On Monday 31st of August, the Gender & Diversity Studies Department welcomed its first-ever cohort of students for the launch of the new Master’s programme of Intersectional Gender Studies. Enrollment for this cohort has exceeded all expectations with 47 students starting this academic year, of whom about 40 were able to participate in the programme’s three-day “Welcome Week”.
Day one
The day kicked off with a gentle arrival in the room accompanied by the tones of activist musician Carsie Blanton, but talk among the students quickly drowned out the music.
In the first session, teachers Annelies Kleinherenbrink and Ea Høg Utoft provided some useful information about what studying the new Master’s will involve, and what the students can expect.
After lunch, PhD Robyn Ausmeier gave a workshop on pedagogies of hope and joy. The central question that the students reflected on was: In a program that teaches difficult topics such as marginalization, discrimination, and power, how do we sustain our hope for positive change? Some insights that emerged included the importance of creating classroom spaces where trust, vulnerability, and community are nurtured; the value of alternative, creative approaches to education; and the need for connecting both within and outside of academia.
Lastly, philosopher Anya Topolski took both students and teachers through a privilege exercise through which everyone had the chance to reflect individually on identities, positionalities and power. The final plenary discussion emphasised that the workshop was only a starting point for thinking about these crucial but complex issues on an ongoing basis as the programme progresses.
Day two
Annelies Kleinherenbrink opened the first session with a presentation about the programme’s AI policy, which is that the use of (so-called “generative") AI is not allowed. After Annelies’ presentation about the well-known social and environmental harms of AI, and how AI use undermines scientific integrity, the students engaged in crafts (incl., crayons, watercolor, collage- and zine-making), creating wonderful artwork, to reflect on their views on and experiences with AI.
Annelies Kleinherenbrink: Our choice to prohibit AI use in our program comes from a place of care, we care about our students’ learning and we care about the world.
