in AY2025/2026
(courses for Semester 2 are subjected to changes)

Course Type

Compulsory Track

Core Track Level-2000

COURSE CODE/TITLE	OFFERED IN
EN2207 Gender and Sexuality in Literature	SEM 1
HS2919 Blood and Womb: Culture and the Body in Malay Society	SEM 1&2
JS2228 Gender and Sexuality in Japan
NHS2050 Gender and Ecology in Asia (Recognised towards Core Track for students from Cohort 2025 and after)	SEM 1
NHS2073 Unseen Risks: Gender and the Everyday	SEM 1
NHS2086 Women's Health: A Global Perspective
SN2234 Gender and Society in South Asia	SEM 1

Core Track Level-3000

COURSE CODE/TITLE	OFFERED IN
AS3213 American Law: Language and Gender
EN3244 Gender and Literature
EN3245 Feminism: Text and Theory
GE3206 Gender, Space and Place	SEM 1
HY3245 Engendering History/Historicising Gender
JS3230 Men and Women in Modern Japanese Literature	SEM 1
MS3216 Gender and Islam	SEM 1
NHS3001 What is Gender? (Recoded from USP3501 The Problematic Concept of 'Gender')
PH3217 Feminist Philosophy	SEM 1
PS3237 Women and Politics	SEM 1
SC3219 Sexuality in Comparative Perspective
SE3222 Gender in Southeast Asia
SW3206 Gender Issues in Social Work Practice

Core Track Level-4000

COURSE CODE/TITLE	OFFERED IN
EL4253 / EL4253HM Language, Gender and Sexual Identities For Cohort 2016 to 2020, EL4253 (5 Units) or EL4253HM (5 Units) For Cohort 2021 onwards, EL4253 (4 Units)	SEM 2
PS4322 / PS4322HM Feminist Theory For Cohort 2016 to 2020, PS4322 (5 Units) or PS4322HM (5 Units) For Cohort 2021 onwards, PS4322 (4 Units)	SEM 2
PS4883A / PS4883AHM Topics in PT: Orientalism and Femininity For Cohort 2016 to 2020, PS4883A (5 Units) or PS4883AHM (5 Units) For Cohort 2021 onwards, PS4883A (4 Units)	SEM 2
TS4216 / TS4216HM Theatre and Gender For Cohort 2016 to 2020, TS4216 (5 Units) or TS4216HM (5 Units) For Cohort 2021 onwards, TS4216 (4 Units)	SEM 2

Complementary Track Level-1000

Complementary Track Level-2000

Complementary Track Level-3000

Complementary Track Level-4000

Note:

(A) GE3214 Geographies of Social Life was previously GE2224 Geographies of Social Life.

*GEH1014 for cohort 2020 and before; GEC1004 for cohort 2021 and after

Last updated: 2 July 2025

Courses Description

To view the courses description and timetable, please visit https://nusmods.com/courses.

FAQs

What is the purpose of reading the Gender Studies Minor?

A Gender Studies Minor will provide our students with an organised and focused introduction to this field. The Programme aims to develop both conceptual knowledge and key abilities as a foundation for a systematic inquiry into gender-related matters. Conceptually, these courses help students to build up a nuanced understanding from different disciplinary perspectives of the ways in which gender exerts far-reaching impact on everyday encounters and lived realities.

How should I go about reading the courses in the different categories?

The Minor will be completed by students taking the two compulsory courses SC2220 and XD3102, and four additional courses from those currently available, at least three of which must be from the CORE TRACK, consisting of courses from a variety of disciplines but where gender questions are squarely central and are consistently threaded into the entire courses. Courses in the COMPLEMENTARY TRACK (from which students may choose to take at most one course) are those where gender questions are interrogated alongside other more primary concerns, such as family relations.

As XD3102 Gender Studies Across Disciplines is the compulsory course, when should I read the course?

COURSE CODE/TITLE	OFFERED IN
GEC1004 or GEH1014 or GEK2022 Samurai, Geisha, Yakuza as Self or Other*