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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Language, Sexuality & Culture
Module Code NS5063 (ITS) / SOC1005 (Banner)
Faculty Science & Health School Nursing, PsyT & Comm Health
Module Co-ordinatorMel Duffy
Module Teachers-
NFQ level 9 Credit Rating 10
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Coursework Only
Aspect of the module that led to an overall fail to be repeated
Description

This module constitutes a core module for the Grad Cert in Sexuality & Sexual Health Education and the Grad. Cert. is relationships & Sexuality Education for people with Intellectual Disability. It introduces students to the theoretical debates about sexuality, sexual identities, gender identities, sexual orientation, and their representations in society. It also examines the fundamental of communication concepts and how utilising theories of the language of sexuality can lead to positive outcomes for people. Sessions are a combination of lecture and seminar. Students are expected to engage with the literature through significant reading. The module aims to develop the student’s intellectual insight and innovative thinking through encouraging the student to develop a keen sense of the importance of critically evaluating, appraising and reflecting. They will be encouraged to embrace new knowledge and engage in broad debate, recognising when resourcefulness and creativity are required in their approaches.

Learning Outcomes

1. Critically engage with contemporary theoretical approaches to sexuality.
2. Critically evaluate the interplay between language and culture and how it plays out in the realm of sexuality.
3. Explore the social, cultural and individual process involved in the enactment of sexuality relations.
4. Engage with interdisciplinary approaches to challenge normalisations, hierarchies and relations domination.
5. Critique the influence of societal institutions such as family, religion, education as well as other forces such as culture, ethnicity, dis-ability and gender on our concepts of sexuality.
6. Students will be encouraged to self-appraise and to recognise both the possibilities and the boundaries of their knowledge and capabilities. They will take responsibility for their personal development and seek expert advice, where appropriate, to guide their decisions and actions.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Online activity48This is a year long module Synchronous and asynchronous modes of engagement. Synchronous breakout discussionsAll synchronous classes are interactive and are based on open class discussion
Directed learning12Keep a weekly reflective diary in semester 1.
Assignment Completion151st - reflective essay.
Assignment Completion102nd - Poster - preparation, design and delivery
Assignment Completion203rd - Essay
Online activity24The zoom room is opened 30 minutes before and after class to facilitate interaction between students. Equally the students have the capacity to create their own zoom rooms or one can be prepared for them should they so wish.
Independent Study25As an independent learner students have access to student support services to facilitate learning, from academic writing skills, improving their study skills, development of group learning skill and engagement with the library. This enables the student to develop the skill set for becoming a lifelong learner.
Online activity25Directed learning: In the preparation for the class, students are given clear guidelines of what to expect with asynchronous short recording, video clips and readings to facilitate discussion and learning in class. this is online work
Online activity20Directed learning: At the end of each session in the Extend section on loop the students are guided towards further reading, video and recording.
Online activity6Directed learning: Students add to the glossary of terms to build their sexual literacy. this glossary can be taken with them after the programme is completed.This is online work
Online activity15Discussion forum - This is online work and it is where students are provided with an opportunity to interact with each other outside the presence of the module coordinator.
Online activity30Individual assessment feedback
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Sexual literacy, Socialisation process
How we come to be the woman or man we are today. What are the norms, values and belief systems that underpin our knowledge of sexuality. How does this relate to diverse groups in society such as those with an Intellectual disability? How do we learn to be sexually literate?

Communication 1 + 2
We think about the words we use and how we use them. Communication is not just the words but also the body and the way we represent ourselves as we speak. We review the language of the body and the words we use. In part 2 we review how policy is translated to the everyday world.

Brief hisotory and theories underpinning sexualtiy
Ways of knowing from diverse perspectives.

History of Irish sexuality
Interplay between state and church. History of contraceptive from an Irish perspective.Politics/Nationalism/Citizenship

Social institutions
Family, religion, state and how they shaped and influence sexuality. How these institutions shape who can be considered as sexual for example how these institutions shape the imagining of the person with an intellectual disability being a sexually competent human being.

Language, Media and Communications
The language of sexuality and how it is communicated and represented in the media

Culture
The interplay of culture and ethnicity in our understanding of sexuality for example sexual culture, prostitution, pornography

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, heterosexuality
Unpacking the theoretical frameworks around these concepts. answers questions such as is there such a thing as LGBT community? the all pervasive influence of heterosexuality. Heteronormativity and homonormativity

Power/Intimacy
The dynamics of power in relationships and the influences that underpin our understanding of sexuality. Power, intimacy, bodies, ableness and disableness.

