OADI 2335 - Building a Feminist International System through Multilateralism

***UPDATED for 2025/26***

This interdisciplinary course explores gender in global diplomacy and multilateral governance, highlighting the importance of incorporating a gender perspective in international leadership, policy analysis and development. It offers an overview of women's roles in the international system and delves into the impact of feminine leadership. In addition, it explores the current international background framing women's rights globally, building upon the UN's historic advocacy for gender equality. The course extends to contemporary issues like cultural relativism and gender backlash, while emphasizing the importance of inclusive policies and intersectional gender insights. We will examine key multilateral agreements, bodies and mechanisms, including the Beijing Platform for Action, CSW and the CEDAW. The analysis of current existing feminist foreign policies will lead to understanding the challenges of enacting these policies and implementing the international accords regarding gender equality. There will also be a particular focus on specific sectoral areas such as feminist climate justice; women peace and security including analyses of major current armed conflicts; violence against women; women's political participation, and the presence of women within the multilateral system. By the end, students will be adept in multilateral diplomacy, gender analysis, and applying international gender equality frameworks.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyze the role and impact of gender equality and feminine leadership in international systems. This will involve exploring diverse case studies, historical data, and contemporary scenarios to understand gender intersections with global diplomacy and governance.
• Apply intersectional gender insights to policy creation. Students will study cases that integrate an intersectional approach into policy design, aiming at crafting more inclusive and effective global policies and frameworks.
• Evaluate the use of international gender equality frameworks in multilateral diplomacy. Students will learn to use these tools to advance feminist diplomacy, women's empowerment policies, and their improvement from a gender perspective.

Professional Skills

• Research and analysis
• Critical thinking
• Written and oral communication

None

Feedback will be systematically provided on each assignment through our online platform, typically within a two-week window following submission.

Active participation (10%): Active engagement is a vital element of this course. Students are expected to arrive at each class having read the bibliography and thoroughly prepared the questions and issues raised by each set of readings. Participation will be assessed on both frequency and quality, encouraging thoughtful contributions to class discussions.

Group oral presentation (40%): Students will collaboratively delve into the presence and representation of women in regional international organizations. They will be required to prepare and deliver a presentation to the class. This assignment provides an opportunity to improve public speaking skills and promotes the ability to synthesize and articulate complex topics effectively. Students will be given specific guidance about the methodology they ought to follow.

Individual written assignments (50%): Each student will be required to compose two written assignments related to the syllabus and current affairs. The objective will be to address two practical cases in which students will take the role of a gender political advisor to a top policy-maker. One practical exercise will be related to the preparations of an official visit of an international leader abroad in which the student is acting as political advisor and will need to incorporate a gender perspective to the whole trip (requiring approximately 2 hours of work). The other practical exercise will require students to write a policy paper (of no more than 2.000 words) related to a current conflict and its peace negotiations from a feminist perspective (involving approximately 10 hours of work). These assignments offer an avenue for a more comprehensive interaction with the material.

• In Class Presence: 4 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 1 hour a week / 6 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 12 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 2 hours a week / 12 hours a semester OR
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 2 hours a week / 12 hours a semester.