More men for women studies course
THE Women's Studies and Development Centre (WSDC) of Delhi University will be starting a short-term course in women studies known as 'Gender and Society' in October. Looking at the past three years’ experience, the Centre is expecting an increase in the number of applications from male candidates this year too. “Launched in 2005, the course has witnessed a tremendous response from people who want to study about gender issues. And the surprising part is more and more male candidates want to know about women-related issues. With every year we have been noticing an increase in the number of applications from male candidates. This year, too, we foresee more males applying for the course,” said Meenu Anand, course co-ordinator and faculty at the Centre. “Last year we received 162 applications and out of them more than 60% applications were from male students or working professionals,” she added.
Explaining the reason behind this, Anand said: “The role of men and women in metro cities is diluting. Not only are men growing up watching their mothers and sisters sharing similar responsibilities as their male counterparts, also they are becoming sensitive towards gender issues. Men in metro cities have no qualms in expressing emotions that were traditionally associated with women like love, caring or even crying. They are sharing household work like taking responsibility of a child or even running a household, which is actually encouraging them to know more about women-related issues.”
Also, people working in fields like law, civil services, NGO, media or government sectors want to know about gender issues as they are becoming integral to a developing society, reasoned Anand. “Men's interest in gender-sensitive issues can also be judged by their performance in the course. It was a male candidate who topped the course two years ago,” Anand said.
Abhishek Kumar, a civil services aspirant and a public administration student from Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou), completed the course last year. “I had always been sensitive towards women-related issues and wanted to know more about them. This course changed my understanding of women issues completely. I got a new perspective to look at their economic, social, domestic position. I am preparing for the civil services and if I get a chance I would like to do something for them at a bigger level,” he said.
WSDC launched this postgraduate course in 2005 keeping in mind the growing emphasis on gender equality. The course content deals with diverse issues concerning women today related to class, caste, religion, ethnicity and status. “Through this course WSDC aims to move beyond the confines of mere theoretical teaching, to sensitise young adults and enable students to think beyond their masculinity and femininity,” Anand said.
WSDC is inviting applications from candidates interested in pursuing the course commencing on October 21, 2008. The last date for submission of applications is September 19. Selection of candidates will be done on the basis of an entrance examination followed by an interview. The details of the course are available on DU’s website:
Sunil Sharma
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