Sexuality & Spirituality
The sexual has been an integral part of spirituality in what is seen as Western civilisation as far back as Plato’s primordial androgyne and the ancient cosmological principle of attraction that permeated everything from the stars in their courses to the erotic lives of those living beneath them.

Judgement & Decision Making
From the beginning, there has been a recognition that judgement and decision making, is in its very nature to a large degree intuitive. How does this relate to sexuality?

Theological underpinning
judaism, Christianity & Islam 1. How do the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) understand women’s roles? 2. How does each of the Abrahamic faiths describe marriage as an institution? 3. What do you think the purpose of marriage is in each case?

Law
the role of law in relation to gender, sexuality, sex and society.

Children, Rhymes, Games, Informal learning
the games children play and the initiating of rhymes to get messages across

Consent
Human rights perspectives

Activism
Changes through action.

Transgender Identity
Becoming oneself

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Reflective journalThe aim of this task is to help you to take a reflective approach to your academic studies and become more aware of your strengths and of your weaknesses. The personal will underpin your ability to become effective sexuality educators. You will undertake a learning curve that initially captures your reflections on how you came to know what you know about sexuality. It will be embedded in theories of knowing and/or reflective theories to bring you to an understanding how this may be embedded in your attitudes and beliefs about issues of sexuality including your development of sexual literacy. A reflective journal can be a record of your learning throughout the 1st semester of module.30%Week 12
Poster presentation An engaging poster is a very effective way of communicating information. In designing your poster, you need to demonstrate that you can concisely summarise ideas and decide which aspects to give priority to. Your poster will allow to demonstrate important literacies and skills required to be an effective sexual health promotor – these include ● Analysing and reviewing data ● Working independently ● Visualising, designing, creating, and innovating ● Written communication skills ● Researching, investigating, interpreting, and organising information20%Other
EssayAn essay is essentially an evaluation of a person’s Information literacy. This means that you are able to recognise when information is needed, have the skills to locate, evaluate and use information effectively, and are able to successfully extract what is relevant from the information available. To demonstrate this skill you are required to produce an essay, which is worth 45% of the overall marks for the module. You should consider the subject of your essay carefully; the topic of the review can be on any area of your choosing, it should interest the student.50%Other
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Angel, Katherine: 2021, Tomorrow Sex will be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent, Verso, London,
  • Agarwal, Pragya: 2020, Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias, Bloomsbury Sigma,
  • Kerryn Darysdale: 2019, Intimate Investments in Drag Kind Cultures, 7, Palgrave Macmillan, Sydney, 978303015
  • Debbie Ging and Eugenia Siapera: 2019, Gender Hate Online: Understanding the New Anti-Feminism, 1, 13, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 9783319962252
  • Gerard Rodgers: 2019, Resisting the power of Mea Culpa: the story of twentieth-Century Ireland, 1, 24, Peter Lang, Oxford, 9781788746564
  • S.J. Langer: 2019, Theorizing transgender identity for clinical practice: a new model for understanding gender, 6, Jessica Kingsley, Philadelphia, 97817852927
  • Kathleen Quinlivan: 2018, Exploring contemporary issues in sexuality education with young people, 1, 5, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 9781137501042
  • Cindy Crabb: 2016, Learning Good Consent: On healthy relationships and survivor support, 1, 34, AK Press, Chicago, 9781849352
  • Henrik Bogdan, James R. Lewis: 2014, Sexuality and new religious Movements, 10, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 9781137409
  • Steve Duck and David T. McMahan.: 2015, Communication in everyday life, 15, Thousand Oaks, Calif; Sage, U.K., 9781452259789
  • Marie Leane and Elizabeth Kiely: 2014, Sexualities and Irish society: A Reader, 1, 17, Orpen Press, Dublin, 9781909518476
  • Margaret Shildrick: 2012, Dangerous discourses of Disability, Subjectivity and Sexuality, 2, 7, Palgrave Macmillan, U.K., 9781137272805
  • Zizi Papacharissi: 2011, A Networked Self: Identity, community, and Culture on Social Network sites, 1, 14, Routledge, London, 9780415801812
  • Katrina Karkazis: 2008, Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical anthropology and Lived Experience, 8, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 9780822343189
  • Ann Louise Gilligan: 2021, Reclaiming the Secret Love, Peter Lang,
  • Hertzmann, Leezah & Newbigin, Juliet (eds): 2020, Sexuality and Gender Now: Moving Beyond Heteronormativity, Routledge, London,
  • Young, Nicholas D., Michael, Christine N. and Jean, Elizabeth: 2020, Masculinity in the making: Managing the Transition to Manhood, Rowman & Littlewood,
  • Dorottya Redai: 2019, Exploring Sexuality in Schools: the intersectional reproduction of inequality, 7, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 97830302016
  • Allison Moore and Paul Reynolds: 2018, Childhood and Sexuality: contemporary issues and Debates, 11, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 9781137524
  • A Powell and N Henry: 2017, Sexual violence in a digital age, 1, 10, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 9781349845484
  • Andrew Maxwell Triska: 2018, Sexuality and Intellectual disabilities, 1, 7, Routledge, New York, 9781138231023
  • E A H Monaco, T Gibbon and D Bateman: 2018, Talking about sex: Sexuality education for learners with Diabilities, 1, 10, Rowman & Littlefield, London, 9781475839845
  • Elizabeth McDermott and Karina Roen: 2016, Queer Youth, Suicide and Self-Harm: Troubled Subjects, Troubling Norms, 1, 8, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 9781137003447
  • Lisa Adkins and Maryanne Dever: 2016, The Post-Fordist Sexual contract: working and Living in contingency, 1, 10, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 9781137495532
  • Meredith Temple-Smith, Susan Moore and Doreen Rosenthal: 2016, Sexuality in Adolescence: The Digital Generation, 1, 12, Routledge, London and New York, 9781848723023
  • Jane Ward: 2015, Not gay: sex between straight white men, 1, 6, New York University Press, New York, 9781479825172
  • Jennifer Redmond, Sonja Tiernan, Sandra McAvoy and Mary McAuliffe: 2015, Sexual Politics in Modern Ireland, 1, 8, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 9780716532842
  • Terri Couwenhoven: 2015, Boyfriend + Girlfriend: A guide to dating for people with disabilities, 1, 9, Woodbine House, Bethesda, 9781606132555
  • Emma Renold, Jessica Ringrose and R. Danielle Egan: 2015, Children, Sexuality and Sexualization, 1, 22, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 9781137353382
  • Patricia Smith: 2015, Disability and Culture: An International and Inter-professional Perspective, 1, 18, Common Ground, UK, 9781612299433
  • Ken Plummer: 2015, Cosmopolitan Sexualities, 1, 6, Polity Press, UK, 9780745671000
  • Jeffrey Weeks: 2011, The Language of Sexuality, 1, 17, Routledge, London and New York, 9780415375733
  • Momin Rahman, Stevi Jackson: 2010, Gender and Sexuality, 1, 12, Polity, UK, 9780745633770
  • Diarmaid Ferriter: 2009, Occasions of Sin, 1, Profile Books Ltd, London UK, 9781861979186
  • Tom Inglis: 2003, Truth, Power, and Lies, 1, 15, University College Dublin Press, Dublin, 9781904558026
  • Jeffrey Weeks, Brian Heaphy, and Catherine Donovan: 2001, Same sex intimacies, 1, 8, Routledge, New York, 9780415254779
Other Resources

