History Department Response to Student Feedback
HSTY6942 Historical Constructions of Sexuality (2007)

Unit Coordinator: Professor Robert Aldrich

With the response to the statement ‘Overall I was satisfied with the quality of this unit of study’ measuring 4.83 on the scale of 5.00, student reaction to this unit of study was especially pleasing. The students enrolled in the unit – most of them postgraduates – were overwhelmingly happy with the learning outcomes (4.67), the teaching and its benefits for learning (4.80), the value of the discussions (4.83) and the constructive feedback (4.83).

The first part of the unit provided five weeks of chronological overview of the history of sexuality, from Antiquity to the present, as well as a session on sexuality in non-Western societies. The readings for this part of the unit were Robert Aldrich (ed.), Gay Life and Culture: A World History and Stephen Garton, Histories of Sexuality. For the remainder of the semester, the students chose the topics for discussion, as well as the readings that all members of the class completed. One student introduced each of the chosen topics with an oral presentation. These included such themes as nationalism and sexuality, colonialism and sexuality, sexuality and war, and the question of sexual identities.

The assessment for the unit was: oral presentation – 40 per cent of final result; essay (on a topic chosen by the student with the approval of the lecturer) – 50 per cent; class participation – 10 per cent.

This unit is not scheduled for 2008, but it is hoped that it will be repeated again in future.