16 Sep 2019
Guest Lecture Series - 16th of September - 20th of September, 2019
The School of Arts and Humanities of REVA University has always played host to a plethora of activities, workshops and lectures by experts that tease the creative and intellectual faculties of its students. The School has held various literary activities throughout its glorious years and has had international delegates visit the campus to enlighten the students on various literary and pressing socio-political issues that are often the need of the hour. The School of Arts and Humanities had recently organised a week long special lecture series on the raging issue of Power, Gender and Language that ran from 16th September 2019 to 20th September 2019. The resource person for the special lecture series was Dr. Elizabeth Joy Birmingham (Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities) from Lakehead University, Canada, with whom REVA University has an academic collaboration.
Lakehead University, which has two campuses at Thunderbay and Orillia, offers a wide range of student oriented undergraduate and graduate programmes. The University boasts of a multicultural population, with over 500,000 international students calling it their home.
The lecture series was initiated by the delegate by dividing the students of MA English I and III semester students into five different groups randomly. The students were enlightened about various Gender stereotypes. Men and women have issues which affect their health which are unique to each gender. Men for example are perceived to be greater risk takers as a whole in our society than that of women.
Students shared their views and discussed on how Gender and power relations continue to be at odds with each other in the post-millennium era. They critically reviewed how we still live in a male dominated society where patriarchal power still holds the ‘key’ to the door (s) and windows of ‘freedom’, self-identity and expression. They critically engaged with this statement drawing on key writers in the field of religion, ethnicity and gender relations.The most accepted definition for the term patriarchy is the social structure of society based on the father having primary responsibility for the welfare of and authority over their families.
Students did a lot of activities with respect to power, gender and sexuality. Overall the feedback from the students as well the eminent professor was extremely good. The Lecture provided a holistic perspective on Gender identity and recognition of the perceived social gender attributed to a person.