53489, Research Report, Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, Maria Feeney, Mel Duffy and Anthony Staines, 2022, Mapping the Lived Experiences of Intersex/Variations of Sex Characteristics in Ireland: Contextualising Lay and Professional Knowledge to Enable Development of Appropriate Law and Policy, Dublin City University, https://doras.dcu.ie/26873/, 53490, Research Report, Agnes Higgins, Louise Doyle, Carmel Downes, Rebecca Murphy, Danika Sharek, Jan DeVries, Thelma Begley, Edward McCann, Fintan Sheerin, Siobháin Smyth, 2016, The LGBTIreland Report: national study of the mental health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Ireland, Dublin, GLEN and BeLonG To, Dublin, 53491, Report, Higgins A., Daly L., de Vries J., Keogh B., McCann E., and Sharek D., 2013, Capacity Building Impact of the Foundation Programme in Sexual Health Promotion: A Multiple Stakeholder Perspective, Dublin, TCD, 53492, Report, Margaret Allen & Deirdre Seery, 2007, The Current Status of Sex Education Practice For People with an Intellectual Disability in Ireland, www.isenonline.com, 53493, Research Report, World Health Organisation, 2010, Developing sexual health programmes A framework for action, www.who.int/reproductivehealth, 53494, Research Report, Duffy, Mel & Sheridan, Vera, 2012, Cultures of Diversity: Sexual Orientation in An Garda Síochána, Dublin city University, https://doras.dcu.ie/17576/,

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