On Teaching "Gender and International Relations" at ICU

What is the significance of offering a course on "Gender and International Relations" at ICU? Having taught this pGSS subject over the past two years, I am struck by the number of students who seem to think that international relations is a very limited field that is only concerned with states.

"Gender and International Relations" begins by critically assessing what are regarded as mainstream theories of international relations. This involves examining the central concerns of the discipline, such as national security and sovereignty, as exclusionary gendered concepts. Consequently, some students are initially confused by the arguments and issues that arise in this course if they are only familiar with mainstream international relations. In contrast, those students who are only familiar with gender studies may be surprised by what have been considered mainstream theories in international relations. A gender perspective enables us to rethink international relations and to realize its proximity to us as individuals--international relations deals with issues that affect our everyday lives.

J. Ann Tickner, who paved the way for the study of gender and international relations, once said that a feminist perspective on international relations changes and expands our view of the global system. Similarly, I think that a gender perspective on international relations certainly changes the way we perceive the global system and further enables us to explore issues that have hitherto been overlooked by the mainstream exclusionary dialogues. One example is Cynthia Enloe's detailed study of the important role that gender has played in the process of militarization and how women have been incorporated into the process. Enloe, like Tickner, is at the forefront of research in gender and international relations. A gender perspective can even shed a different light on economic globalization, which is so closely linked with our everyday lives.

So what is the significance of offering this course at ICU? The study of gender and international relations is essential for ICU's international commitment, one of our key missions. This year's course will also begin by encouraging students to think of international relations as something that is important for the everyday lives of individuals rather than for states. Let us enrich our understanding of gender and international relations through sharing our personal experiences.